Testing Gold

Is your gold jewelry for real or is it fake? How do you tell? There are many ways to find about gold jewelry. It’s a good idea if you are going to be selling it. I would take mine to a local jewelry shop or an expert who values jewelry and have it analyzed. Any reputable jeweler would weigh the jewelry, deduct the weight of any precious stones and tell you how much money you would get.
If you are Middle-Eastern or Asian there are many ethnic shops in Southall, London who can give you an honest answer, regarding your gold jewelry? Also unlike many mainstream jewelers they don’t charge a penny for the valuation. Pick the one that is the biggest and has been in business the longest.
If you don’t want to sell your jewelry but would like to exchange it for a new item- that is also possible. Exchanging old gold for new is very common in Asian jewelry shops. Going down that route, is a fantastic idea, at least you leave with something worth a little bit more. Jewelers never like to part with cash, you are likely to pick up an expensive replacement worth much more at today’s gold prices. For example if you bought a set of gold earrings for 500GBP in 1990, you could exchange it for another pair in 2010 for 1000-GBP, all depends on how the jeweler will calculate the price of gold in your earrings. I have actually done this -sell my wedding jewelry in Southall,London and got 4000GBP which I went ahead and spent.
Gold quality varies from country to country and for certain communities gold from South Africa, China or Russia does not fetch a high price. A professional jeweler who knows his gold will be able to detect the country of origin of the gold. But if the jewelry was bought or made in Dubai and other Middle-Eastern countries it always has a much higher sale value.
You can still test if your gold is pure or not by rubbing it against unglazed ceramic tile. If it leaves a black mark then you might have been cheated. But if it leaves a gold mark then the gold is pure.
Gold can also be tested by weighing it; the density of this precious metal is about 19 grams per milliliter, if weighed against another item known to be genuine, and the weight of the two items is the same then it is likely to be pure. But if the suspect item is lighter than the authentic piece it is not real at all.
Another test that you can do check; is to get a magnet and put it beside the gold; if the piece is drawn to the magnet then it is not gold.
You can also check the authenticity of gold by holding it up to the sunlight and the shade; it will retain its color in both situations if it is real gold.
Gold is a very heavy mineral and to check its trueness put it in water if it sinks that is good but if it stays on the surface then the item is not real gold.
A unique way to see if an item is real is to wear it and if it turns green, you will know that the gold is not real. No one can have an allergic reaction to gold.
The best way to ensure that you have bought a real piece of gold jewelry is to buy the piece from a reputable jeweler in a large chain store. All large stores are not about to sabotage their reputation by selling fake items. In Europe and in the Middle East jewelry items are hall marked. You can easily check how long the organization has been in business; if they were shady they would have been closed down a long time ago.

Gold-Solid Investment

• Investing in gold is a really good proposition, as the price seems to be rising continuously. Even if you were to buy a gold bar it would only cost 22,000 GBP. But not many of us have that kind of cash to spare. So we ten d buy retail jewelry and invest in our savings that way. If you get bored you can always sell your jewelry and buy some new jewelry. Either way I consider gold to be a great investment because it is very enduring, and will stand the test of time. There will always be a demand for gold because you can turn into scrap and reuse to make other items. It is a highly liquid investment when the market allows it. When you invest 100,000 GBP into gold bars, you will join some of the very shrewd investors who will prosper regardless of how bad the economy is. You will have a lot of gold bars to play with when it comes to selling. Entering the gold market is not difficult but you do need to know something about its weight and measures before you invest.

• Firstly: Measurement
• Gold can only be measured in terms of carats.
• The measure tells you how pure the gold is - 24 carat it’s very pure.

• Secondly: Grading Purity

• In the USA and Canada the karat is used instead of carat.

• A test by an expert will tell you what the purity level is. If it’s less than 24C it has been mixed with some alloys-copper.

• Thirdly: Hallmarking
• It is the law in Europe and is known as hallmark stamp i.e. 18-carat gold is considered to be 75% pure gold in any retail jewelry. It tells the buyer the amount of pure gold in the jewelry they are buying.

Looking For Gold

Investing money in gold bullion does have its advantages and can help manage risk on a solid basis. Unlike many other investments it can offer protection against the ravages of inflation and a down turn in the economy. It is a highly liquid investment when the market is transparent, and it will endure the test of time. When you sink your money into investing in gold bars, you will join some of the few financiers who will prosper regardless of how bad the economy is. Before you risk entering the gold market, it’s a good idea to understand something about gold bars.

Firstly: Measurement and Certification

Gold is measured in terms of carats or karats. This term can be abbreviated to ct or kt. It is a measure of how pure the gold is-if it is 24 carat it’s completely pure. Purest gold is also usually very soft prior to any metals or alloys being added to it when making jewellery.

Secondly: Grading Gold
The term Karat is used mainly in the USA and Canada. In the bullion trade it gold can be known as ‘fine’ or 999 or three nine fine in Europe.Once tested by an expert if the number is less than 24C it is an indication that it has been mixed with some alloys-copper is usually added to make the gold hard.

Thirdly: Hallmarking

This is more prevalent in Europe and is known as the percentage hallmark stamp i.e. 18-carat gold is considered to be 75% pure gold in any retail jewelry. In the bullion trade 18K would be known as 750. If you go ahead and decide to invest some money for your future then make sure you purchase gold bars, only going for those with fineness of 0.999 and above 24 Carats.

Fourthly: Accurate gold measures

All precious metals like gold, platinum, silver and other rare metals are measured in Troy ounces. The term was derived from the French town of Troyes when it was a thriving precious metals centre and where this term was first used. A Troy ounce is the equivalent of 31.10 grams and so around 10% heavier than the Avoirdupois ounce. Banks tend to buy and hold gold in metric tons with one ton equal to 32,150 Troy ounces.

Fifthly: Forms of Solid Gold

When buying gold in a vast quantity the buyer has a choice of gold sovereigns – (South African way), ingots (European way) and retail jewelry (Middle-Eastern way) Gold bullion bars and coins are priced on the basis of the purity of the gold content. But, the premiums charged by a dealer is going to be higher on coins than on bars as the gold has been treated this means that transaction costs will be higher also. Retail jewellery, you have to add in charges for design and craftsmanship making this form of gold the least effective for investment purposes. Buying gold jewelry is a poorer investment, as the money you pay for it is more for its intrinsic value rather than monetary consideration.

Sixthly and finally, let’s consider the all-important matter of how the price of gold is fixed.

The official price of gold is fixed twice daily in London at the offices of N M Rothschild. The price, is also the international benchmark price, is set in US dollars per Troy ounce of gold. This means that you can always easily find out the exact current gold price on the Internet or other financial media.

Unlike many investments, you always know where you are when it comes to the value of your gold. Depending on how many gold bars you have you can calculate your wealth by multiplying the weight in tons or ounces by the price!

Now that you are an expert in gold, let us look at the method of how to buy gold bars and gold bullion in the UK. It’s very simple.

Once you are ready to spend your money and buying gold bullion to your investments or just want some gold as security for the future. Acquiring the gold bars is uncomplicated and fun. The best way is to go online and search for reputable gold dealers online on one of the large search engines. If the dealer is trustworthy and you can check this out spend your money, make sure you are insured and finally receive you consignment through the Royal Mail. Feel free to browse their websites to find the quantities of your choice and then placing an order.