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Sleep Extremely expensive and one of the most sought-after metals, it is also considered a symbol of royalty. In India, people have a special kind of craze for gold jewellery.
According to the 2020 report of the World Gold Council (WGC), Indian women wear the most gold in the world. Indian women have about 24,000 tonnes of gold. This is 11% of the world’s total gold reserves. The craze for gold and silver jewelery among Indians is not new, rather the craze for gold and silver jewelery has been there for centuries.
During the excavation at the Harappan site Rakhigarhi in May 2022, many gold jewelery including gold bangles, bangles, rings and earrings were found. Even today, people consider buying gold as the best option for investment, but it is important to take care of its purity.
Sometimes fraudsters cheat people and adulterate gold and silver jewelery and sell it at the rate of real gold and silver. To prevent such fraud from happening to you, it is very important to check the purity of gold and silver.
so today news of need I will talk about how to check genuine gold and silver jewellery. You will also learn that-
- How many carats is pure gold?
- What precautions should be taken while buying gold and silver?
Expert: Abhishek Soni, Jeweler (Gonda, Uttar Pradesh)
Question: How many carats is pure gold?
answer- The purest form of gold is 24 carat. It is very soft. This is the reason why gold jewelery cannot be made from it. Therefore, if any jeweler is claiming that he is giving 24 carat pure gold jewellery, then he is frauding you.
Generally 14 to 22 carat gold is used to make gold jewelery items. Which contains maximum 91.6% gold. Apart from this, to give strength to gold jewelery items, metals like silver, copper and zinc are added to it. Therefore, always check the carat before buying gold.
Understand from the graphic below how much gold is there in how many carats of jewellery.
Question- How can you check the purity of gold at home?
answer- The purity of gold jewelery is identified through the hallmark stamp, but if there is no hallmark on the gold present in your house, then you can also check it with some home methods.
Understand this from the graphic below.
Question- What is Hallmark?
answer- This is a special kind of mark, which guarantees the purity and quality of gold. It is provided by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This organization certifies gold on fixed parameters. Hallmark shows that the purity of gold has been tested in a BIS licensed lab. This protects consumers from any kind of fraud.
Question- Can it be a fake hallmark?
answer- Yes, there can be a fake hallmark on gold. By using fake hallmark marks, 18 or 14 karat gold can be sold at the price of 22 karat. Apart from this, fake hallmarked gold may be adulterated with other metals. Whereas the real hallmark includes things like carat and the jeweler’s identity mark.
Question- How can you check the hallmark of jewelery at home?
answer- You can check Hallmark at home in two ways.
visual test
- It will have three hallmark symbols BIS logo, purity mark (carat) and 6 digit Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) code written on it. HUID code is a special code, which is used as a hallmark on gold and silver jewellery.
- There should not be any scratches or blemishes in the hallmark. These marks should be clear.
- The color and luster of the hallmark should match the jewellery.
Test through mobile app
- First of all download BIS Care App from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
- This app has been created by the Bureau of Indian Standards, which helps in checking the quality and validity of many products including gold and silver.
- Go to the homepage of the app and click on the option of ‘Verify HUID’.
- After this enter the 6 digit HUID code written on your jewellery.
- If the jewelery is genuine then the app will show details like purity of the jewellery, name of the product.
Question- How can you check genuine silver jewelery at home?
answer- Any jewelery that looks like silver is not actually made of 100% pure silver. Like gold, silver itself is a very soft metal, so it is difficult to use pure silver for making jewellery. Other metals like copper and zinc are often mixed in silver jewellery.
The most common metal used in making jewelry is sterling silver. Sterling silver is also a type of silver, in which 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals such as copper, zinc are mixed. This mixture makes silver strong and durable. To make sure your jewelry is made of genuine silver, you can do some simple home tests as shown in the graphic below.
Question- Why is it necessary to take bill for gold and silver jewellery?
answer- While purchasing gold and silver jewellery, one should always take a receipt or bill. This keeps an official record of your jewelery purchase. This is confirmation of the legal transaction between both the seller and the customer. Apart from this, the bill contains details of making charges, value of gold and silver and GST to be paid by the buyer.
