Anybody have an answer to this?

[pixiecrinkle]

How might one tell if a piece of jewelry is solid gold v. gold plated? I have a ring for sale on ebay and someone asked me this question, but I've got no idea. I would guess it's solid, based on where I got it, but I'm sure that's not good enough evidence to give a potential buyer.

Comments

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

I think that the Mr. Wizard answer would be to weigh the ring, then stick the ring in a full glass of water and measure the volume of water that spills out. Dividing the weight by the volume, you'd have the density of the ring, which you could compare to the density of pure gold.

Or you could take it to a jeweler at the mall and ask them.

[masterbetty.livejournal.com]

According to my friend that works at an MRI place, gold plated items are magnetic, solid gold isn't. She said a lot of pissed off women leave there, ready to bust their significant others.

[lightning-rose.livejournal.com]

I'd carefully inspect the inside of the ring for a marking such as 10K, 14K, 18K, etc. If you see a marking such as 583 or .583, thats the percentage of gold (583=14K).

Or it could also be gold filled, which is a copper or silver core with a very thick coating of gold, but I don't know how such would be marked.