Beware of Gold Jewelry. May not be as marked

[Market Harmony]

I recently purchased 1 lot of jewelry from eBay. Before I submitted it to the crucible, I figured that I would give it a quick test. Here's some of the results:

[Devil Soundwave]

Interesting video, thanks man.

Three questions:

1) Where can I buy one of those testers?
2) How much do they cost (roughly)?
3) Can you buy such an applicance to test silver (or even one which tests a range of metals)?

[Pennysaved]

I know a local dealer that has been burned a couple times by jewelry that was marked gold but really was not.

He was saying the fakes are coming out of China and that they are so good that you sometimes have to tear the jewlery apart to be able to determine if it is fake or not.

I know I bought a necklace at a church sale once thinking it was 14k but it turned out it was just the clasp not the chain itself. Luckily I didn't pay too much for it.

[AGCoinHunter]

Thanks for posting. Interesting to see that little handy machine work.

[thedude]

Three questions:

1) Where can I buy one of those testers?
2) How much do they cost (roughly)?
3) Can you buy such an applicance to test silver (or even one which tests a range of metals)?

http://www.trielectronics.com/gold.html

[Rodebaugh]

Cool post Mike......thanks for sharing.

[Dvorak]

I assume this wasn't magnetic, either. What material are they using in these, silver?

[Market Harmony]

Tri-electronics, as somebody else posted, sells these. The GXL 24pro is what I use for testing jewelry at gold parties, coin shows, and anywhere else where portability is necessary. Otherwise, assays are performed post-melt and by an independent third party. I have been pleased with the accuracy of the GXL 24pro.

GXL 24pro can be purchased on eBay (used) for around $400, or you get a new one for around $575

There is not a similar piece of equipment for silver that I know of, but I'd be in the market for one if anybody knows of such a thing.

The only magnetic part was the steel spring in the clasps, but that is to be expected. Typically, these faked pieces will use heavier metals to mask the weight differential between gold and non gold. The alloy varies and I have seen anything from silver to bronze to zinc and nickel, to a variety of other things. There is no firm answer, and because I am sending this whole lot back to the eBay seller, I will never know what it actually is.

Just beware that this kind of stuff is out there and if you are willing to risk your dollars on buying gold, then at least get some bit of insurance, aka a quality Gold Tester... just catching one bad lot can pay for the machine itself. I paid $1000 for a 50+ gram lot, of which more than half was non-payable. The seller wants the whole lot back, and will be sending another 50+ grams of 14K to me

[ZigMeister]

Very nice device...Thanks for the informative video.

[Devil Soundwave]

Three questions:

1) Where can I buy one of those testers?
2) How much do they cost (roughly)?
3) Can you buy such an applicance to test silver (or even one which tests a range of metals)?

http://www.trielectronics.com/gold.html

Thanks you Sir!

[didou]

Tri-electronics, as somebody else posted, sells these. The GXL 24pro is what I use for testing jewelry at gold parties, coin shows, and anywhere else where portability is necessary. Otherwise, assays are performed post-melt and by an independent third party. I have been pleased with the accuracy of the GXL 24pro.

GXL 24pro can be purchased on eBay (used) for around $400, or you get a new one for around $575

There is not a similar piece of equipment for silver that I know of, but I'd be in the market for one if anybody knows of such a thing.

The only magnetic part was the steel spring in the clasps, but that is to be expected. Typically, these faked pieces will use heavier metals to mask the weight differential between gold and non gold. The alloy varies and I have seen anything from silver to bronze to zinc and nickel, to a variety of other things. There is no firm answer, and because I am sending this whole lot back to the eBay seller, I will never know what it actually is.

Just beware that this kind of stuff is out there and if you are willing to risk your dollars on buying gold, then at least get some bit of insurance, aka a quality Gold Tester... just catching one bad lot can pay for the machine itself. I paid $1000 for a 50+ gram lot, of which more than half was non-payable. The seller wants the whole lot back, and will be sending another 50+ grams of 14K to me

Thanks for the video and the info, really help here

[rickygee]

Market Harmony, you da bomb!

[alpacafarmer]

Looking at the tri electronics web site I had a question. With there less expensive testers the GT 3000 and GT 4000 would they work just as well for testing 95% of the jewelery as most is 10K to 18K??