The fastest reliable check is the hallmark: real gold sold in the UK over 1 gram must carry a row of marks from an independent Assay Office, including a fineness number like 375 or 750. No hallmark, or a stamp like GP, GF or 925 on a gold-coloured piece, and you are almost certainly not holding solid gold. Everything else below is supporting evidence.

I am Patrycja, founder of THERESHEIS.jewels in Edinburgh. People send me photos of inherited rings and market-stall bargains every week, so here is the honest version of how to check, in order of usefulness.

1. Find the hallmark

Check the inside of rings, earring posts, clasps and chain tags. You are looking for three marks together: a sponsor's mark in a shield, a fineness number, and one of the four UK Assay Office symbols, a leopard's head, an anchor, a rose, or a castle for Edinburgh. I wrote a full guide to reading them, but the short version is that 375 means 9ct, 585 means 14ct and 750 means 18ct.

A hallmark is applied after independent testing, which is why it beats every home test on this list. One caveat: antique and very small pieces can be legally unmarked, so an absent hallmark on your great-grandmother's ring is a question, not a verdict.

2. Read the stamp critically

Some stamps are designed to look reassuring while telling you the opposite. GP is gold plated. GF is gold filled. RGP is rolled gold plate. 18KGP is plating, not 18ct gold. 925 means the metal underneath is sterling silver, so a gold-coloured piece stamped 925 is vermeil. 1 micron or 2.5 micron refers to plating thickness.

None of these are gold in the solid sense. They are honest descriptions of plated jewellery, and plated jewellery has its place, but it should be priced like plating, not like gold.

3. Do the magnet test, properly

Gold is not magnetic. Hold a strong magnet, ideally neodymium rather than a fridge magnet, next to the piece. If it snaps towards the magnet, there is steel or iron inside and it is not solid gold.

Now the part most guides skip: passing the magnet test proves very little. Brass, copper and silver are not magnetic either, and most fake gold is made from them. The magnet test can only fail a piece. It can never pass one.

4. Look at the wear points

Plating wears where jewellery rubs: the underside of a ring band, the edges of a clasp, the back of a pendant. If you can see a different colour showing through at the friction points, silvery, coppery or grey, the gold is a coating. Solid gold wears too, but it wears gold all the way down. This is the check that catches most old plated pieces in the drawer.

5. Check the weight in your hand

Gold is dense, noticeably denser than brass or steel. A solid gold chain feels heavier than it looks. This takes calibration, so it works best when you can compare a known solid piece with a suspect one of similar size. On its own it is a hint, not proof, especially with hollow gold pieces which are genuinely gold but deliberately light.

6. When it matters, get it tested

For anything valuable, inherited or unmarked, a jeweller with an XRF machine or an acid test kit can tell you in minutes, usually for a small fee or free. The Assay Offices themselves also test items from the public. This is the route for anything you might insure, sell or pass on. A five-minute professional test beats an afternoon of home experiments.

Three myths to skip

The bite test. You will scratch your teeth before you learn anything. Gold is soft, but so is lead, and most fakes are hard alloys anyway.

The vinegar test. The internet loves it. Vinegar is too weak an acid to tell plated brass from gold reliably, and it can mark the surface of plated pieces you might still want to wear.

The ceramic scratch test. Dragging jewellery across an unglazed tile to see the streak colour will damage the piece, and plated items leave a gold streak too, right up until they do not.

What this looks like when you shop

Every piece at THERESHEIS.jewels is solid 9ct or 18ct gold, independently hallmarked in the UK, and arrives with a certificate. You can run every check on this list against anything I sell, starting with the hallmark, and I would genuinely encourage it. Solid gold does not need you to take anyone's word for it. That is rather the point of it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest way to tell if gold is real? Find the hallmark. UK gold over 1 gram must carry marks from an independent Assay Office, including a fineness number such as 375 for 9ct or 750 for 18ct. Stamps like GP, GF or 925 indicate plating or silver, not solid gold.

Does real gold stick to a magnet? No. Gold is not magnetic, so a piece that snaps to a strong magnet is not solid gold. But passing the magnet test proves little, because brass, copper and silver are not magnetic either.

What does 925 mean on gold-coloured jewellery? 925 is the fineness mark for sterling silver. A gold-coloured piece stamped 925 is silver with gold plating, known as vermeil.

Is the vinegar test for gold reliable? No. Vinegar is too weak an acid to distinguish plated metal from solid gold reliably, and it can mark the surface of plated pieces.

How can I test inherited gold jewellery? Take it to a jeweller with an XRF machine or acid test kit, or to one of the UK Assay Offices. Professional testing takes minutes and is the only reliable answer for unmarked or antique pieces.

THERESHEIS.jewels is an independent fine jewellery brand in Edinburgh. Everything we sell is solid 9ct or 18ct gold, UK hallmarked, and covered by our 2 year warranty. If you are unsure about a piece you bought from me, write to hi@theresheisjewels.com and I will walk you through its marks.