Testing gold watch case with stone or x-ray -- HELP!

[Sitting With Liberty]

Hi All

Quick question and if someone could help it would be gladly appreciated. I purchased an antique watch which was said to be 14k gold. I thought there was a hallmark on it but when I received it there wasn't one. So I tested it for gold by rubbing it on the stone and using the acid. At 10k, there was no problem. When I used the 14k acid on a new rubbing, the acid disolved most of it though I could see a very faint trace of it rubbed on the stone. Actually when I applied the acid, I could see the smoke coming off the stone as it burned it up.

When I contacted the seller of the watch, he told me he had it x-ray assayed and it was shown to be 14k yellow gold. The case was made by Waltham. Does this seem to make sense at all? I don't want to make a fuss if there really is not a problem.
Thanks,
Hudson

 

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[goldsilverpro]

I've never seen a karat gold watch case that wasn't properly stamped, especially by a big company like Waltham. Pocket watch cases, however, are made of several different parts. Some are karat gold and some aren't. Generally, only the parts that are stamped are karat gold. Many watch cases are gold filled, which range from 2% to 5% gold, when new. Less when worn.

To test properly, file a notch deep enough to penetrate all layers and test with a drop or two of nitric acid (the 10K acid will probably work, also). If the acid fizzes and/or turns blue or green, it is not karat gold. Of course, you ruin the watch case when you do this.

Sounds like you may have gotten bit by the seller.

 

[Ant]

Sounds like it's less than 10k in purity or plated to me. Test it like goldsilverpro suggested.

 

[goldsilverpro]

It may have antique value even though it's not solid gold. I would do the notch test as a last resort. The seller probably used x-ray because he didn't want to damage it. I'm not technically sure about this, but if it were gold filled, the x-rays might not penetrate the karat gold surface laminate completely and give a false reading. If so, the seller is probably convinced that it's solid, even though it may not be. Also, if what he really used was one of those electronic karat gold testing pens, I think that gold filled could easily give a false reading

To me, the existence or the non-existence of a marking is very reliable, especially with a large company. I would try to get my money back, assuming you haven't damaged it.