Gold was discovered as a shining yellow nugget! Since it was dispersed across the world, gold was discovered by many different groups in different locales. However, it did not fail to impress anyone who saw it. Despite gold being such a powerful metal, its earliest history of human interaction is not known. But it is revered like the gods and it is considered a highly auspicious metal in many cultures across the globe.

India and gold

Indians have a craze for gold since ancient times. Today, India is the highest importer of gold in the world. Several Indians prefer to buy gold than keep their money in the banks. Gold is important to Indians as it is the raw material to produce jewellery. Indians also consider this metal to be a solution to all their problems. Some more importance of gold in India is;

• In India gold is an integral part of most of the ceremony irrespective of the religion. You will witness people buying gold for different religious occasions.
• Gold jewellery and ornaments are considered to be heirlooms that are passed on from generation to another.
• Gifting gold is believed to be highly auspicious and so lot of gold is gifted during weddings and religious ceremonies.
• Indians love to flaunt gold and consider it to be a status symbol. Gold enables one to stand out in the crowd.
• Indians consider gold to be the safest investment.

Know your gold

True. Gold is not just a metal for Indians. It holds a lot of sentimental value also. However, how pure is your gold? Khimji Jewellers helps you understand the quality of your gold a little better. Purity of gold is measured in terms of Karat.

24K Gold

This implies that all the 24 parts of gold are pure without traces of any metal and it is 100% pure. 24K is the highest form of gold and is the most expensive type of gold. However, this type of gold is soft and supple making it difficult to produce jewellery. 24K gold is used for other purposes such as making coins and bars, electronics and medical devices.

22K Gold

Such type of gold has 22 parts of gold and 2 parts of some other metal such as silver, zinc, nickel and others. It is due to the presence of these metals that makes 22K gold usable for jewellery making. Again, such type of gold can be used to create only simple gold jewellery, diamond and other studded jewellery cannot be created using 22K gold.

18K Gold

This type of gold comprises of 75% of gold and 25% of metals like copper, silver and other alloys. Normally, most of the heavily studded jewellery make use of 18K gold and it is less expensive than 24K and 22K.

14K Gold

14 parts are of gold while other parts are made up of other metals in 14K gold.

9K Gold

This type has 9 parts of gold and other parts of other metal and its alloys. 9K gold is vulnerable to tarnishing and may turn green or black and may affect the skin of the wearer.

Another important aspect to consider while choosing your gold is to ensure that it has BIS hallmark. It is a hallmarking system in India that certifies the purity of gold or silver jewellery .

Design of BIS hallmark for gold is as follows; Design of BIS hallmark for gold is as follows :