The gold you don on your wedding day will forever be a reminder of your special day as a bride. No Indian marriage ceremony is complete without gold, especially the handmade gold jewellery you can only find in our country. This is what makes Indian weddings the envy of the rest of the world!.
As a nation of gold lovers, we believe we have mastered the art of buying gold jewellery. But there are a number of things you must know about before making what is probably the biggest gold purchase in your life.
As a bride-to-be, you will likely have some concerns about the gold jewellery you are planning to buy. This handy guide will answer all your questions related to the following:
Gold hallmarking has been made mandatory by law in India on 15th January 2020. The government has announced that all gold jewellery of 14, 18, and 22 karat (above 2 grams) sold from 1st June 2021 onwards must be hallmarked.
Gold hallmarking is a process that involves assessing and verifying the purity and amount of gold in a jewellery item as per BIS standards and branding it with the four symbols that form a 'Gold Hallmark'. There are a series of steps to ascertain the purity and fineness of gold. This applies to the gold present in the jewellery. But for hallmarking to protect your purchase, you, as a buyer, must know how to identify a genuine gold hallmark.
Any hallmarked gold jewellery carries four signs prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards. These include:
* BIS logo – When incomes increase, there is usually an uptick in the demand for gold for jewellery, long-term savings, and technology. In fact, in India, gold demand rises by 1% every time the national per capita income level rises by 1%.
* Gold purity in karat and fineness – In India, hallmarking is done only on 14, 18, and 22karat gold jewellery. The symbol of purity has two parts: the first 3 digits denote the karat and the last 3 digits denote the fineness. In a gold hallmark, 18K750 means 18 karat gold and 750 in fineness. This means that out of 1000 parts of the metal, 750 is gold. Similarly, 22K916 means 22 karat and 916 fineness and 14K585 meant 14 karat gold and 585 fineness. The finer the gold, the purer it is.
* Jeweller’s identification mark The jewellery store from where you are buying your gold jewellery will also cast its identification mark. You can find a list of BIS-licensed jewellers here:
* AHC’s identification mark – The process of hallmarking requires very skilled technicians and advanced machinery. The logo of the AHC where the testing and certification of your gold was carried out must be a part of the BIS hallmark signs.
The BIS is proactive when it comes to protecting the consumer’s rights. You can get your jewellery tested for purity from any BIS-recognised AHC. The jewellery item’s purity and fineness should be mentioned in the invoice of the purchase, which is then verified by the BIS through their test. After the test, an assay report is issued by the AHC that validates the identification marks made on the gold item. If, upon testing your hallmarked jewellery, you find that it is of lesser purity than what is marked on it, the jeweller you bought it from is required to replace your jewellery. The AHC that put that hallmark would also have to refund the testing charges to you and may face licence suspension by the BIS.
You must always check the per-gram price of gold ahead of your purchase. The price of gold can change multiple times a day and varies from city to city – and sometime even from jeweller to jeweller. You can confirm the per-gram price of gold for your location on the Price Page of MyGoldGuide, which is updated in real time. Another way is to check with more than one well-known jewellery showroom. The current price of gold can also be found on numerous news sites. To find out how gold price is determined, watch this video.
