If you are doing a lot of shopping for jewelry, either for investment or for personal use, fake good jewelry is one problem that you'll have to be aware of and take precautions against. I will give you a few suggestions for how to spot fake gold jewelry.

One way is to place a magnet beside the piece of jewelry. If the magnet attracts the piece, then you can be sure that it is either fake gold or only gold plated. Real gold is non-magnetic.

Another way is to use an electronic tester that indicates what karat of gold the jewelry is. You clip the tester onto the jewelry item and place the item in a special kind of acidic solution. The device then reads the gold's purity.

Another way is to use a testing stone. You lightly rub the item against the stone to release a tiny amount of powder residue. You then apply the testing acid to the residue. If the residue is gold it will dissolve. Obviously this causes some minor damage to the item, so remember to rub lightly and preferably in a part of the item that is not so visible.

Similar testing kits involve making a small scratch on the jewelry item using a small file, then applying an acid to the scratch that will change color to indicate the purity of the metal. The color codes can be found in the kit instructions.

Now that you know how to detect fake gold jewelry in a number of ways, you can move confidently through the world of gold jewelry, knowing that you can avoid scams and misrepresented items. Best of luck with your collection and investments, and I hope you successfully avoid fool's gold jewelry!