Gold jewellery serves as an investment for many people in addition to being a stylish accessory. You should therefore be absolutely certain of the purity and quality of the gold you are purchasing.
Gold purity
The purity of gold is indicated in karats and is often divided into 24, 22, 10, 14, and 10 karat categories. A piece of 24 Karat gold is entirely made of pure gold; no alloys have been added. However, due to its softness and delicate nature, 24 Karat gold or 100% pure gold cannot be used to make ornaments or jewellery. The majority of jewellery is crafted from 22 carat to 10 karat gold. Additionally, percentages and parts per thousand can be used to determine the purity of gold.
You must multiply the result of the karat number by 100 and divide it by 24 to convert karats to percentages. In order to calculate the percentage of gold in a 22 karat ring, for instance, divide 22 by 24. The resulting number, 0.9166, is then multiplied by 100, giving the purity of the gold as 91.66 percent.
Additionally, looking for the karat stamp on the jewellery item is a simple approach to determining the purity of the gold online that you intend to purchase. Jewellers are required to stamp the Hall Mark and gold karat on each and every gold item.
How can 22-karat gold’s purity be determined?
Simply divide 22 by 24 (because 24-karat gold is 100% pure) to determine the purity level of 22-karat gold. This results in a value of 0.9166. Your 22-karat gold is 91.66% pure when this number is multiplied by 100.
Is it acceptable to buy unstamped gold?
Please keep in mind that there is no assurance that the gold you are buying is genuine if it is not stamped. For instance, jewellery with gold plating has a carat mark, which only indicates the purity of the gold plating and not the complete item.
What does the karat marking on gold jewellery mean?
Hall Mark and the gold karat must be stamped on every single piece of gold for jewellers in India. This makes determining whether the gold you are buying is genuine or not.
Additionally, the government has updated the hallmarking symbols on gold jewellery starting on July 1, 2021. According to the Department of Consumer Affairs, the BIS hallmark will now include three symbols on gold jewellery:
- a)BIS Standard mark
- b) Grade of Purity/Fineness; and
- c) 6-digit alpha-numeric code
Here is an explanation of what each of these three symbols means and how it will benefit gold customers.
Jewellery with three BIS hallmarked marks
a)BIS Standard mark
The BIS logo is the earliest indication of hallmarking on gold jewellery. A triangle forms the basis of the logo. When gold jewellery has this logo stamped on it, it means that a BIS-certified facility has examined the jewellery’s purity.
- b) Grade of Purity/Fineness
The purity mark is the second hallmark found on gold jewellery that you buy from an online jewelry store. This symbol indicates the level of purity of the gold in a certain piece of gold jewellery. The price of that item of gold jewellery is based on the gold’s purity as established in this manner.
According to the BIS website’s FAQs, gold jewellery can be hallmarked in six different categories: 14K, 18K, 20K, 22K, 23K, and 24K.
- If a piece of gold jewellery has the stamp 22K916 on it, it signifies that 91.6% of the metal is gold and the remaining 8.4% is another metal, like zinc etc.
- Similar to this, jewellery marked 18K750 gold contains 75% gold and the remaining 25% is made of other metals.
- 14K585 denotes that the product is made of 14-carat gold, which contains 58.5% gold.
- c) Six-digit alphanumeric code
The third indication that a piece of gold jewellery is hallmarked is a six-digit alphanumeric number carved or embossed on it. Every item of jewellery has a unique code known as a Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number. Customers can use the BIS Care App to check this alphanumeric code. The BIS Care App is available for customers to download on their smartphones. The BIS Care App’s “Verify HUID” feature can be used to check the purity of jewellery as well as the jewellery’s alphanumeric code.