Lesson 1 of 3 · 7 min
Reading a jewellery bill properly
Gold is the default Indian family asset and almost nobody is shown what the bill is actually charging for. Four separate things hide inside one number.
In most Indian families gold is not a decision anyone made. It arrives at weddings, comes down from a grandmother, gets bought a little at a time before a festival. It is the one asset older relatives are certain about and younger ones are never taught to read.
So start with the bill, because a jewellery bill is not one price. It is at least four separate charges stacked into a single figure, and only one of them is the metal.
| Line | What it pays for | Do you get it back when you sell? |
|---|---|---|
| Metal value | The weight of gold, at the rate for that purity on that day | Yes — this is the part a buyer pays you for |
| Making charges | The craft: design, labour, the shop's margin. A percentage of the metal value, or a flat rate per gram | No. Making charges are spent, not stored |
| Wastage | Metal notionally lost while the piece was made, added as extra grams or a percentage | No |
| GST | Charged on the metal and separately on the making charges | No — it is a tax you paid, not value inside the piece |
| Stones | Diamonds or coloured stones, weighed and priced apart from the gold | Rarely at anything close to what you paid |
Purity, in the only units that matter
- 24 carat
- 999 parts per thousand
- 22 carat
- 916 parts per thousand
- 18 carat
- 750 parts per thousand
Effectively pure. Too soft for most jewellery, which is why coins and bars use it and necklaces usually do not.
22 divided by 24. The '916' stamped inside a bangle is not a serial number — it is the purity.
Three quarters gold. Common in stone-set and lighter pieces, and priced against a lower metal rate accordingly.
Now the uncomfortable part. A necklace does two jobs at once. It stores metal value, and it is a thing you wear and want and were given. Both are real.
But the second job is consumption, and consumption priced as an asset is how families end up believing they own far more than the market thinks they do. The metal is an asset. The making, the wastage, the GST and the design are the price of the object.
Quick check
You buy a ₹1,00,000 chain: metal, making charges, wastage and GST all included. You sell it back a year later at the same gold rate. Roughly what should you expect?
Check yourself
1 / 3
Kabir asks
What are making charges paying for?
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