Much like the basic yellow gold streak test, with the white gold streak test you will rub the unknown metal against the testing stone and then apply acid to the stone to see how it reacts. The two major differences is that you will not have a white gold needle streak to compare the unknown metal’s reaction to, and that since most white gold has some plating to enhance the silver tones of the metal you may not get an accurate result right away with this method.
Tools Needed:
- A testing stone
- And 22 karat gold testing acid
Step 1
To protect the piece you want to test as much as possible from testing damage, start by rubbing or scratching the item you want to test directly against the surface of the testing stone. As you do this, you will notice that the metal leaves a mark on the testing stone. Press firmly on the testing stone to leave a thick and visible deposit that you can test accurately. The mark should be about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long.
Step 2
Place a drop of the 22 karat acid on the stone where the two gold marks are. As soon as the acid hits the testing stone and the marks, watch the reaction to determine what kind of metal you are dealing with.
- If the white metal you are testing is 18 karat white gold, the scratch mark will turn a light bronze color in the first three minutes after applying the acid.
- If the white metal you are testing is 14 karat white gold, the scratch mark on the stone will disappear in about 15 seconds.
- If the metal is actually stainless steel and not white gold at all, the streak will remain unchanged on the stone.
What does it mean when a platinum gold silver nickel allow turns black on a 22k gold acid test and turns blue on an 18 k acid test? It turns dark blue on a silver acid test? I’m trying to find the value of the allow. Thanks
Dark blue mean fake. Or should I say not silver or gold. More than likely brass, copper, nickel, who knows what they’re using to fake jewelry today. I had multiple “dankadi” bracelets/ necklaces that were labeled and sold as “rhodium plated sterling silver” the test showed a tiny bit of silver in the plating but nothing else and other acid tests were inconclusive but after a while I could see the copper and brass. They’re getting better at fooling or at least confusing people
Iv been making a white gold nugget with Platinum & silver & gold & nickel. I’ve tested all the metal’s with acid test before using it. It passed the acid test’s. And the 18 k gold acid test turns it white. But now that I’ve been add more gold to the white gold nugget the 22k acid test turns it light bronze color. I believe the reason I was getting the white strip on 18k and it disappeared on the 22 before was because my gold percentage rate wasn’t high anof. But thanks for the information. It was very helpful.
Thanks for an insightful article. Its very interesting to know about all these details
Every time Maahira
gold and diamond jewelry is something that interests me