Purity of Gold

Have you ever wondered what words like 916, Carat, Hallmark mean, well, these are related to Purity of Gold. Gold metal in its pure form is very soft in nature, hence it is alloyed with metals like Copper, Silver, Nickel etc., to make it suited for Jewelry and other usable purposes. The common notation for purity is Carat (Ct.)/Karat.

Pure gold has a purity of 24 Carats, with 99.9% of Gold and remaining alloyed with other metals. In India, 22 Ct. gold (91.6%) is widely accepted for Jewelry, however 18 Ct. and 14 Ct. gold jewelry are also available. The other notation of purity of gold is millesimal fineness i.e Gold in parts per 1000. For instance, fineness of 999 refers to 24 Ct. gold and the commonly used 916 refers 22 carat gold.

Hallmarking is a way of tagging the purity of gold for universal acceptance and in India, BIS is the hallmarking agency. So, next time when you buy any gold jewelry do check for hallmarking.

Srikanth Ramu