Jewellery, gold and diamonds
Gold hallmarks explained
The three-digit number inside a band is the purity in parts per thousand. Read it and you know exactly how much gold you are holding; the price per gram follows from today's spot.
| Mark | Karat | Gold content | Where it is common |
|---|---|---|---|
| 375 | 9K | 37.5% | UK, Ireland, Australia |
| 417 | 10K | 41.7% | United States |
| 585 | 14K | 58.5% | United States, Europe |
| 750 | 18K | 75% | Europe, fine jewellery worldwide |
| 875 | 21K | 87.5% | Gulf states |
| 916 | 22K | 91.6% | India, Gulf, Southeast Asia |
| 999 | 24K | 99.9% | Bullion, some East Asian jewellery |
Other marks you will see
- 925: sterling silver (92.5% silver), not gold, even when the piece is gold-plated.
- 950 PT or PLAT: platinum 950, priced separately from gold.
- GP, GEP, HGE, RGP: gold-plated or rolled gold; the gold layer is worth almost nothing.
- A maker's mark, an assay office symbol (an anchor, a leopard's head, a castle) and a date letter in countries with compulsory hallmarking.
What each karat is worth per gram
Take today's price of pure gold per gram and multiply by the purity. Kubikly's gold price page does this for every karat in 25 currencies and refreshes daily; the appraisal uses the same figure and shows the timestamp.
No hallmark?
Old pieces, repairs and some countries' jewellery carry no mark. A jeweller can test with acid or an XRF gun in minutes. Until then, the estimate assumes the market norm for your country (14K in the US, 9K in the UK, 18K in most of Europe, 21–22K in the Gulf and India) and tells you it did; set the real karat as soon as you know it.
Hallmark versus weight
The mark tells you purity; the scale tells you grams. A kitchen scale accurate to 0.1 g is enough. Together they fix the metal value to within a percent, which is why the estimate asks for both first.
Frequently asked
- Is 750 gold real gold?
- Yes: 75% gold, 25% alloy, the standard for fine jewellery in Europe. It is what 18K means.
- Which is better, 14K or 18K?
- 14K is harder and cheaper; 18K is richer in colour and holds more gold value. Neither is wrong; the price difference is exactly the gold content.
- What is 916 gold?
- 22K: 91.6% gold, the norm for traditional jewellery in India and the Gulf. Soft, so mostly used for chains, bangles and coins.
Keep reading
- How jewellery is pricedWhere a jewellery price comes from, line by line: gold at spot, stones by size and grade, workshop hours, wholesale and retail margins, brand, and VAT per country.
- How to measure ring size at homeThree ways to measure a ring size at home, a conversion chart between mm, US, UK and EU sizes, and why the size changes an eternity ring's stone count and a band's weight.
- Selling pre-owned jewellery: what you will actually getThe three numbers for used jewellery: scrap value, dealer buy-back and private sale. How each is calculated, why stones come back at a third, and how to get more.