How To Test Gold & Silver Jewelry with a Magnet!
I wanted to make sure I was educated on how to recognize real jewelry from fakes because I was anticipating a jewelry purchase recently. So I performed some extensive internet research to see if gold and silver could be checked for authenticity using a magnet, and you won’t believe what I discovered.
Is it possible to use a magnet to test gold and silver? Both gold and silver can be checked using a magnet to see if they will be attracted to the magnetic force. Because neither metal is meant to be magnetic, the way they react to the magnet will reveal whether or not they are false.
If you’ve ever considered making a major purchase of genuine handmade emerald jewelry or silver jewelry, you’re definitely aware of the anxiety that comes with not knowing whether you’re getting a genuine item or one that has been tampered with. Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about performing these basic tests.
How To Test Silver With a Magnet
What You Will Need:
Small magnet
The silver in question
How To Test Silver With a Magnet:
- Gather your materials together on a flat workspace
- Begin by placing the magnet on top of the silver coin or bar
- Observe the behavior of the magnet
- Perform an additional magnet slide test (for silver bars)
- Place magnet on top of the silver bar at a 45-degree angle
- Observe the way the magnet slides down the bar
If you need to use a magnet to evaluate the genuineness of silver, make sure it’s a small but powerful magnet. To conduct these tests, you should utilize a Neodymium disc magnet or a comparable bar magnet.
You can start by placing the magnet on top of the silver in question, whether it’s a coin or a bar, once you’ve gathered the necessary ingredients and arrived at your workspace. If the two materials stick together, the silver isn’t genuine and has been tampered with.
Place the magnet on top of the silver bar while holding it in mid-air at a 45-degree angle to perform an additional test, which works best for bars of silver over any other form.
Keep an eye on how the magnet moves down the bar. If it sticks and does not glide at all, this is further evidence that the silver you purchased is not genuine. It’s also not real if the magnet moves down very quickly in front of your eyes.
If the magnet moves down slowly and steadily, you’ll be able to conclude that your silver is most likely genuine.
Does The Magnet Test Always Work?
While it is true that the magnet test can be a useful tool for immediately identifying a phony item of jewelry if it sticks, there are a few drawbacks to this notion.
If The Magnet Test Isn’t Working:
Stainless steel and silver/gold combination (non-magnetic)
On rare occasions, actual gold is mixed with iron.
To begin with, the metals that might be incorporated into a false gold or silver item could be non-magnetic elements. A gold watch with traces of stainless steel, for example, will be undetected in the magnet test because stainless steel does not attach to the magnet.
Additionally, certain real gold goods will be blended with iron, which is a magnetic substance. You might dismiss the contents of actual gold in something coupled with iron after failing the magnet test.
Finally, while the magnet test method can be a quick way to rule out an obviously false piece of jewelry, it should not be used as the sole method of determining the authenticity of one of these materials due to the potential for misinterpretation of the results.
