One of the most sought after item by Indians is gold. Since ancient time Gold is considered as a store house of value in India. Be it urban India or rural India, rich or poor India, each one tries to buy gold at the first available opportunity. Ladies always eye for this yellow metal. Mostly they prefer to purchase gold in form of jewellry.
Whenever one plan’s to purchase Gold or gold jewellery, the very first thing that he should ensure is the purity of Gold i.e how pure the gold is?
But here comes a question how an individual can check the purity of gold? So to protect the rights of consumers government has made hallmarking of gold jewellery mandatory in India. Hallmarking of gold jewellery will not only help to keep control on quality and but also safeguard consumers from corrupt jewelers.
We are herewith guideline given by BIS which everybody must read to know the basic facts about gold and what to check while purchasing gold jewellery.
5 Signs for checking purity of Gold
Under Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, hallmarking agency certifies gold on the basis of Indian standards. In other words, gold jewellery will be evaluated and tested at official hallmarking centers and then certified that the metal conforms to the national and international standard of fineness and purity.
What Sign One Should Check Before Purchasing Gold Jewellery?
One must check hallmark before purchasing gold jewellery. Hallmark consists of five components i.e.
(1) BIS Standard Mark
BIS hallmark look likes:-
(2) Purity Grade
Gold purity grade shows how pure the gold is.
- 999 – 24 carat – Pure Gold
- 958 – 23 carat
- 916 – 22 carat
- 875 – 21 carat
- 750 – 18 carat
- 708 – 17 carat
- 585 – 14 carat
- 417 – 10 carat
- 375 – 9 carat
- 333 – 8 carat
(3) Mark of Hallmarking Centre
One must check for Logo of Hallmarking centre where the jewellery has been hallmarked. List of hallmarking centres are given here.
(4) Year of Marking
Alphabets represents the year of hallmarking of jewellery and is decided by BIS e.g. letter ‘A’ Donates Year 2000, ‘J’ for 2008, ‘N’ for 2010 ,‘M’ for 2011 and ‘N’ for 2012 etc..
(5) Jewelers Identification Mark
Many jewelers keep their own identification mark of BIS Certified Jeweler/ Jewellery Manufacturer.
Important Points To Keep In Mind While Purchasing Gold Jewellery
- Look For :- Jewellery Showroom selling BIS Hallmark Jewellery.
- Buy:- Hallmark Jewellery only. It assures the mark of purity/fitness.
- Ask For: – Cash Memo /Invoice which will help BIS to resolve complaints (if any).
Remember Hallmarking charge on Gold Jewellery is only Rs. 25 per article & KDM jewellery is not Hallmarked jewellery. So KDM can not ensure purity of Gold.
For More information visit BIS website: www.bis.org.in
JAGO GRAHAK JAGO.
All that Glitters may not be Gold. Be sure, It is pure!
rupanka baruah
prices need to fall
JITENDRA PARMAR
Very nice info. you provide us thanx & can you give daily rate of gold to my email if possible….
Murugan.S
Very useful information,,,,,,nice.
Hemant D Patil
I have paid rs. 125 to rs. 175 for hallmarking charges to reputed jewllers.BIS should start custmers awernesss campens. Also jewllers are requsted to high light there meking & hallmarking charges in there shops/showrooms.
praveen
It is very impt info which many people don’t know. Should know about hallmark and other standard of jewels before purchasing it
jignesh gadhvi
precious information, just like pure gold, hopefully this will convinced people that all that
glitters….
saireddy
i have to know about kdm . we gave him 10gm of gold for making long chains he charged rs 29000 for kdm .acutually what is kdm ? Is that compulsary for making chains ?
Raviraj Parekh
KDM is chemical used in process of making gold.KDM 916 Gold is 22 carat pure gold.
Vaishali
Very useful information everbody should aware of it because generally jwellers took more charges for hallmark gold from customers
vijay kumar
Everybody will be happy to know our gold purity. Its very good info.
Bharat jewellers
Very Informative post related 5 Signs for checking purity of gold! Thanks for sharing this useful information. I have few points related this topic!
For gold purity check, you must ensure certain points at the Jewellers end.
The seller should have an authorization to issue the certificate of purity for diamond jewellery. These include international certificates from IGI or GIA labs.
The seller must provide you the hallmarking certificate issued by BIS for every gold item purchased from there.
The services of jeweler should include free polishing of jewelry like Gold earrings, rings, and bangles.
Some trusted jewelers offering free gold purity check services for his customers. You can visit them with the jewelry item that you want to test on this parameter and get it checked thus.
Read more information here:
http://jewelleryzone.tumblr.com/post/121250159991/have-a-gold-purity-check-before-buying-gold
Brent
I have a small golden dagger like maybe letter opener the handle is with two elephants facing opposite with trunks curled up to mouth to make hand guard and a carriage like in the middle where handle goes up has markings at base of blade its heavy for its size has a lot of detail in handle i think the marks on blade are part of it hallmarks but I don’t really know it old and warn I do know that much but it does not tarnish and looks and feels like gold can you help me or let me send u a picture of it
Raviraj Parekh
Dear Brent,
I can try but it will be very difficult to find detail from picture.
nikita
very usefulll information thanks
prithwiraj roy
your suggesion helps me to sell hallmark gold thanks
samrat Murmu
Bis hallmark is best or not…..????
sridhar
Very useful information for youngsters on purchasing gold thanks a lot sir.I wanna a purchase 5gm gold coin 24 KT .if 24kt gold is pure n soft how can it be made into a coin? Shridhar (B.E 3rd yr)
Raviraj Parekh
Dear Sridhar,
24KT gold is very soft.It can easily be scratched.Pure Gold is malleable metal, anything made of 24K gold will bend easily.However,gold manufacturer must be using some method to build the coin. As of now I am not aware about it.
RENJITH R
I’m Renjith, working in a financial firm. It’s really informative and precious.Keep the good work going on. Thank You
GUDU
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF MARK GMR AND ABOVE 916 IN MY GOLD CHAIN
Raviraj Parekh
Dear Gudu, I could not get you what kind of mark it is GMR. I have not come across this type of mark.
mahesh
thank you so much, you relay help’d me a lot.
now i am ready to purchase gold.
N.K.Sankaranarayanan
is there iis any specific control or mechanism work on fixing price for the sale of gold.
whho is fixing the % of wastage and making charges.his whether the the gold sold in other nation/s charges so much wastage and making charges. who should control this
Raviraj Parekh
Dear Mr.Sankaranaryana,
You have very valid point.However,in India no central authority is controlling price and % of wastage and making charges.It varies from vendor to vendor.
Fatima
Hie want to know can we make hallmark jewellery in 23 carat gold
nandkishor
I have purchase gold when I ask about bill seller said me to pay additional 1% tax on total amount for bill please tell me this right or wrong
Raviraj Parekh
1% VAT is applicable and seller is right. On official bill he has to show 1% VAT.
Devraj kammar
I liked your blog ,Mr. Raviraj, it’s a new way to know about these secrets. I am newly interested in this business. But I want to became loyal mechent.in this line. Always tell us top secrets. Thanks.
Kavitha
I have bought gold but its not hallmarked after coming home i checked it, what can be done
Raviraj Parekh
Dear Kavitha,
You can ask shop keeper to take gold back (ask for full refund). Hallmarking is mandatory on Gold Jewelry.
Raj
Could You tell about Gold Signs, I heard about Gold that before 2010 Gold Signs were there 5, after 2010 Jan Gold Signs are 4, Is this correct