Hallmarking

If you’re planning on buying gold in India, you need to know about hallmarking. Hallmarking is a way of verifying the purity and integrity of any gold you purchase. It prevents you from buying jewellery from disreputable jewellers that contain unspecified quantities of other metals.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has made If you’re planning on buying gold in India, you need to know about hallmarking. Hallmarking is a way of verifying the purity and integrity of any gold you purchase. It prevents you from buying jewellery from disreputable jewellers that contain unspecified quantities of other metals.

What are the compulsory BIS hallmarks?

The BIS specifies five compulsory pieces of information that each gold jewellery hallmark should contain. These include:

1. The jeweller identification mark
This will appear as either a number, mark or logo. The BIS releases unique marks to all jewellers operating under its scheme. Therefore, the mark should be different from one jeweller to the next. If the mark from one jeweller is the same as another, it may indicate that the item is a fake.

2. The year in which the item was hallmarked
The year of marking shows consumers when the gold item received its hallmark. The BIS denotes years of marking with letters, not numbers. Such marking began with the letter “A” representing the year 2000. “B,” therefore, represents the year 2001, and so on.

If you see a letter that looks out of place on your jewellery, such as “A” on a new item, it could indicate that it is second-hand. Vintage items sold before 2000 should not have any indication of the year of hallmarking.
 

3. The BIS Standard Mark
The BIS Standard Mark is triangular, has a dot in the middle, and a thick line underscoring it at the bottom. This mark indicates that a BIS assessor has done all the necessary testing to confirm that the purity and weight of the gold match the vendor’s claims.
 

4. The purity of the gold
The BIS measures the purity of gold in karats or carats, in line with other jurisdictions around the globe.

The purest form of gold is 24-carat, meaning that it is 100 per cent gold. Unfortunately, this purity is usually too soft to be made into jewellery. Therefore, jewellers mix gold with other metals such as copper, nickel, titanium, manganese, tin, zinc and iron.

The BIS currently specifies three-carat categories, each with its own code. 22-carat gold’s code is 22K916, 18-carat’s gold is 18K750, and 14-carat gold is 14K585.

The first two numbers indicate the karat level, followed by a “K” for karat. The last three digits refer to the purity level in parts per thousand. For instance, 916 indicates that the metal is 916 parts gold per 1,000 parts total. You can interpret the final three numbers in percentages. A 22-carat gold ring, for instance, is 91.6 per cent gold, while a 14-carat ring is 58.5 per cent gold.
 

5. The stamp of the hallmarking centre
The BIS permits both official hallmarking centres and private BIS-approved assessors to stamp jewellery, confirming its authenticity. This is done to improve tracking. If there is a problem with the item, you can trace it back to the original assessment centre and assessor.

Those planning on buying gold jewellery in India should never purchase an item unless it has all of these marks. Furthermore, you should be able to trace the gold back to the source using the information provided by the seller, verifying its provenance.

Why is hallmarking important?

Before the introduction of hallmarking, Indian consumers didn’t know whether the gold they were buying was genuine or not. In many cases, they simply had to trust the vendor and take their word for it. While most were trustworthy, some weren’t, and so many people found themselves the victims of fraud.

“Caveat emptor” or “buyer beware” policies are largely impractical in the gold jewellery market. That’s because it is very difficult for buyers to check that an item is genuine before purchase. The new BIS rules, therefore, improve transparency and make life easier for Indians, revealing the exact purity and carat value of the gold.

Honest vendors in the industry expect that the move will expand the market, as more people come to trust the veracity of the items they buy. In time, the reputation of Indian gold sellers should improve, benefiting everyone.

Which jewellers can get BIS hallmarks for their gold jewellery?

Not all jewellers can acquire BIS hallmarks for their gold items. Current rules state that only those certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards are eligible to take part under the scheme.

For consumers, this means that it is essential to buy only from those with close relationships with the BIS. If you buy from vendors who do not have official verification, you may be at risk of fraud.

Vernive gold jewellery

All gold sold through Vernive comes with all five of the compulsory BIS hallmarks. Shop with us today and get peace of mind.