Help choosing a gold tester

[matt1r]

Hey wonder if anyone can give any input and maybe already own one? For less than the price of an Oz of gold the piece of mind would just be great.

ive been looking at the gold screen box on

https://www.gold-analytix.de/en-uk/goldscreenbox

thoughts? Thanks!

 

[silenceissilver]

I have a Sigma Pro, none of the testers from Gold Analytix, so I can't comment on them from own experience.

This PM dealer has introduced them in at least two of his videos, in the first one with the a guy from Gold Analytix. It's in German buy maybe you can still get something from seeing them being used in pratice.

 

[matt1r]

Thanks for the reply yea I can’t understand much there, it just seems easier and if there’s any tax I can avoid ordering from Europe, I want to test 9carat too which it seems the screenbox lacks? 

[Prophecy]

38 minutes ago, matt1r said:

Thanks for the reply yea I can’t understand much there, it just seems easier and if there’s any tax I can avoid ordering from Europe, I want to test 9carat too which it seems the screenbox lacks? 

You can do auto translate to English with the generated subtitles. Prepare for some weird word choices though

[matt1r]

I can only select auto generate German, I e sent them an email anyway to see what they recommend 

[Prophecy]

6 minutes ago, matt1r said:

I can only select auto generate German, I e sent them an email anyway to see what they recommend 

Click cog, click subtitles then click auto translate and select english.

[Prophecy]

This tester doesnt seem to be as fully featured as the sigma to test dimensions and to have attachments to test other sizes of PMs that will not fit on the circle. (smaller items will not work) I don't know the price of the german machine but if it is the same price as the sigma i'd get the sigma. It should be priced half the sigma.

edit. it's more than the Sigma. rip off. To match the Sigma, you'd have to buy calipers AND another wand box for smaller items. and it's not small enough to warrant the premium for portability, good luck putting this in your jacket pocket to take around with you.

[matt1r]

Did you buy the sigma direct any import charges? They’re currently stating no individual orders on their website.

[Prophecy]

1 minute ago, matt1r said:

Did you buy the sigma direct any import charges? They’re currently stating no individual orders on their website.

I got mine on ebay but there is a european distributer https://www.sigma-verifiers.com/en/buy/original-precious-metal-verifier

[matt1r]

I appreciate the help, what version have you got any can you test all purities..9ct chains etc.

 

No one seems to have any stock at the minute, I’m going to do a bit more research Before I make any decisions but saw this one on eBay too 

193488386571

[silenceissilver]

1 hour ago, matt1r said:

Thanks for the reply yea I can’t understand much there, it just seems easier and if there’s any tax I can avoid ordering from Europe, I want to test 9carat too which it seems the screenbox lacks? 

According to this video you can select the metal/purity of the metal and measure against it (same as with the Sigma) ormeasure the value (electric conductivity measured through induced electromagnetivity or something like that). You could then compare it against the table that comes with it - if this table went as far down as 9K - it doesn't. In theory you could find out yourself. I think in practice there is the problem the further you go away from purity, the wider the range of the value for the metal you test becomes because the remaining metals could be of different compositions. I would need to get it out and look it up but I can't recall the Sigma offering a 9K option, either. I don't think, it does, it think this method is just not very suitable for low purity PMs (It's the same with specific gravity tests btw).

From ca 14:50 or so in the first video this guy shows a second machine for testing rings - again it reminds me of the Sigma but it's not in one machine.

I have not watched the whole video again but from the set up I would assume it doesn't measure through the whole coin but only the surface (with some depth, I don't know let's say a quarter mm or so, I'd need to look it up for the Sigma, again). That's why I bought the Sigma Pro that measures through the whole coin.

The second machine in this video as well as the small wand (for rings etc) that comes with the Sigma only measure on the surface (with some depth but not all they way through), I think for rings that's the only option.

I'm not 100% sure but I think for testing 9K gold you need a very expensive spectrometer (that again only test the surface but here you get a detailed list of everything that's included and how much of it). They are about 30 times more or so.

If you want to find out for yourself google electric conductivity 9K gold. I think you will find out what I have written above, the range will simply be too wide, depending on what else there is in the alloy. It will be a different story though if you know what the rest of the alloy is supposed to be composed of - if you know it exactly, you should get an exact value you are looking for.

 

[matt1r]

Appreciate the lengthy reply, the more I hear and read I’m thinking it’s not really for me it would only be doing half the job I need. I may be better off just popping to the jewellers when I need verification.

[Prophecy]

The Sigma device isn't good for jewellery because the compositions are too variable - there is no standard mix for carats. The same can be assumed for the german one because this technology can not separate the constituent metals. XRF can, but only the surface.

from Sigma documentation:

"There are two main reasons why the PMV cannot sample jewellery. First, there are size and shape limitations, and second, the alloy content of jewellery is too variable. The PMV signal cannot measure inconsistent or thin surfaces such as woven braids, curved surfaces and narrow dimensions. Also, the the alloy content of jewellery varies. Jewellers make their own mixes of alloys, sometimes 14 K gold means the remaining metal is all copper and sometimes the remaining metal is all silver, and sometimes it's a combination of both. Sometimes 14K gold is really only 13 K or 13.6 K. The PMV is not suitable for testing jewellery."

If you have 'junk' jewellery then get a cheap scratch test kit if you need to verify gold content with that.

[StackerCollector]

I think anything less in quality than this one is a waste of money (seriously considering to open a gold pawn shop at some point)

 

[Prophecy]

For jewellery, that XRF is best so a jeweller or pawn shop with one may help. It probably won't be an issue, but XRF (esp these Thermofisher devices) can only penetrate up to 1 mm beneath the surface. Ok for spotting plating but not for deeper metal manipulations.