12 Tips on How to Spot Fake Jewelry

[Music] [Music] we all remember Marilyn Monroe singing diamonds are a girl's best friend but did she double-check those sometimes it's hard to be sure if it's genuine so here are 12 simple ways to spot fake jewelry yep it's no secret that the market is flooded with fake jewelry and that's all fine and good if you're paying a super low price knowing very well that what you're buying isn't the real deal however the problem comes when you think you're getting a real diamond ring you pay top dollar for it and only later see that it's totally fake up to protect yourself from being a victim of deceit here are 12 simple ways to spot counterfeit jewelry you can check your jewelry at home or even use some of these methods right there in the store before you hand over your hard-earned cash and don't forget we have a lot more useful advice and eye-opening facts like this on the bright side of life so be sure to subscribe and ring that bell to be notified of each and every one of our daily updates all right starting with metals there are several ways to find out if you've been sold an item made of real precious metal or if you've been tricked into buying a fake number one hallmark trademark now in most European countries you can check the hallmark which is regulated by the government if you're in the US it should be enough to look for the manufacturers trademark since government hallmarking isn't really a thing there if a manufacturer or seller claims that something is 24 karat gold when it's not you can just sue them the threat of prosecution is usually enough to keep them in line as for hallmarking it's basically a three-digit number that tells you how much precious metal is in a certain item you just add a decimal point after the second digit to get the percentage for example a hallmark of 925 means that a piece of jewelry is ninety two point five percent pure it's super easy to find information about which hallmarks are typical for different metals online all you have to do is compare the information from the internet with the engraving on your jewelry item pay attention to the numbers themselves they should be accurate and easy to read if they aren't you better not risk buying something of questionable quality here are typical hallmarks you can find on jewelry made of the following precious metals gol 375 500 583 585 750 916 958 999 silver 808 3875 925 960 and 999 platinum 850 900 950 999 number two a magnet what an attractive solution this method can be used to examine the jewelry you already have at home or the item you're planning to get at the store when you go jewelry shopping keep a magnet in your bag the thing is that fake jewelry contains more iron since it's not as pure iron of course is magnetic a genuine item of jewelry with a high content of precious metal won't stick to a magnet that's why you can take out that magnet you brought with you and figure out if you're being offered the real deal or not number 3 damages platinum and silver look very similar so it's all too easy to replace the more expensive metal with the cheaper one a fake made of silver will give itself away with a blackish shoe and more flexibility as for platinum it doesn't have these properties real gold leaves golden traces on unburnt and unglazed ceramic tiles or porcelain well the traces from counterfeits are usually grey or black you probably won't have any difficulties checking your jewelry with this method at home but what about in store before you buy bringing a porcelain cup with you when you go shopping might seem a little over the top so you can use the other less obvious methods like the magnet test you can also check the purity of a jewelry item you have or are about to buy by putting different compositions on its surface for example you can try number 4 chalk a simple method to check your silver is to use chalk if it starts to darken when you rub it in chalk it's real 5 iodine you can check gold with iodine if there's a stain left on the item after the test it's an obvious sign of a fake or a really low content of precious metal sex vinegar another way to check gold is the vinegar test fake or impure goal darkens and vinegar very quickly so simply pour a little vinegar into a glass and keep the piece of jewelry in it for about 5 minutes of course you probably won't be able to use this method right there in the store unless you bring in a big bowl of salad and tell the sales person you're on your way to lunch then oops drop the gold into the salad and take your time fishing it out oh how clumsy of me number 7 sulfur Aunt May now this ointment traditionally used to treat acne can also check the genuineness of your silver for you if the item is made of real silver then the place where you apply the ointment will become dark blue and don't worry about ruining your jewelry this way even if it shows this spot you can easily remove it plus you'll know that your silver jewelry is real number 8 ammonia now ammonia is a good way to check if the item you have is real platinum when it interacts with most metals ammonia causes the surface to blacken but this doesn't happen when it's applied to a piece of jewelry made of platinum gems now that you've checked out all your precious metals let's see what you can do to find out if the gemstones in your jewelry items are real 9 diamond a real diamond won't fog up when you breathe hot air on it because it has a high thermal conductivity also when you look down at the top of a diamond and see rainbow holographic reflections it's either a fake or a low quality diamond and if you're a brave soul you can try this sort of crash test heat the stone up with a lighter for about 30 seconds and then drop it into cold water right away if it's glass or quartz the stone will shatter from the inside due to the drastic temperature change but if you're dealing with a real diamond nothing will happen these stones are famous for being tough number 10 emerald now in order to determine the authenticity of an emerald you should examine the structure of the gem under a magnifying glass a genuine emerald doesn't have to Buehler or spiral patterns inside plus a real emerald conducts warmth badly and therefore always stays cool to the touch there's also a way to check if an emerald is natural or synthetic using a long wave black line don't worry this is the most popular type so it's really easy to find turn off all the lights in the room and shine your black light onto the gem if you notice a fluorescence of olive green bright red or yellow well we hate to break it to you but your emerald is a fake if you see an orange or dull red fluorescence the emerald might be either natural or synthetic not much help here I'm afraid and if there's no fluorescence chances are your gem is a natural emerald if none of these work just take it to the wizard in Emerald City he may not know courage or brains but Oz knows emeralds number 11 pearl now genuine pearls are expensive and that's why you shouldn't expect an item that doesn't cost much to be real in order to determine the authenticity of a pearl it'll be enough to check it with your teeth if you try to bite a pearl you'll feel that it creaks likes and artificial pearls don't do this or you can cast the pearls before swine if they ignore it then surely it's fake no I made that up and of course I know you're not sure like twelve amber place a piece of amber into a glass of salty water three tablespoons of salt will be enough an item made of glass or plastic as well as fake amber made of epoxy resin will sink instantly on the other hand genuine amber will float since it's less dense than saltwater you can also try it rubbing amber with a woolen fabric it should produce a staticky shock on top of that the real deal will attract small threads and dust to itself so have you ever used any of these methods to find out if your jewelry is real or fake how did it go do you know any other ways to check precious metals and gemstones share your experience and expertise in the comments below give this video a thumbs up for the useful tips and help your friends out by sharing it with them don't forget to subscribe and join us on the bright side of life [Music]

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 766,228

Rating: 4.8068314 out of 5

Keywords: fake jewelry, how to spot fake jewelry, gold jewelry, silver jewelry, diamond, pearl, amber, emerald, emerald real or fake, fake diamond, Hallmark, Sulfur ointment, Ammonia, Trademark

Id: 7oMdfyOxig8

Length: 10min 20sec (620 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 02 2018