Dubai's Gold Hallmarking Rules

When you think about Dubai’s gold souks, what pops in most of our minds is – assured purity, along with quality and a wide variety of designs. However, it is the Dubai government’s relentless attention that deserves real credit for the trust that buyers place in Dubai’s gold business. Besides the usual conducting mandatory assessments, the government agencies are famously known for visiting the jewelers without any prior announcement in order to evaluate their goods for the price and most of all, purity.

The law has made it mandatory in a strong spirit of consumer protection for the jewelers to sell gold jewelry carrying the hallmark of this metal’s purity. If and when a buyer asks for the proof, the jewelers are said to be happy to oblige and show this hallmark, in order to prove their commitment towards compliance and quality. Generally, the hallmark is the manufacturer’s stamp and karat of this precious metal stamped on the jewellery.

In Dubai, the gold is normally available in 18, 21, 22, and 24 karats. The different karats and their characteristics are briefly explained in the table below.

Karat	Characteristics
24K	A 24K gold is considered to be 100% pure. It is not mixed with any other metal. It is called 99.9% pure in the market. The color of a 24K gold is bright yellow. It is more expensive when compared to 22K gold price in UAE, and 18K gold price in UAE. The texture is pliable and soft. It cannot be used to make jewellery because of the texture. It is used in the production of coins, bars, and some medical and electronic devices.
22K	22K gold is generally used for the production of jewellery. This consists of 22 parts of gold metal and the other 2 are metals such as nickel, silver, zinc, etc. It is known as 91.67% pure in the market. The mixture with alloys makes the texture of gold hard that leads to durable jewellery pieces.
21K	21K gold is 87.5% pure gold that is mixed with 12.5% of the other alloys.
18K	18K gold is considered to consist of 75% gold that is mixed with 25% of other metals such as copper, silver, etc. It is commonly used in making pieces of jewellery that are studded with stones and other diamond jewellery. The 18K gold price in UAE is more affordable as compared to the 22K gold price in UAE and 24K gold price in UAE.

How is Gold Certified in Dubai?

The purity of gold in Dubai is ensured with a Bareeq Certification. This certificate is issued by the DCLD – Dubai Central Laboratories Department in order to ensure the purity standard of gold, this is done in the following manner:

1. The assessment starts with checking the retailer’s compliance with both local and federal rules and regulations, the product quality, and the adequacy of labeling that is on the jewellery.
2. The respective inspectors then move forward to capture the findings as they are in the process of monitoring outlets for adherence to rules.
3. There are voluntary certifications that may supplement this mandatory inspection of the quality of the retailer’s standards and the purity of the pieces of jewellery that they are selling.

Usually, the authorities visit the store for this inspection at least three times a year.

Who Gets Certified?

The stores that are proved to be following true and fair jewellery trade practices are certified. The retailers that are holding a Bareeq Certification can display it or use it for advertisements. The inspection reports state almost a 98% compliance rate. And the other 2% fall under the jewelers that are found to commit fraud, mostly, unintentionally.

The majority of the problems arise in the case of imported jewellery, of which the purity is not declared in the packaging and is different from the country from which the piece was sourced.

Other Things to Make Sure For a Safe and Fair Gold Purchase

Dubai’s efforts for maintaining their status of reliability when it comes to the sale of gold goes beyond the hallmarking of the jewellery, certifications, and inspection. There are many other initiatives such as the Market Deliverable Brand and Dubai Good Delivery, that along with the quality of production and refining cover responsible sourcing.