How to check purity of your Gold ornaments....????

Recently I had watched a program on TV9 which had made an investigation on quality of Gold we purchase across Bangalore. To the shock of team, it found that many jewellery stores were selling Gold ornaments with Gold content of around 75% against the requirement of 91.6 % as suggested by Bureau of Indian standards for 22karat jewellery.

So I came across following information about the Gold jewellery  in India to be shared with you:

What is Pure Gold ?

Gold is a natural metal. Gold jewelry is usually described in terms of caratage which is an indication of its gold content, for example 22 carat or 22K. Pure Gold is 24 carats (i.e. 99.9% pure). Such a metal in its purest state is very soft and impractical for making jewels- so do not watch out for ornaments with 24karat.

To create jewelry that is practically wearable, gold has to be alloyed with other harder metals in the required proportions to make it malleable and durable. It is then called 22K, 18K and so on depending on the percentage of alloy that is added.

Gold jewelry used in India are of the following caratage:

Karat                Purity

22 kt Gold       91.6% Pure

21 kt Gold       87.5% Pure

18 kt Gold       75.0% Pure

What are alloys?

Alloys are basically mixtures of more than one metal, usually added to increase the strength and enhance the colour of Gold. Copper and Silver are the commonly used metals in a Gold alloy.

What is 916 KDM Gold?

The common Gold alloy to be used in any good quality gold jewel is 22 Kt Gold. It means that the gold is 91.6 % pure and hence the name 916 Pure Gold, an internationally accepted standard and KDM stands for cadmium based soldering of Gold.


Note: KDM stamping on jewels is just an indication of type of alloy used in jewellery and it is not a certification whereas BIS hallmarking certifies the purity of Gold.

What is a Hallmarked Jewelry?

Hallmarking is a method of assessing the purity of gold by a competent authority. Hallmarking certifies that the jewelry conforms to National/International Standards of Purity. In India, the BIS, i.e., Bureau of Indian Standards undertakes certification of purity of gold jewelry in accordance with Indian Standards IS:1417 Grades of Gold & Gold Alloys.

Every hallmarked jewel consists of the BIS logo, fineness number - caratage and mark of the BIS recognized assaying and hallmarking centre.

So the next time you step into buying your ornaments insist on BIS Hallmarking, if you still have doubts you can cross check the purity at any of the BIS Hallmark testing centers authorized by BIS.

Source: http://www.ansjewelry.com/jewel_information.aspx