Gold Karat Systems Around the World
Why a wedding ring in Delhi, a chain in Dubai, and an engagement ring in Chicago are made of three very different metals.
A tourist who buys a "gold chain" in Istanbul, Mumbai, and Minneapolis will end up with three objects that share a name and almost nothing else. Istanbul's chain is probably 22 karat, 91.67% pure, warm yellow and soft to the fingernail. Mumbai's chain is the same 22 karat but struck to a slightly different set of conventions. Minneapolis' chain is very likely 14 karat, 58.33% pure, paler, stiffer, and more likely to last a lifetime of daily wear without kinking. All three are genuine gold jewelry. All three are priced, valued, and regulated completely differently.
The simplest explanation for why karat preferences vary so dramatically is that gold jewelry plays different social roles in different places. In South Asia and the Gulf, gold is savings first and ornament second: families accumulate it across generations as an inflation-resistant store of wealth, so higher purity (which holds its melt value better) makes economic sense. In Europe and North America, gold is ornament first and savings rarely: jewelry is worn daily and must survive decades of dishwashing and gym-going, so durability wins over purity. Understanding this split explains nearly every karat convention you will encounter.
What the karat number actually means
"Karat" (sometimes "carat" outside the United States, which unhelpfully shares spelling with the diamond weight unit) is a fraction out of 24. The number tells you how many twenty-fourths of the alloy are pure gold.
- 24 karat = 24/24 = 99.9% pure (stamped 999 or 9999)
- 22 karat = 22/24 = 91.67% pure (stamped 916)
- 21 karat = 21/24 = 87.5% pure (stamped 875)
- 18 karat = 18/24 = 75% pure (stamped 750)
- 14 karat = 14/24 = 58.33% pure (stamped 585)
- 10 karat = 10/24 = 41.67% pure (stamped 417)
- 9 karat = 9/24 = 37.5% pure (stamped 375)
- 8 karat = 8/24 = 33.33% pure (stamped 333)
The three-digit number is the millesimal fineness — parts per thousand. A 585 stamp means 585 parts per thousand of pure gold, which is 58.5% or 14 karat. Every country's hallmarking system ultimately translates to the same millesimal scale, even when the local shorthand differs.
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh: 22K is the standard
Across the Indian subcontinent, 22 karat gold (916) is the overwhelming default. Wedding jewelry, temple gold, family investment bangles — virtually all of it is 22K. The cultural logic is straightforward: gold is a store of wealth first and bridal ornament second. Jewelry is assumed to be meltable and re-sellable at close to its gold content, so the alloy is kept as pure as possible while remaining workable. Twenty-four karat is too soft for setting stones or supporting filigree, but 22 karat strikes a reasonable compromise between purity and durability.
India's Bureau of Indian Standards runs a mandatory hallmarking scheme under the BIS mark. A proper BIS-hallmarked piece carries four marks: the BIS logo, the fineness number, the assaying centre's code, and the jeweler's code. Since 2021, almost all retail gold jewelry sold in India must be BIS-hallmarked.
The Gulf: a mix of 18K, 21K, and 22K
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain lean heavily on 21 karat (875). It is slightly harder than 22K while keeping very high purity, and the local wedding and dowry traditions favor it. The UAE — especially Dubai's Gold Souk — sells the full range, from 18K machine-made chains aimed at tourists up to 24K investment bars. If you buy in the Gulf, always confirm the karat you are actually paying for, because a 21K price does not apply to an 18K piece.
Across the Arab world, gold jewelry has historically been priced by weight plus a "making charge" for craftsmanship. The making charge is where dealers earn margin and where negotiation happens. Melt value floors the price, craftsmanship sits on top.
Turkey: 22K and 14K in parallel
Turkey is unusual: 22 karat gold (stamped "has" for "pure") dominates traditional bridal and investment jewelry, while 14 karat is common for everyday wear and Western-style pieces. Stamps of 916, 750, 585, and 375 all appear regularly. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul covers every karat that has ever circulated in Anatolia.
Europe: 18K is the fine-jewelry standard
In Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and most of the rest of continental Europe, the default karat for fine jewelry is 18K (750). Everyday jewelry is often 14K (585) or 9K (375 — particularly common in the UK). European hallmarking is rigorous: in the UK, the London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Sheffield assay offices each stamp pieces with the sponsor's mark, the fineness, the assay office, and a date letter. A piece with a full UK hallmark is one of the best-authenticated items in global gold commerce.
North America: 14K and 10K dominate
The United States and Canada are 14K-first markets. Almost all wedding bands, engagement rings, chains, and watches sold new in North America are 14K (585). The reasoning is pragmatic: 14K is harder, more scratch-resistant, and holds stones better than higher karats, and Americans wear their jewelry every day. Ten karat (417) is also legal for sale as "gold" in the US — it is the legal minimum — and appears in lower-priced chains and class rings. Anything below 10K cannot be sold as gold in the United States.
Eighteen and 22 karat pieces do circulate, typically at high-end boutiques and among immigrant communities that retain a preference for their home country's karat. But the North American mass market is 14K, and any melt-value negotiation should start from that baseline.
East Asia: Chuk Kam and 24K
In Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, and parts of Southeast Asia, the traditional preference is chuk kam, "pure gold," which is effectively 24 karat (990 or 999). Modern Hong Kong stamps include 9999 for ultra-pure pieces and 999 for standard pure-gold jewelry. Lower-karat pieces are sold for Western-style jewelry but are culturally secondary. Weddings, births, and Lunar New Year gifts traditionally use 24K, reinforcing its role as savings more than ornament.
Why this matters for buyers and sellers
The immediate practical point: a gram of 22K gold contains almost 57% more pure gold than a gram of 14K gold. A 10-gram 22K chain has the same melt value as a roughly 15.7-gram 14K chain. When you compare prices across markets — a Dubai bangle versus a New York chain, for example — you cannot compare "per gram" prices directly. You have to adjust for purity.
The gold calculator on this site does the adjustment automatically. Enter the weight and select the karat, and the melt value it returns is the true pure-gold content at today's spot price. Two pieces with the same melt value are economically equivalent, regardless of which karat system they were stamped under.