For sparkling returns, know your jewellery

If you are planning to buy jewellery, it is advisable to keep a few things in mind before getting hold of that fancy piece that caught your eye.

In India, around 50% of the population is under 25 and there will be approximately 15 million weddings per annum over the next decade. This will drive approximately 500 tonne of gold demand per annum. As gold is expensive, it needs to be bought with a lot of care and understanding.

Karat
Karat is the unit measurement of gold to note the purity and fineness. A 24K (karat) gold indicates purity of 99.99%. As gold is a relatively soft metal, high-karat gold tends to get easily damaged. Hence, only gold bars, coins and bangles can be made in 24K since they have no joints. Gold is often mixed with filler metals such as silver, palladium, platinum, nickel and copper to combat the softness of pure 24K.

“It is possible to have 100% pure gold, however, it is not viable for commercial use. It is possible to find 24K gold of 99.9999% purity, but at a very high premium,” says Anuj Rakyan, MD of Ananya
Jewels.

Impurities make the metal stronger and easier to use, hence, most diamond jewellery is made in 18k. Imported brands  make casted pieces in pure gold with purity up to 99% because it needs some malleability to be designed.

“If 99% is the purity of your gold, then 1% is the tolerance ratio of that gold ornament, which indicates the impurity component that could not be refined,” says Rajiv Popley, director of Popley and Sons.

Gold jewellery mixed with some amount of silver, platinum or palladium has more karats against an ornament mixed with nickel. Copper is also used to give gold durability and hardness.

Carat
Carat refers to the weight of a gemstone. “It is basically used to weigh precious stones  as they are light in weight and expensive with fine quality. Carat is almost one fifth of a gram,” says Popley.

Four Cs: While buying diamonds, ensure it has the four Cs (cut, colour, clarity and carat). When you buy precious stones, usually you get a certificate of quality which mentions the four Cs.

“A well cut diamond has a good reflection. Whiter diamonds are better in quality,” says Bhuwan Gaurav, head of marketing at Tanishq.

Diamond colour is indicated by G, H, I, J, K and so on. G and H indicates whiteness, whereas I, J and K are more on the yellow side. For clarity, look for IF (internally flawless), VVS (very very slight intrusion), VS (very slight intrusion), SI (slight intrusion) and I (intrusion). “The IF category has the least number of dots against the I which has many. Although they are not visible to the naked eye, it affects the diamond’s quality,” adds Gaurav.

Troy ounce
Troy ounce is a unit of imperial measure commonly used to gauge the weight and therefore the price of precious metals. While a tola is 11.664 grams, ounce is 31.1 grams. “Anything that is expensive is usually weighed in troy ounce,” says Popley.

Brand is important
When you buy a gold coin or bar, make sure you buy it from a jeweller who embosses his brand name along with the exact weight and purity on it. Insist on getting your jewellery weighed on the karat meter which indicates the exact purity of the jewellery. The technology used for this is called  xray-spectroscopy. 
If you wish to sell your gold necklace, insist your jeweller melt it in front of you and get to know its real purity on the same meter.