Does Gold Jewelry Have to Be Stamped

Stamps on gold jewelry are perceived as an indication of the item's authenticity. But does gold have to be stamped? Is a gold stamp really a guarantee of quality? And what should you do it a gold piece is not stamped?

What Stamps Can You See on Gold Jewelry?

Gold jewelry is usually stamped with markings indicating its karat number. Karat is a measure of gold purity, with 24 karats being the highest possible value, indicating that a piece is 99.99% gold.

For example, a "14K" stamp means that the piece is 14 karats, and a "10Kt" stamp means that the item is 10 karats. Other stamps you can see on gold are numbers that indicate its purity in terms of parts per thousand rather than karats.

For example, the number 750 stamped on a piece of jewelry means that 75% of it is gold, which corresponds to 18 karats. There are other letters that can be stamped next to the karat mark, and they give additional information as to the makeup of the jewelry.

For example, the letters "GP" indicate that the item is not solid gold but is actually gold plated. The stamp  "GF" means that the piece is gold filled.

Does Real Gold Have to Be Stamped?

In the U.S., there is a law that mandates that gold jewelry sold by a vendor must be stamped with a marking that indicates the item's karat number.

The law also states that the real purity of the piece can deviate by up to 0.5 karats from the karat stamp. So, for example, a gold ring with a 14K stamp can have an actual purity of 13.8 or 13.6 karats, but no less than 13.5 karats.

Can You Trust Gold Stamps?

Although there are regulations that are supposed to prevent fraud, there is no guarantee that you won't come across a counterfeit piece of  gold jewelry.

A karat number might be wrong. Or, the karat number could be correct, but it could refer only to the plating of the jewelry, and there might not be any additional signs indicating that the item is actually plated and not solid gold.

The best guarantee that a piece of jewelry is actually gold is to test it for purity or to buy from a reputable jeweler that you are certain you can trust.

The article comes from China Chang'an stainless steel jewelry  manufacturer - A2A, the website is www.stainlesssteelacc.com .