UNDERKARAT JEWELRY: THE PERFECT CRIME? INVESTIGATIONS AND ANALYSIS OF JEWELRY USING XRF

摘要

Underkarating of jewelry is a silent crime that often goes unnoticed, yet it can be effectively detected through XRF screening. It has become increasingly common in the last 15 years for XRF to be used in a preemptory fashion by jewelry manufacturers for process control and by industry oversight organizations for checking for compliance to karat fineness regulations. XRF has now also been successfully used for investigation and enforcement of underkarat jewelry fraud resulting in criminal prosecution and fines. Jewelry XRF applications and regulations are briefly reviewed and several cases of crime investigation and enforcement are presented.