Jewelry samples

It is clear that pure gold or silverjewelry is not made: in pure form, precious metals are very soft, and the cost of such products will be very high. Therefore, for the manufacture of jewelry used alloys in which other noble or conventional (nickel, copper, zinc) metals are mixed with a noble metal. Jewelry samples let you know how much precious metal contains an alloy.

Breakdown is called not only the content of the alloy, but also The brand with the corresponding designation to which the product is marked. According to Russian legislation, alloys,which contain more than 30% of the noble metal (by weight), should have a stigma indicating a sample. But you need to consider that in different countries jewelry tests are labeled differently.

Thus, in Russia and CIS countries metric sample system. Jewelry samples show how many thousandths of a noble metal contains one part of the alloy (the number of milligrams per gram, grams per kilogram, etc.). For of gold there are five jewelry samples: 375, 500, 585, 750, 958. Sometimes 583 and 996 samples are isolated. 999 test is pure gold.

The color of gold depends on the content in the alloyimpurities of other metals, in particular, copper and silver. Most often for the manufacture of jewelry used gold 585 samples. For filigree works, gold of 750 tests is more suitable. Gold of 958 tests is rarely used, because it is soft, has not too saturated color and does not hold polishing. All gold alloys above 750 in the air do not fade.

Accepted jewelry samples of silver - 750, 800, 875, 916, 925, 960, 999. For platinum one sample is installed - 950, for palladium - two, 500 and 850. However, palladium is not used for making jewelry, so the probability of collision with it is not high.

Outside the CIS, karat jewelry. The unit of evaluation of the purity of the metal in this caseserves British carat. Thus, a carat sample shows how much carat of a noble metal is contained in 24 carats of an alloy. The karat sample is indicated with the capital letter K. To convert the carb sample to metric, you need to divide the value of the karat sample by 24 and multiply the result by 1000.

Ratio of carat and metric gold samples following:

• 
  375 test - 9 carats
• 
  500 test - 12 carats
• 
  585 test - 14 carats
• 
  750 test - 18 carats
• 
  958 test - 23 carats
• 
  999 test (pure gold) - 24 carats

Before using modern jewelry samples (metric and carat), in Russia, spool test, and in Western Europe - pendant.

As we have already said, on jewelry necessarily put a brand with the symbol of the sample. On products made in the CIS, the sample will beis indicated in the metric system, on all others - in the karat. Sometimes you can find a brand like 23KGP. This means that the product is gilded, it is covered with 23-carat gold (958 gold). On Russian gilded products, the sample is not put.

On jewelry produced in Russia, except for the hallmark of the sample (which the Chamber of Assaying puts) there must be a name-stamp of the master or firm. The name consists of four characters. The first is the year code code (A corresponds to 2001, B-2002, etc.), the second is the assay inspection code, the rest is the manufacturer's code.

On the genuine product The name should only be on top or to the left of the sample, and both stamps should be clearly printed. All symbols of the nameplate must be enclosed in a single contour. On items from abroad, the nameplate may not be, it's normal. The sample, of course, on such a product will be carat.

If you want to buy a really high-quality piece of jewelry, It is important to know what kind of jewelry tests and stamps exist - this will help you avoid mistakes.