Dhanteras 2018 is here: Time for gold! Be smart, remember these points while buying yellow metal

Majority of Indians has have now entered firmly into the Diwali mode even as the the festival is going to begin next week starting withDhanteras. There are large crowds around shops already, as families buy sweets, clothes, gifts, even fire crackers. The festival which is of 5 days, begins with the most auspicious occasion of Dhanteras on Monday, during which buying gold is a given. On this day, Hindus consider it an extremely auspicious day for making new purchases, especially gold, silver, platinum and even utensils. It is believed buying the metal brings good luck. Many major jewellers have already begun providing offers on gold to boost demand. 

Considering this, here's a list of things that you need to remember while purchasing the yellow metal.

Know the Purity of Gold:

Purity of gold is denoted in karats – with 24 karat gold being 99.9% pure and 22 karat gold being 92% pure. 

Each karat of gold is equivalent to 4.2% pure gold, which means that 14 and 18 karat contains only 58.33% and 75% pure gold, respectively.

24 karat gold is not suited to make jewellery, which is why jewellers use either 14, 18 or 22 karat gold. 

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Making charges:

Current gold rates usually include making charges - so it is important to insist on fixed making charges otherwise one can be fooled by jewellers into paying higher charges. 

Gold jewellery prices can be calculated by Gold price per gm)* (Weight in gm) + (Making charges)*(Weight in gm) + GST. 

Man-made versus Machine made ornaments:

One should discuss the making charges with the jewellers and as these charges on machine made artefacts are lower than charges on man-made artefacts -  making  them cheaper. 

Check the weight:

In India, most jewellery are sold by weight. Heavier pieces of course, cost more. 

Precious stones like diamond and emeralds are often added to gold jewellery, making them heavier in the process. 

Buy back:

In case if you want to exchange your old jewellery for new one, there are buyback options available in many jewellery shops

While designs and trends can change, the value of gold remains same and discussing buy backs during a purchase could benefit one.

Jewellery store: 

There are lakhs of jewellery stores in India. 

Purchasing gold jewellery from small stores could be a risk as they might pass of impure gold as pure gold or could sell stolen gold artifacts. 

Thus, buying gold from a reputed jeweller erases the amount of risk as it comes with guarantee.

Mark of Bureau of Indian Standards: 

Buy gold which are hallmarked by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). 

The BIS Hallmarking Scheme has been aligned with International criteria on hallmarking (Vienna Convention 1972). As per this scheme, licence is granted to the jewellers by BIS under Hallmarking Scheme.