Learn before you buy gold
Short, original tips and 60-second lessons — written so you walk into a jeweller informed.
Today's tip
Polki and Kundan hide weight
Stone-set jewellery bills often club gold + stones + making into one figure. Always ask for the net gold weight (sans stones) separately.
Today's lesson
How is the local gold rate calculated
International spot (USD per troy ounce) ÷ 31.1035 = USD per gram. Multiply by today's USD/local rate, add ~6% (Pakistan) or ~10.5% (India) for import duty + dealer margin. That is your local 24K per gram.
All quick tips
- Buy by weight, not by piece
- 22K is 91.67% of 24K — verify on the bill
- Hallmark before haggling
- Making charges are negotiable
- Coins beat ornaments for investment
- Sunday rates are stale
- Watch the USD, not just the rupee
- Old-gold exchange weigh in front of you
- GST and sales tax are on top
- Festive premium is real
- Buyback policy in writing
- Don't trust round numbers
- Tola is 11.6638g, not 12
- Buying abroad check landing duty
- ETFs vs physical zero making zero storage
- Polki and Kundan hide weight
- Two shops same hour compare
- Don't melt at the first shop
- Per-tola vs per-10g — recheck
- Receipts unlock resale
- Watch geopolitics not horoscopes
- Diwali week is not the cheapest
- Online rate pages can be hours old
- Karat vs purity 916 equals 22K
- Pay by card not cash above 50k
- Don't average down on a falling market
- Wedding sets ask for break-up
- Touchstone test takes 90 seconds
- Lockers cost less than you think
- Track the close not the open
60-second lessons
- How is the local gold rate calculated
- Why 31.1035 grams in an ounce
- What does spot price actually mean
- Why does India pay more than Pakistan
- How tola compares to 10 grams
- What is making charge really
- Why 24K is not used for daily jewellery
- USD strength vs gold price
- Why prices move during Asian hours
- BIS hallmark simply explained
- Sovereign Gold Bonds vs physical
- Why per-gram is the only honest unit
- The wastage charge what it really is
- How import duty changes affect you
- Why gold rises during war and inflation