QuestionI have a large gold herringbone chain and I am wanting to sell it as scrap jewelry. I have a gold acid test kit and in following the kit's instructions and reading what others say about acid testing, I am coming up with the following results which confuse me and I was hoping you could help.
The chain is broken and it is stamped 10K. Since it is broken I have done a destructive acid test with a very heavy scratch with a file. Into the scratch I have placed 14K acid. I get a brown reaction on the chain but I can see no green even with a 3 power magnifying glass. When I look at the white towel underneath the tested piece of jewelry I see a slight green stain and if I blot the area of gold I dropped the acid on I also get a green stain, but yet no green on the gold. The acid test instruction say if the the 10k gold goes brown with 14k acid with no green reaction then the piece is 10k, yet I get the green stains on a white towel. Is this piece potentially gold filled or is the key to the test what happens on the gold and not the white towel? Thank you for any help you can offer.
AnswerGood question,
From wher I sit I can not acomplish this for you nor do I feel comfortable making the call.
Normaly I would have you seek a professional to test the piece be cause the cost of the test kit is far more expensive than the test itself and making a mistake could cost you even more money.
You may not like my answer but this is the best way for you to go to protect yourself.
Thanks for writting !!!
Good Luck
A.DeMello Gemological Laboratories
Arthur DeMello GG (GIA) J-Bar (JVC) USPAP
http://www.nationalgemologicallaboratory.com
New York City - Westchester - Long Island - Boston - Burlington - Newton Wellesley - Quincy - Hingham - Hartford - East Berlin - Stamford - Shelton - Jersey City - Parsippany - Morristown - Hackensack - East Brunswick - Bedminster - Bridgewater
