Metal Purity

Ever noticed how your piece of jewellery usually has some sort of numerical marking in a discreet place? Well that marking carries a little value. It tells you how pure your gold is,or is supposed to be. These are also called ' hallmarks'

• 999 or 995 means 24 karat gold
• 917 or 920 means 22 karat gold
• 875 is 21 karat gold
• 750 is 18 karat gold
• 583 is  14 karat gold.

Jewellery in Dubai is pretty safe to buy in Dubai and that's one of the reasons why its Gold Souk is so famous. Of course the variety and competitive prices are other factors. The Dubai Municipality has set rules and regulations for selling jewellery and they make sure that they are adhered to. A municipal official can come unannounced to a jewellery store and take random pieces of jewellery for purity checking. If the claimed purity differs from the actual purity result, the store is heavily fined and can be shut down as well.  

Therefore jewelers ensure that the goods they are receiving are of the purity they are selling it. Yet some instances do occur where upon selling a piece of jewellery or getting it tested for purity the customer finds out that the jewellery item is not of the purity they thought/purchased it as. Unfortunately these rare instances the jeweller is not always to blame, though they ensure [by testing ] pieces that their jewellery is of the purity they are selling it at, the goldsmith who actually manufactured the jewellery may have lessened the purity accidentally or intentionally. Thus, in some scenarios the jewellers are also unaware of the wrong purity. Though that does not excuse them.

 Usually jewellers do get random items tested upon purchasing jewellery or if the manufacturing is their own, they will be quite sure of what the purity of their item is. No reputed supplier, goldsmith or jeweller will cheat this way, since this affects reputation in the long run and they lose out on potential customers.

So when you go jewellery shopping next time make sure your pieve of jewellery is stamped with its respective purity. Rings and bangles usually carry the hallmark on the inside [ you must really strain your eyes to find it] and the earrings are stamped usually on the back of the earring or on the post of the earring.

Will post some reference pics soon :)

Hope you find this post helpful.

Thank you :)

Coversion and purity

Todays post is about common terms and conversions used in The gold and jewellery trade.
I may not be able to cover all in one go , thus will keep updating this post InshaAllah :)

Usually gold / silver websites such as www.kitco.com publish the gold rates in U$ Dollars for an ounce of gold.

Example if the rate is published as U$ 1667 this is for one ounce of gold.
One ounce is equal to 31.10 grams.
In Dubai [ Middle east and most Asian countries] Gold rate is usually converted to grammes.

To convert to grams , ounce gold rate by 31.10 and then multiply by 3.65 to get the rate in U.A.E dirhams.

so (1667/31.1)*3.65 = 195.64 AED dirhams per gram.

The result is for PURE GOLD i.e 999.

This rate will be applied if you are going to buy a gold bar or Kilo Bars. Do bear in mind even for manufacturing Gold bars there are charges since their is labour involved in manufacturing them. These rates differ from company to company.

Jewellery pieces are usually manufactured in 22KARAT gold, 21 karat gold , 18 karat gold and sometimes [ applicable to U.A.E] in 14karat as well.

So, going back to our 999 gold rate which is also known as PURE GOLD. Since it has no other gold metals added to it and is pure gold.

To convert pure gold rate to 22kt gold rate take the pure gold rate and multiply by 0.920 and for 18KT rate multiply by 0.750.
so eg if pure gold rate is 195.64 x 0.920 = 179.99 or rounded off 180 AED.
FOR 18KT            195.64 X 0.750 = 156.73 or rounded off 157 AED

One ounce has 31.10 grams
One Ten Tola bar has 116.64 grams
one tola has 11.664 grams

A bar of equal weight but purity of 999 or 995 will differ in price.
999 will be more expensive than 995.

Hope this post was helpful.
Would love your feed back.
Thankyou.

VEZZARO BANGLES IN 18 KT GOLD

This post is about my two most favorite bangles. I wear these quite often and find them quite trendy.
Manufactured in Italy by Vezzaro, these are made in 18 kt gold.
Approximate weight is 25 gms. They are available in different weights as well as color and designs.

This beauty is in White Gold 18 kt and is quite sparkly. Basically its a chain wrapped around a pipe. This piece is easily wearable and has a spring in the middle and is simply slipped on. Variations in design are also available.
This piece has quite a presence and can be worn alone casually with a pair of jeans and also more formally. It will  add the glam quotient to any outfit. As with all jewellery, consistent wear can take the sheen off the gold, but all you need to do is go to your nearest jeweller and tell them you want it plated.[ They will charge you a small amount for it.]

This bangle also manufactured by Vezzaro is in Rose Gold 18 kt. It has a secure clasp on the side and is easy to wear. I am quite fond of this bangle due to its different color, not your usual yellow gold jewellery piece.

I have owned thesetwo  pieces for three years and frequently wear them.
They are quite sturdy though but a word of caution as suffered by one customer, a really hard knock may break the chain wrapped around the pipe and soldering it back on would will not help regain its look.

Available at all big stores in Deira Gold Souk Dubai
Stocked by Ruby Damas as well.
Prices: AED 3500+  [dependant on gold rate+weight]

What do you think of these pieces?