Zee Exclusive: Benefits of buying hallmark gold jewellery, look for these components

New Delhi: In view of COVID-19, the government has accepted the request of stakeholders to give jewellers some more time to get prepared for implementation and resolve issues. Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery is now set to begin from June 16, 2021 which was earlier expected to be implemented from June 1.

In an exclusive interview with Reema Sharma of Zee Media, Sudheesh Nambiath, Head, India Gold Policy Centre, IIM- Ahmedabad, discusses a few pertinent questions associated with the government's order on mandatory hallmarking of Gold Jewellery from next week. Excerpts from the interview...

1. How does buying hallmark gold jewellery will benefit users?

Hallmarked articles are certification and confirmation of the quality that provides assurance of gold purity in the consumer’s mind. Mandatory hallmarking safeguards the consumer against lower karatage gold jewellery and ensure that customers are not misled by the jeweller and receive the purity as stated in the article. This implies that if a consumer is buying 22K hallmarked gold jewellery, it will actually mean that 22/24 parts are gold and the rest is alloy, allowing him to calculate the purchase and resale value of gold at the forefront.

The purity of the gold cannot be contested by another jeweller when a consumer would want to scrap it or exchange for old jewellery. The consumer could with all the details of jewellery piece can take the seller of the piece to the court.

The purity certification helps the consumer get better value while collateralising it.

A consumer would be able with the Unique Identification be in a position to confirm the authenticity of hallmarking.

2. Govt has not included certain Karatages in the mandatory hallmarking regime, how do you view this?

As of now, BIS has only allowed mandatory hallmarking on 14k, 18k, and 22k of Gold articles while International standards approve all kinds of Karatage (9K to 24K) and lay down no restriction. Gold has a traditional value in India and different regions have unique demands for different karatages. In some religions, wedding jewellery is not complete without 24k ornaments. Moreover, in neighboring countries like China, Nepal, Srilanka, Bangladesh, and Bangkok, the majority of the sale of gold jewellery is 24k. So I think, gradually in near future, BIS would give liberty to Jewellers to sell other karatage, if the jeweller has the necessary machinery and expertise to manufacture it.

3. What are the major components one must look at while buying gold? (In gold hallmarking)

First of all, one should always buy Gold from a BIS-certified Gold Jeweller. Secondly, one should look at the four signs of Hallmarking on the gold article with the help of a magnifying glass of 10 X magnification available with the Jeweller. Those four signs are BIS Mark, Purity in Carat and Fineness for Gold, Assay center’s identification mark/number, Jewellers identification mark/number. Thirdly, the Customer should always take the bill of his purchases and verify that it mentions hallmarking cost (not more than Rs.35/- + GST per piece for gold), net weight of the precious metal, purity in carat, and fineness on the bill.

Live TV