Real Pearl

Pearl is second after diamond for women, precious and charming. Neckless, rings, bracelets made of real pearls are famous world over and one can buy pearl from few dollars to some thousand dollars but now days imitation of pearl is done worldwide and hundreds of people get cheated everyday by purchasing fake pearls

How Are Fake Pearls Made?

1. Plastic Beads - The beads are cover with as many as forty coats of pearl essence and hand polished between each coat, but is much lighter than glass beads.



2. Mother-of-pearl shell beads - These are coated with the same substances as plastic and glass imitations. There are also some occasions that people sell uncoated mother-of-pearl shell beads, and claim those are pearls. Other terms used to designate imitation pearls are simulated and faux pearls.




3. Glass beads - Make in the same process as that of plastic beads. But they are heavier than plastic beads.

How Can We Test Real Pearl?

1. Simple Rub/ Friction Test For Pearl. - Take two pearls then lightly rub one against the other. If they feel gritty or sandy, they are real pearls. If they feel smooth, they are not real.






2. Microscope Test for Pearl.- Magnify the surface of the pearl with a magnifier. If it look grainy, the bead is imitation pearl. If it looks scaly, maze-like, it is real pearl.






3. Density Test For Pearl. - Density is the mass of an object as a function of its volume. Real pearls are heavier for their size than plastic, resin, or hollow glass pearls. Good glass fakes will have the same density are real pearls. Light pearls are fake - you can't tell real from faux on the basis of density alone if the pearls are heavy.






4. X-Ray Test For Pearl. - If you really need to know whether or not your pearls are real or fake or whether they are natural or cultured, you are going to have to pay someone, preferably a certified gemologist, to x-ray them for you. An x-ray will show the inside of the pearl, including variations in its density, the presence or absence of a parasite that might have caused the formation of a natural pearl, and the characteristic shapes of drill holes, if present.

So by Following the above mentioned tests one can easily find that the pearl is real or not. However Cultured Pearls being the exception.

Real Bone China

Bone China is a very popular name, not only for the class but shows status of a person using it, throughout the world bone china cups, mugs, plates, bowls etc. are used daily, although one may not know the fact that bone china dinner sets may cost you from some $75 to $4000. the more thinner and finer the costlier it becomes.

But the real fact is that world over millions of people are fooled every year when they purchase ordinary items in name of bone china. But the question is can we ourselves identify real bone china from ordinary ceramic items.

How To Test Real Bone China?

Sound Test Of Bone China
Take The bone china utensil in your hand and bang your first finger on it or take two bone china utensils and bang** them very slightly in both the cases if you are getting a sweet bell sound then this is real bone china but if you get a dub sound then it may be poor quality bone china or ceramic. After this we proceed to visibility and light test

Visibility and Light Test for Bone China

A piece of bone china contains at least 25% of bone ash, and this compound not only adds strength and white color to the china, but also makes it translucent. Not totally transparent, but enough for the light to pass through it. So if you hold up any piece of bone china up to a light and place your hand behind it, you should be able to see your fingers through it which confirms real bone china.

Real Desi Ghee

One of the best natural product from milk which is destroyed by man for his profits, Pure Desi Ghee is one of the most important ingredients of Indian kitchens, not only due to its taste and qualities it is important because Desi ghee is a symbol of wealth, prosperity and health of a family.

Desi Ghee is Now becoming common in western countries too, but the thing that matters here is that one should purchase only pure Desi ghee. Why? due to the basic reason that adulterated ghee contains oils and other chemicals which can be very harmful to human being.

How can we test Pure Desi Ghee at our homes?

• HCL test for Desi Ghee -- Take a small amount of pure Desi ghee in a test tube, heat it to melt now add a equal amount of conc. HCL* and small amount sugar. Shake the tube hard and now wait for five minutes. Appearance of crimson colour in the lower acid layer shows that oils/ vanaspati ghee has been mixed as an adulterant. But if the colour of the mixture dose not changes which means that there is no adulteration.

So by performing this simple test at home you can easily find that the ghee you purchased is adulterated or not.

*Please take precautions and follow safety tips while using Conc. HCL as it could be injurious to you.

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Difference between Butter Oil and Desi Ghee?

The main difference between Butter Oil and Pure Desi Ghee is

1. butter oil has a bland Flavour whereas Desi ghee has pleasing flavour.
2. Ghee has less moisture, contains more protein solids and different fatty acids and phospholipids as compared to butter oil.
3. Butter oil is prepared by melting butter at not exceeding 80C, however ghee is manufactured at 100 to 140c.
4. Butter oil can be re constituted with skim-milk powder whereas ghee cannot be.

Real Diamond

Everyone knows that diamond is not just any other Jewel for you but instead it is very precious amongst all, specially women like them and that the reason that men are forced to buy such a precious items. Believe it or not a diamond can cost some thousand dollars to a million dollar, this is the reason that people like big mafias and those earning illegal money prefer to keep money in form of diamond and gold, the basic reason being small and precious. so purchasing a real diamond is the biggest requirement.

How can you tell if a diamond is real or not?

Visibility Test of Diamond :-

Take a white paper and draw a straight line with a pen on it, now take the diamond and place over it and try to see the line

• if the line is visible then the stone is not diamond


• if the line is not visible the stone can be predicted to be diamond

Light Test of Diamond :-

Take a beam light or a penlight, a white paper and the diamond. now take the beam light and place the diamond in front of it.

• if you see a straight light coming out from the other side of the diamond then it is fake or stone


• if you don't see the beam on the other side or i mean on the paper then this is predicted to be a real diamond as they sharply bend the light that passes through them due to high refractive index.

Visibility Test of Diamond:-

• Take a dictionary or a note book place the diamond over it, If you can read the print through the stone or even see distorted black smudges, then it probably isn't a diamond.


• A real diamond's reflections usually manifest in various shades of gray. If you see rainbow reflections, you're either dealing with a low-quality diamond or a fake

Ultraviolet Light Test of Diamond:-

Large number of diamonds exhibit blue fluorescence under ultra violet or black light, thus presence of a medium to blue confirms that it is real. But many times you find that Grey/ Green /Yellow lights are coming which dose not mean that the diamond you have is fake but it means that the quality of diamond is some other.

Breath Test of Diamond:-

Take the diamond in your palm and simply blow air on it

• if you see the fog settling on it then fake diamond is predicted.


• if no fog settles then real diamond is predicted.

X-Ray Test of Diamond:-

Diamond is radiolucent which means that on taking an image you will see nothing on the X-ray sheet but if you see something, i mean an opaque image then be confirm that the stone is not diamond and you have been cheated.

so by these above simple test you can easily find that the stone you have purchase is a real diamond or not, after all it is very precious in terms of money and love.............

Real Milk

one of the most common items of our lives is Milk, from childhood to the maturity we are very much dependent on milk but in various nations and weaker economies milkman and other cheats have developed a technique to make Synthetic Milk.


Vegetable refined oil (any brand) whose butyrorefractometer reading is less than 42 is taken in a wide mouthed container along with a suitable emulsifier and thoroughly mixed so that the entire content is made in to a thick white paste. After this is achieved, water is slowly added to the paste until the density of the liquid is similar to that of milk. Then it is added with urea or sodium sulphate or glucose or maltose or sometimes any one of the commonly available fertilizers is added. These substances are usually dissolved in hot water and then added to the seemingly milk like solution.

So What Should Be the method to detect synthetic milk

• Detection of Neutralizers in milk - Rosalic acid test (Soda Test) Take 5 ml of milk in a test tube and add 5 ml alcohol followed by 4-5 drops of rosalic acid. If the colour of milk changes to pinkish red, then it is inferred that the milk is adulterated with sodium carbonate / sodium bicarbonate and hence unfit for human consumption, now take 20 ml of milk in a silica crucible and then the water is evaporated and the contents are burnt in a muffle furnace. The ash is dispersed in 10 ml distilled water and it is titrated against decinormal (N/10) hydrochloric acid using phenolphthalein as an indicator. If the titre value exceeds 1.2 ml, then it is construed that the milk is adulterated with neutralizers.




• Test for detection of hydrogen peroxide in milk - Take 5 ml milk in a test tube and then add 5 drops of paraphenylene diamine and shake it well. Change of the colour of milk to blue confirms that the milk is added with hydrogen peroxide.




• Test for detection of formalin - Take 10 ml of milk in test tube and 5 ml of conc. sulphuric acid is added on the sides of the test tube with out shaking. If a violet or blue ring appears at the intersection of the two layers, then it shows the presence of formalin.




• Test for detection of sugar in milk - Take 10 ml of milk in a test tube and add 5 ml of hydrochloric acid along with 0.1 g of resorcinol. Then shake the test tube well and place the test tube in a boiling water bath for 5 min. Appearance of red colour indicates the presence of added sugar in milk.




• Test for detection of starch in milk - Take 3 ml milk in a test tube and boil it thoroughly. Then milk is cooled to room temperature and added with 2 to 3 drops of 1% iodine solution. Change of colour to blue indicates that the milk is adulterated with starch.





• Test for detection of glucose in milk - Phosphomolybdic or Barford Test --Take 3 ml of milk in a test tube and add 3 ml Barford’s reagent and mix it thoroughly. Then keep it in a boiling water bath for 3 min and then cool it for 2 min by immersing in tap water with out disturbance. Then add 1 ml of phosphomolybdic acid and shake. If blue colour is visible, then glucose is present in the milk sample. Diacetic test ---Take a strip of diacetic strip and dip it in the milk for 30 sec to 1 min. If the strip changes colour, then it shows that the sample of milk contains glucose. If there is no change in the colour of the strip, then glucose is absent




• Test for detection of Urea in milk - 1 - Five ml of milk is mixed well with 5 ml paradimethyl amino benzaldehyde (16%). If the solution turns yellow in colour, then the given sample of milk is added with urea. -2- Take 5 ml of milk in a test tube and add 0.2 ml of urease (20 mg / ml). Shake well at room temperature and then add 0.1 ml of bromothymol blue solution (0.5%). Appearance of blue colour after 10-15 min indicates the adulteration milk with urea.





• Test for detection of ammonium sulphate in milk - 5 ml of hot milk is taken in a test tube and added with a suitable acid for e.g. citric acid and the whey thus separated is filtered. Collect the whey in another test tube and add 0.5 ml of 5% barium chloride. Appearance of precipitate indicates the presence of ammonium sulphate in milk.





• Test for detection of salt in milk - Five ml of silver nitrate (0.8%) is taken in a test tube and added with 2 to 3 drops of 1% potassium dichromate and 1 ml of milk and thoroughly mixed. If the contents of the test tube turn yellow in colour, then milk contains salt in it. If it is chocolate coloured, then the milk is free from salt.





• Test for detection of pulverized soap in milk - Take 10 ml of milk in a test tube and dilute it with equal quantity of hot water and then add 1 – 2 drops of phenolphthalein indicator. Development of pink colour indicates that the milk is adulterated with soap.





• Detection of detergents in milk - Take 5 ml of milk in a test tube and add 0.1 ml of bromocresol purple solution. Appearance of violet colour indicates the presence of detergent in milk. Unadulterated milk samples show a faint violet colour.




• Detection of skim milk powder in milk - If the addition of nitric acid drop by drop in to the test milk sample results in the development of orange colour, it indicates the milk is adulterated with skim milk powder. Samples with out skim milk powder shows yellow colour.




• Detection of vegetable fat in milk - The characteristic feature of milk is its fatty acid composition, which mainly consists of short chain fatty acids such as butyric, caproic, caprylic acid; whereas the vegetable fats consist mainly of long chain fatty acids and hence adulteration of vegetable fat in milk can be easily found out by analyzing the fatty acid profile by gas chromatography.

So by notwithstanding test one can simply find that whether the milk he is using is pure or not, believe it or not many large Indian companies have been seen supplying synthetic milk as caught on various TV-channel sting operations.

Real Black Pepper

Black pepper is considered as " The King Of Spices". Black Pepper is famous throughout the world, Why? Can be said by the number of trades done in this commodity, Pepper has a medicinal values also and mostly used as antacid. However millions of us daily get cheated by shopkeepers selling us Fake black pepper.

How Do Shopkeepers cheat?

Shopkeepers or the merchants mix papaya seeds in black pepper in the ratio 1:3 (one part of papaya seeds with 3 parts of black pepper) by this they save a handsome amount of money, if you don't believe then watch the two following pictures closely

We do not talk at the industrial level but the question is that how can a common man distinguish between papaya seeds and black pepper and how can we get rid of fake sellers.







Water Test Of Black Pepper
Take two spoons full of black pepper with a bowl full of water, now put these black pepper seeds into water, black pepper seeds usually sinks down to the bottom but if you get some seeds floating on top surface of water then papaya seeds can be suspected to be mixed in black pepper, so pick up these floating seeds and then move to the odour test.

Odour Test Of Black Pepper:-

Black Pepper has volatile oil in the pericarp thus a common man can distinguish by smelling or by taking one seed of black pepper and crushing it with your fingers and smell your fingers you will surely get a pungent smell but in case of papaya seed no such smell is seen.

Taste Test Of Black Pepper:-

Take one suspected seed and bit it with your front teeth, if you feel spicy then it is black pepper if you get some ugly taste then surely it's papaya seed.

Water Test Of Papaya Seeds:-
If you found some suspected seeds you think that they are papaya seeds then dip these seeds into water, Wait for 15 minutes then take them into your palm and touch it with your finger if you feel something slimy then they are surely papaya seed.
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generally at home one cannot tell exactly by looking that whether papaya seeds are mixed into black pepper or not but by following all these test step by step you can tell easily that papaya seeds are mixed or not in black pepper you purchased.

Real Teak Wood

Teak tree resin typically has an oil in its Galih (Cambium/heartwood) that is highly water resistant. This content alone can protect the Teak from decay, insects, and bacteria. At the same time, the combination of unique Teak tree content and thick fibers make it easier to cut and then later sculpt into pleasing forms. Because of this special characteristic, not found in other trees, there has always been interest in using Teak wood for various types of furniture. The teak trees found in South-East Asia forests reach a height of up to 150 feet, have reddish-green leaves with rough skin, and heartwood that is brown to dark gold in color. Of the main teak producers in the area, Indonesia, India, Myanmar, Philippine, and Malaysia, Indonesia's teak is considered of the highest quality in the world. The teak wood is thus best suited for home and commercial use and not to mention looks great, remember the Indian carving on teak wood also the wood is strongest in the world and precious in money terms too, but people around the world get fooled daily by purchasing fake teak logs for their use.

How can a layman recognise teak wood?

1. Color Test of Teak wood
   Teak wood is unlike other woods in that it can change its look substantially with age. Most woods change as they age only if you offer an outside stimulus. For example, a dark wood may lighten if you leave it in the sun day after day. That is not the wood changing on it's own, but rather the rays of the sun having a bleaching effect on the wood.You can tell by its grain. It is close together, tight grainned wood. If you have the opportunity to sand an area, the wood will be a rich red color.





2. Feel Test of Teak wood
   The first thing you need to know about teak wood is that it does not feel like other woods. Sure, it is as hard as wood, but once you put your hand on teak wood you may be able to tell the difference between it and other wood types. The most obvious difference is that unlike other woods, teak does not splinter. If you rub your hands across the surface of a piece of wood you should be able to quickly tell if it's a fake. The first splinter you get in your hand will be a quick indication.





3. Smell Test of Teak wood
   The next thing that may help you tell if a piece of furniture is real teak furniture or not is the smell. Many things have a distinct smell. Leather in a new car is a good example of one of those scents that you know is the real thing as soon as it hits your nose. In the case of teak furniture, you will smell a very light fragrant smell, coming from the wood. It's an earthy smell, but one that is different from other freshly cut woods. Teak gets this smell from the oils that are heavily embedded in the wood.

Real Rudraksha

The terms Rudraksha literally means the "Eyes" of Lord Shiva and is so named in His benevolence. Shiva Mahapurana describe Rudraksa origin as Lord Shiva's tears.He had been meditating for many years for the welfare of all creatures. On opening the eyes, hot drops of tears rolled down and the mother earth gave birth to Rudraksha trees.For thousands of years Rudraksha beads have been worn by mankind for good health, religious attainment through Japa and Shakti (power) and for fearless life. Saints and sages roaming in Himalayas and other forests have lived healthy, fearless and a full life by wearing Rudraksha's and its Malas. There is no saint, God incarnation or Shankaracharyas, who can be identified without these vibrant Rudraksha beads or Malas. Rudrakshas ranges from some 25$ to About 1000$ but in countries like India here and there you can find duplicate rudrakshas, so you can be cheated if you dontknow how to check real rudrakasha. But don't worry we will tell you how to find real rudraksha

Question?How to Recognise real rudraksha?

1. Cut Test: A fool proof method is to cut the Rudraksha bead horizontally. One will find the same number of compartments as that of the number of lines . However the drawback is that by this method, the bead gets destroyed.Properties Test:The other is to find out whether the beads exhibit properties like inductance, capacitance, conduction of electric current etc.





2. The copper coin test: It is generally held that if Rudraksha beads are placed between two copper coins it should rotate slightly. This is due to the physical and magnetic properties of the Rudraksha beads. This test requires a high level of expertise.





3. Eye test: A fake or the artificial Rudraksha may look like a real one but in these Rudraksha the facets (mukhas) can not be made as real as those present on the real Rudrasha .In a Rudraksha the facets or the mukhas means deep lining from the upper part to the lower part of Rudraksha .Looking at these deep linings (facets) with the help of a magnifying glass, one can easily recognize a real Rudraksha.





4. Water test: Some times a higher valued Rudraksha (Gaurishanker Rudraksha or a Trijuti ) are made by artificially joining two or three Rudraksha with the help of glue etc. In case of doubt such Rudraksha should be boiled in water for one to two hours. A sharp discoloration will take place at the joint in case of artificial Rudraksha.The test wherein the Rudraksha Bead dips in water (commonly known as water test) is not dependable because:
   1) A fake Rudraksha made out of wood and impregnated with lead will sink in water thereby giving a false impression of a real Rudraksha. 2) Some times a rare available Rudraksha (like one mukhi) is made by tempering other easily available real Rudraksha beads of lesser value. Such Rudraksha will also sink in water .Still it is one of the most popular methods to test the beads and many times gives accurate results.3) Put the Rudraksha in boiling water and let it remain there for 20 – 30 minutes. If some faces are tempered with them they shall come off as the glue – fevicol or the like will come off.





5. EYE GLASS: Sometimes Rudraksha are faked by removing the thorn like parts from one piece and then sticking it to another. This can be judged by a close examination by a 10x Lens.
   

Real Leather

We all buy leather worth thousands every year, specially in winters when the ice fall continuously it is the leather products which save us and who can forget the shoes we wear all round the year but the real question is that many of us purchase leather products which we later on realise that they are not made of real leather but are synthetic material but this happens when we have spent for real and we get duplicate.

In emerging countries like India and china millions of people are cheated every day in leather product markets. But the real question is that how can we find or test that the leather product we are purchasing is made of real leather ?

Flame Test For Leather

Remove a tiny amount of the questionable material. Grip it firmly with a pair of tweezers (not the good pair you use for grooming). Light a match (or flick a lighter) and hold the material very close to the flame. If the material gets melty and smells like burnt plastic, then it's, well, plastic. If it burns and smells a hundred times worse than burnt plastic, it's leather. Whatever the case, air out the room afterwards if the test must be performed inside.Leather will burn without flame and give the flesh burning odour. where as all synthetics will catch fire (flame) because they are all polymer based (PVC/or PU)In the next posting I will post how to distinguish between Genuine leather and low grade leather .

Saliva Test For Leather

The Naked real leather will 'absorb' moisture (test by just applying a bit of your saliva) if it is real leather saliva will be absorbed by the leather but if the leather is not real the saliva will float.

Grain Test For Leather

Pull the leather strongly you will see the hair roots of the animal (if it is not a corrected grain leather) where as in fake either the print will refuse to disappear or can see only 'bald' grains lastly if none of these works for you.

Burn Test For Leather

Try to burn the corner of the material by lighter.Letaher will burn without flame and give teh flesh burning odour. where as all synthetics will catch fire (flame) because they are all polymer based (PVC/or PU) .
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Do understand the leather used for wallets are not the best ones they come for 3,4,5 grade of quality they normal give the 1 grade of leather which has minimum r even least scratch, bits ,etc.... to garments and jumbo bags makers then 1st and 2nd to shoes 3 to quality leather handbags and wallets (branded & high end buyers) 4 and 5 are also to wallets makers and small products makers most od 4 and 5 the grade leather r given a chemical patch they don't have a very natural look but carry an look of man made , they make chemical patch over the area where scratch and machines impressions are present

Real Stainless Steel

Question: I purchased utensils worth 150 $ today made of real stainless steel, how should i check whether what i bought is real steel?

Answer: The first and the most common method to check whether the steel item you purchased is real steel is the "Magnet Test" , you can rub/hover a magnet over the steal utensil if you feel no attraction you can say the utensils are made of stainless steel is real but if you feel attraction then be sure that you have been cheated.There are many flavors of stainless steel. 304 stainless is the most common (about 50% of the worlds production). It is used in everything from cars and cookware to buildings. What you need to know is that there is magnetic (400) and non-magnetic (300) stainless steel. 400 series stainless steel is not as durable or corrosion (rust) resistant at 300 series. If you want durability in your stainless steel gas grill put a magnet on it. If the magnet sticks, don't buy it. Some manufacturers use a mixture of different metals so put that magnet all over the grill to test it all and thus you can find that the steel you purchased today is the real steal.