Post updated: Jun 6, 2020
Anyone who wants to pamper themselves or a loved one with a precious gift thinks about what kind of gold is best to buy. The modern precious metals market offers a wide selection of gold products in different shades, such as white, red, yellow, green and even black.
The color of the gold product and its composition
As is known, at this stage of development of the precious metals industry, most of them represent different types of alloys of gold and some other metals. Therefore, when you come to a jewelry store, you will in any case think about what kind of gold is better, where to buy it and what country of origin it should be from.
Impurities in the alloy are otherwise called alloy additives. The color of the gold product and its structure will depend on the quantity and composition of these additives. As an example: if gold itself is alloyed with platinum, zinc or nickel, it will have a white color; if gold is alloyed with silver, then yellow (the most popular), and an unusual red tint will be obtained if gold is alloyed with copper.
"Red" gold.
It is important to note that the sample of the product will depend on the amount of additives. If the metal contains a large number of additives, then there will be less gold in it and its purity will become lower, thus the metal itself will become an order of magnitude cheaper.
Based on all of the above, we can conclude that gold alloyed with platinum will cost much more than gold alloyed with nickel.
One more piece of advice regarding the composition of the precious item. There are often cases when one or another additive in an alloy with gold causes an allergic reaction, so make sure that you or your loved one does not have one.
How to distinguish real gold from fake?
By trial. On the precious metal you will see numbers that indicate the amount of pure metal in the composition. The rest of the composition is a ligature, that is, additives that give a certain color and properties. Most often in stores you can find jewelry made of 585 gold.
How to ensure quality:
- the sample must be applied clearly, there should be no unreadable letters, chips, or blurry numbers;
- It is better to examine the numbers with a magnifying glass to ensure full compliance;
- check that the sample on the jewelry matches the one indicated in the documents.
Inspect the product carefully . If it is new, then the metal should not have any defects, such as abrasions, scratches and cracks. As for jewelry that has already been used, they may have defects: scratches are natural for gold, as a fairly soft metal.
Consider the structure of the alloy : if the surface is not smooth, but porous, then this may be a sign of cheap metal or poor workmanship. It is better not to buy such an accessory. Inspect not only the outer surface, but also the underside. An indicator of high-quality work by a jeweler is a smooth inner surface without defects (poor polishing, snags, sharp corners).
How is gold different from gilding?
Relatively speaking, gilding is a coating “for show”. In other words, it can be any base metal (for example, steel or an iron-containing alloy) or, at best, silver coated with a thin layer of gold. Such things have a right to exist, but the buyer must be warned about what he is buying. Unfortunately, such items are often passed off as real gold, especially in popular tourist areas.
One of the well-known ways to detect gilding in field conditions is to use an ordinary magnet: bring the magnet to the jewelry, and if it is made of gold, it will not be magnetized
What is the secret of the low cost of gold from Turkey and Egypt?
Which gold is better: Turkish or Egyptian is a complex question. Let's try to figure it out below.
As you know, precious metals from Turkey and Egypt can be purchased much cheaper than all others, especially if purchased directly in the producing country. And they are inexpensive because there gold is never alloyed with silver, but most often with copper. It is the high copper content in the product that makes it so cheap. But of course, such products have some negative sides. For example, when you decide which gold is better to buy: Turkish or Egyptian, keep in mind that the first one darkens quite quickly if left without proper care, and the second one has reduced resistance to environmental influences.
It is impossible not to mention the peculiarities of the local ligature of gold products. The appearance is significantly different from domestic gold. There it is dimmer and almost does not shimmer when exposed to direct sunlight.
Which gold is best to buy is a complex and multifaceted question, but having an idea of its composition, you can already draw some conclusions.
Unfortunately, Turkish and Egyptian gold can even crack or shatter in cold weather temperatures. Therefore, once you decide to purchase such products, do not be discouraged by the fact that it may soon deteriorate. In other words, it is best to treat such jewelry as expensive jewelry.
Quality control of gold jewelry in Russia
It is safe to buy gold jewelry in Russia. Not every country has such strict rules for the circulation of precious metals. According to Russian laws, jewelry gold undergoes double control:
- Gold refining, that is, the process of purifying from impurities and bringing 99.99% of primary raw materials or gold scrap to purity, occurs exclusively at enterprises with permission for this type of activity; there are 11 of them in Russia. Tested gold is sent to jewelry factories.
- In production, pure gold is mixed with a ligature, turned into jewelry, and then sent to the Assay Office (assay inspection), where compliance with the declared sample is checked, that is, it is checked whether the manufacturer has added more impurities than indicated on the tag. Products are tested, sealed, and only after that they reach the counter.
The Assay Office also examines imported jewelry. The Russian control system creates many difficulties for manufacturers and importers, but it guarantees the quality of jewelry produced and sold in the country.
Why is it better to buy jewelry in famous stores?
Why, claiming that it is safe to buy gold in Russia, do we add the comment: “but only in well-known salons and stores”? If a jewelry factory or store underestimates the standard, the Assay Office will not stamp the product.
Selling gold products without markings is a criminal offense, punishable by huge fines in accordance with Article 171.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
A small store, a private craftsman, a one-day company created for trade at a fair can take a risk and put a mark on their own or sell products without a mark. That is why at non-prestigious exhibitions they so often buy imitation stones under the guise of natural minerals, as well as silver and gold products with a precious metal content lower than the declared standard.
Now you know how to make sure that the jewelry you are going to buy in St. Petersburg salons is of high quality. Don’t be afraid of deception, check everything yourself and surround yourself with beauty!
What is the success of gold products from Italy?
To begin with, it is worth noting that Italian gold is one of the best in the world. In addition, this country is the largest exporter of precious metals. Therefore, when traveling around the world and thinking about where is the best place to buy gold, pay attention to this country.
Italian products are even different in appearance: they have a bright yellow tint, beautiful iridescence, and there are completely no inserts of other colors. Such qualities are achieved due to the absence of copper or silver in the composition of the products.
Despite this, craftsmen from Italy always try to keep up with the times, therefore, in order to give the metal interesting shades, they still alloy gold with other additives.
In most cases, precious metal from Italy is made from gold of the following grades:
- 990-999th (24-karat);
- 750th (18 carat);
- 585th (14 carat).
Each Italian product is a complete work of art and clearly answers the question of which gold is the best of all. Even professionals in their field have always admired gold from Italy. Firstly, this metal is distinguished by special polishing, which is carried out only in this country. Secondly, the Italians work out and hone all the details, even the most insignificant ones, down to the smallest detail.
The worldwide success and recognition of Italy as a trendsetter in jewelry fashion came to it immediately after such brands as Gucci and Armani entered the jewelry market. Thus, Italian products always have the highest standard, and their presence once again emphasizes the status and sense of style of its owner.
Where is the best place to buy gold jewelry?
Fake gold can be found quite often these days.
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to purchase a precious item in a jewelry store that will provide you with all possible guarantees of quality. Therefore, people often do not neglect dubious jewelry stores and buy gold in shopping malls or on the Internet. In most cases, they will purchase low-quality goods, even for little money. Markets are also not recommended as a place to buy jewelry.
Consequently, the question of which gold is best to buy fades into the background and buyers will be mainly interested in where to purchase gold.
But where is the best place to buy high-quality metal, if you can even deceive in jewelry stores? It is better to buy gold in places that you have known for a long time. And the longer, the better. For example, you remember from childhood that here, in this place, there was a jewelry store all your life and it still stands there to this day. This will be further proof that he runs a good business and offers his customers a quality product.
This does not mean that all new salons will deceive you and offer gold of dubious quality. The fact is that they have not yet earned their reputation, and jewelry costs a lot of money, so it is better not to take any unnecessary risks.
If we talk about what kind of gold is best to buy in these salons, then it is definitely the one that has a clearly visible mark that does not raise even the slightest doubt about its authenticity. Also, pay attention to the inside of the decoration. Absolutely all products must be made carefully without any defects.
How to avoid getting into trouble when buying gold jewelry?
One of the main havens of shady “jewelers” in Minsk is buying gold on Botanicheskaya Street. Gypsies are on duty here almost every day. And so it has been for several decades.
“I sold them a gold bracelet, I remember it very well, in 1989.
And now 25 years have passed, and they are still standing here,” says Vladimir, who has lived in this area all his life. How is trading going now? There are no gypsies next to the purchase. I decide to look at what’s inside—maybe it’s a bad time? No, the small room is full of people. A man who went out for a smoke break saves him from final disappointment: “Gypsies? So they stand further, on the store. And it’s there today.”
Shadow buyers simply hid from the heat in the shade of trees. But it’s worth slowing down a little and...
- Young woman! Come here,” the gypsy beckons. - Do you sell or buy?
- How much do you charge?
- Show me what, and I’ll name the price.
- I don’t have it with me. Tell me, how much does a gram cost?
“Two hundred and fifty,” the gypsy reluctantly answers and loses interest in me. A new client is next in line.
In official purchases, the cost of a gram varies from 128 to 328 thousand rubles, depending on the sample. In general, the price that the gypsy named is average—about the same price they buy here today for 750-grade yellow metal.
Why are it the gypsies who are engaged in gold trading on the illegal market? They once had a tradition of melting down gold into a belt that symbolized their wealth. The longer it is, the more prosperous the family. But, of course, it’s unlikely that Botanicheskaya businessmen are buying precious metals for this purpose. The main goal is resale. This is a kind of “secondary”, where the gypsies act as intermediaries. Of course, the police are fighting this kind of business: last year, more than 60 buyers were detained here. The punishment is a fine of up to thirty basic units if caught the first time, and then up to fifty with confiscation of the “goods.”
This is just one side of the illegal jewelry market. The other, more serious one, relies on seemingly harmless housewives over thirty.
From her next trip to Russia, Elena brought herself several gold jewelry - a ring, a bracelet and a chain. My sister was the first to notice, saying they were beautiful, where she bought them. Elena said that it was cheaper on the market in Russia than here. The relative asked me to bring the decoration to her next time. Then a colleague, then a friend. And off we go... From each trip - at least 20 products. It soon turned into a business. “The salary at work was small,” the woman recalls. - And here for each decoration it’s 30 dollars, or even more. Not a bad extra.”
Elena’s story is standard for almost all shady second-hand “jewelry” dealers. Perhaps this is how Tatyana, a Minsk resident, started out, and she and her husband were detained on the Belarusian-Polish border. In the car they were transporting gold and silver jewelry, all for sale. In total, BEP officers seized about 2.5 kg of precious metal from them. In addition, the woman was found to have a phone book with numbers of regular customers - the goods went to trusted people. Not only Tatyana sold “jewelry”: she and her husband were suppliers. From them came the threads of a whole criminal network. The couple bought jewelry at Polish markets - here a gram of gold costs about 36 dollars, while here it costs from 50. The difference is in your pocket. The family contract had its own implementers. One of them was detained in Orsha: he alone had several dozen regular clients, and nearly a thousand pieces of jewelry were found. Each time, at the time of “delivery,” he came to Minsk for a new batch of goods.
Police officers constantly detain such sellers. In Svisloch, Gomel, Zhitkovichi, Volkovysk... In Bereza, more than four hundred contraband jewelry was found on the detainee. “Nar” from one hundred grams of gold - about 1.4 thousand dollars.
In general, selling and buying jewelry outside a store, for example, from a friend, is not prohibited in our country. But on the ring and earrings there must be a mandatory hallmark of the State Probation Supervision Service. Olga Zagorovskaya, senior detective officer for especially important cases of the Main Directorate for Economic Crimes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, says that this small imprint in the form of a bison silhouette is a kind of guarantee of quality: “The fact that there is a sample on the ring and a beautiful tag hangs does not mean anything. At Gosprobnadzor, the jewelry will be checked for compliance with the declared standard and only after that the state mark will be applied to it. Of course, it won’t be on the smuggled jewelry.”
By selling illegally imported jewelry from Poland, Russia, India, and therefore without paying taxes and other payments to the budget, smugglers create unfair competition in the jewelry market. Our volume of gold jewelry is more than a ton per year. This is a good result. But our domestic market is not that big. At the same time, there are also foreign manufacturers. Partly to squeeze out imports, two years ago a jewelry holding appeared in the country, which included OJSC Gomel PO Kristall, CJSC Belgran and OJSC Beluvelirtorg. According to plans, in three years its market share should be at least 40 percent. Another task is to increase exports. Our factories have potential. But “jewelry” is a delicate matter in all respects. In order not to make a mistake, you need to take into account many factors. For example, it doesn’t make much sense for us to go to some eastern countries where they love large, weighty jewelry. But the Russian market is promising, where we are already supplying jewelry products. But the Russians themselves are doing well - they consistently rank among the top ten countries in the world for the production of gold products. True, the shadow market of precious metals there is comparable in volume to the official one.
Selling jewelry that does not have the marks of the State Probation Supervision Service faces serious punishment - up to 12 years with confiscation of property. Moreover, this applies not only to the seller, but also to the buyer. Over the past six months, BEP units have identified more than three hundred crimes for the illegal sale of jewelry—this is a third more than in the same period last year.
Ordinary scammers have also found their place in the shadows. In a large regional center, a local businesswoman decided to buy a heavy gold chain. I was attracted by the price - two times lower than in the store. The woman played it safe: she weighed the jewelry in a jewelry workshop, and there she was convinced that the precious metal was real. But in the end, she was still left with nothing: the fraudster replaced the chain right at the time of the transaction. And how many stories are there about how people buy a product secondhand, even with stamps, after which it turns out that only the clasps are genuine, and everything else is a cheap alloy.
The black market for the “yellow devil” is directly related to the financial condition of the country. It is no coincidence that a surge of interest in the “despicable metal” occurred in 1947 (mass rumors about the impending monetary reform in the USSR), 1961 (monetary reform - even the death penalty was threatened for illegal transactions with precious metals), the 90s of the last century (hyperinflation) , 2011 (the National Bank even introduced a restriction - the sale of bullion only for foreign currency). Everything is natural. When the ruble depreciates, illegal methods of preserving savings become in demand. And, as a rule, there are those who are ready to satisfy this demand. Today the situation is different. It is more profitable to store money in deposits, and buy bracelets and chains in stores. It's calmer this way. Why support the black market and take risks?
How to avoid getting into trouble when buying gold jewelry?
- Jewelry is rarely made entirely of gold - the metal is too soft and quickly loses its presentation. As a rule, this is an alloy. To find out what proportion of precious metal is in it, they look at the sample. The higher it is, the more gold. The sample may differ in different countries. For example, in Japan the “running speed” is 1000. In Belarus today there are the following: 375th, 500th, 583rd, 585th, 750th, 900th, 916th, 950th, 958th.
- Gold jewelry varies in color. The color depends on the “additives” in the alloy: where there is more copper, it is redder, where there is silver, it is lighter, etc. Based on this, evaluate how fair the price for the product is being offered to you.
- If you bought gold abroad or sent jewelry to be melted down at a jewelry workshop, you can check it at the State Probation Supervision Service and at the same time put a stamp on it. The issue price is 3 thousand rubles per gram.
- Specific advice: try to drop a future purchase. If the sound is dull, you are unlikely to see real gold - it “rings” pleasantly.
The best time to buy a precious item
Having some ideas about where and what kind of gold is best to buy, it’s worth thinking about when is the best time to do it. Buying gold at a certain moment, thought out in advance, is much more profitable. But how to calculate this moment?
This question may mainly arise from those who make a purchase for the first time and are new to the structure of the market system. Below are some tips on this matter.
To begin with, you need to remember the main thing: during promotions and all kinds of seasonal sales, it is not recommended to purchase jewelry, no matter what favorable conditions are offered by the store. Most often, promotions apply to outdated products, or those that are not of particular quality and resistance to damage.
Also, avoid bulk purchases. For example, when a jewelry store offers discounts on the second, third, and subsequent items, it is best to refuse the offer. As a result, some of them will be of poor quality.
It is also not a good idea to buy gold jewelry on the eve of various holidays. It is best to purchase gold jewelry with an eye on the growth of the dollar or euro. Don't expect maximum lows or highs. Choose the most stable moment when the rate fluctuates in a relatively small range.
