Gold bought in India

Now a days there is a huge discussion on the quality of gold sold in India. Big brands are charging premium rates claiming that the gold quality is maintained. Small retailers are charging huge sums claiming they have to survive.

Whatever is the reason, there are a hundred ways in which the consumer is being robbed of money and peace of money.

How to know the quality of gold ornament? Here in the picture, are two sets of ear rings I bought from a shop in Hyderabad, India at two different times. The shop is the same but the quality of gold can be witnessed after a couple of years.

When gold ornaments are made, depending on the design, different pieces are made and attached to create a single piece. To attach pieces, again gold is used. Its like soldering. However, to save gold, the manufacturer can use copper or another metal to glue design pieces together.

In the photo above, the top picture shows blackish bluegreen shades at design joints. Here the manufacturer used a low quality metal to attach the design pieces. The picture below shows no such colouring. It means it is a complete gold piece. In the above pic, the gold shade has gone down a couple of degrees than the one in the bottom.

It is difficult to know the quality of gold immediately unless one takes the piece to another jeweler and offers to sell it.

Gold purchase in India is very fascinating but a daunting task to a customer to make it a clean purchase.