Why is gold not always 100% pure?

Because pure 24K gold is genuinely too soft for everyday wear — it bends, scratches, and dents just from normal use. Mixing gold with harder metals (copper, silver, zinc, palladium) creates an alloy that holds its shape and resists damage. Higher karat pieces (24K, 22K) feel slightly softer and bend more easily; lower karat (14K, 10K) is much harder and more scratch-resistant. The trade-off is purity for durability.

Does lower karat mean lower quality?

Not necessarily — it just means less gold per gram. 10K gold is actually MORE durable than 24K and costs less per gram, which is why it's the everyday Western standard for rings that get rough use. 22K is the South Asian preference because it balances store-of-value (high gold content) with a deep yellow colour and acceptable durability for occasional-wear jewellery. Pick the karat that fits how the piece will actually be worn, not just the headline purity number.

Why does 22K gold look more yellow than 18K?

Because it literally contains more actual gold, and gold is naturally a warm rich yellow. As karat decreases, the alloy metals (especially copper and silver) start affecting the colour visibly — 14K often looks paler, 10K starts looking more like brass. White gold and rose gold vary based on which alloys are added (nickel/palladium for white, more copper for rose). Pure 24K has the deepest, richest yellow — which is why the wealthy in Gulf markets often prefer it despite its softness.

How does this relate to Zakat?

Crucially. Islamic Zakat on gold is calculated on PURE gold weight, not the gross jewellery weight you might assume. So for 10 tola of 22K gold, Zakat applies to the 9.17 tola of actual pure gold — not the 10 tola total. The 0.83 tola of alloy doesn't count. This calculator's pure-gold output is exactly the number you'd plug into a Zakat calculator for accurate compliance. Getting this wrong means either underpaying or overpaying Zakat — neither is ideal.

Can you recover pure gold from jewellery?

Yes, through a process called refining — usually fire assay or acid dissolution. It requires proper lab equipment, which is why you can't really do it at home. Professional refineries charge 3-8% of recovered metal value and return roughly 95% of the theoretical pure content. For small jewellery pieces, simple melt-and-recast by a skilled jeweller is usually more economical than formal refining. Refining only makes sense for large quantities (50+ grams) or pieces with very low karat where the recovered pure gold value justifies the lab fees.

Is a higher-karat piece always worth more?

Per gram, yes — but not as proportionally as you'd think for final retail price. A 100 g 22K piece has about 22% more pure gold than a 100 g 18K piece — the metal value scales linearly with karat. But higher-karat jewellery is softer and sometimes has lower-percentage making charges to compensate, so the final retail price doesn't scale quite linearly. Always compare metal value (this calculator) PLUS making charges separately when shopping — that's where shops play tricks.

What alloy metals are in 18K gold?

Depends on the colour you're after. Yellow 18K mixes gold with silver and copper in roughly equal parts. White 18K uses nickel, palladium, or silver (and is usually rhodium-plated on top for extra brightness). Rose 18K uses much more copper, which gives the pink-gold look. Green 18K is gold + silver only. All of these are 18/24 = 75% gold by weight — what varies is only the 25% alloy composition, which produces dramatically different colours from identical purity.

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Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

Gold & Silver

Find the pure gold and impurity content of any gold item based on weight and karat.

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Gold & Silver

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

Generated on July 8, 2026

Gold Weight

Karat (Quality)

1 min readHow we build →

Quick Answer

Find the pure gold and impurity content of any gold item based on weight and karat.

What the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator does

Gold & Silver

A gold purity calculator splits any weight of gold into its two components: the pure 24K gold content and the alloy (impurity) content. This is essential for insurance declarations, inheritance valuations, Zakat computation (which is based on pure gold weight), melting and recasting calculations, and anyone comparing 22K vs 18K purchases. The calculator accepts any weight unit (grams, tola, masha, ratti, or ounces) and any karat from 10K through 24K, showing both the pure gold equivalent and the impurity (alloy) breakdown in all common units, along with a visual purity-vs-impurity split bar.

Formula

Pure Gold = Total Weight × (Karat ÷ 24). Impurity = Total − Pure.

24K gold is so soft (hardness ~2.5 on Mohs scale) that you can dent it with a fingernail — which is why jewellery rarely uses it.

22K gold (91.67% pure) is the sweet spot for Pakistani/Indian wedding jewellery — enough purity for resale value, enough alloy for durability.

18K (75% gold) is the global premium standard for fine western jewellery — Tiffany, Cartier, and Bulgari mostly use 18K.

By Muhammad Salman SaleemMethodologyFree, no sign-up · Runs in your browser — your data stays private

Read this first

You inherited a piece marked 'gold' and want to know whether it's 22K, 18K, or 9K before walking into Sarafa Bazar. The stamp inside the clasp (916, 750, 585) is a karat number disguised as parts-per-thousand: 916 means 22K, 750 means 18K, 585 means 14K. No stamp at all is suspicious; pre-1960s Indian and Pakistani gold often went unhallmarked, but most of it is still high-purity 22K because that's what jewellers worked in. This calculator splits any gold weight into its two components — the pure 24K gold content and the alloy (impurity) — for any karat from 10K through 24K, in grams, tola, masha, ratti, or troy ounces. Essential for insurance declarations (insurers want pure-gold weight, not gross), inheritance valuations where someone needs to split a 12-tola 22K necklace fairly, Zakat computation (which is calculated on PURE gold weight, not gross jewellery weight — getting this wrong means underpaying or overpaying Zakat), and anyone trying to decide whether 22K or 18K makes more financial sense for a bridal set. Honest take: never sell the same day you walk in for a quote — get three quotes from different shops, all on the same morning before the international rate fluctuates. The 5 percent spread between the highest and lowest offer for the same piece is real, and aunties who've sold five times know which corner shop pays best.

Pro tips most people learn the hard way

Zakat is calculated on PURE gold weight, not gross jewellery weight. For 10 tola of 22K, Zakat applies to 9.17 tola of actual gold — not the full 10. Get this wrong and you're either underpaying (spiritually problematic) or overpaying (financially unnecessary). This calculator's pure-gold output is your Zakat input.
Hallmark cheat sheet for Pakistani gold: 916 = 22K (the South Asian wedding standard), 750 = 18K (Western premium standard), 585 = 14K (US mass market), 375 = 9K (UK legal minimum). No stamp at all on inherited pieces is suspicious — pre-1960s Indian/Pakistani gold often went unhallmarked but is usually still 22K because that's what jewellers worked in.
22K vs 18K isn't a quality contest, it's a use-case decision. 22K (91.67% gold) is the South Asian sweet spot for wedding/store-of-value jewellery — high purity, deep yellow, acceptable durability for occasional wear. 18K (75%) is the Western fine-jewellery standard — harder, better for daily-wear rings, less deep yellow.
Higher karat = more gold per gram, but also softer. 24K is so soft you can dent it with a fingernail, which is why it's rarely used for jewellery and mostly for bullion bars. 22K bends with rough wear. 18K is durable enough for daily rings. 14K and below feel almost like everyday metal.
Pro tip: for any purchase above PKR 500,000, get the piece tested with an XRF spectrometer before paying. Reputable jewellers will let you. Walking in with the stamp's claimed karat and confirming with a 30-second non-destructive scan saves you from paying 22K prices for unmarked 18K — a small but real Sarafa Bazar trick.

?What is the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator?

The Formula

Pure Gold = Total Weight × (Karat ÷ 24). Impurity = Total − Pure.

Karat expresses gold purity as parts out of 24. So 22-karat gold is 22 parts pure gold and 2 parts alloy (usually copper, silver, or zinc for hardness and color), making 22/24 = 91.67% purity. 18K is 75% pure. Multiplying the total weight by this fraction gives the pure-gold content; the remainder is the impurity or alloy weight. Notice that jewellers often use the terms 'purity' and 'alloy' interchangeably — they describe the same split from opposite sides of the ratio.

Gold Karat to Purity — Complete Reference Table

The definitive karat-to-purity chart with equivalent fineness and hallmark stamps.

Karat	Purity %	Fineness (parts per 1000)	Hallmark Stamp	Common Use
24K	99.99%	999	999 / 24K	Pure bullion bars, investment coins
22K	91.67%	916	916 / 22K	Most Pakistani / Indian gold jewellery
21K	87.50%	875	875 / 21K	Popular in Gulf markets (UAE, KSA)
20K	83.33%	833	833 / 20K	Traditional South Asian pieces
18K	75.00%	750	750 / 18K	Fine western jewellery, diamond settings
14K	58.33%	583	583 / 14K	US mass-market jewellery
10K	41.67%	417	417 / 10K	Minimum legal gold in US, cheap items
9K	37.50%	375	375 / 9K	Minimum legal gold in UK

Put It in Perspective

24K gold is so soft (hardness ~2.5 on Mohs scale) that you can dent it with a fingernail — which is why jewellery rarely uses it.

22K gold (91.67% pure) is the sweet spot for Pakistani/Indian wedding jewellery — enough purity for resale value, enough alloy for durability.

18K (75% gold) is the global premium standard for fine western jewellery — Tiffany, Cartier, and Bulgari mostly use 18K.

A hallmark stamp of '916' on Pakistani gold means 22K purity — one of the most important checks when buying.

Practical Examples

10 tola of 22K gold contains 10 × 22/24 = 9.17 tola of pure gold and 0.83 tola of alloy.

50 g of 18K gold contains 50 × 18/24 = 37.5 g of pure gold and 12.5 g of alloy metals.

A 100 g 14K US necklace contains only 58.33 g of actual gold — the rest is copper, silver, or zinc alloy.

For Zakat purposes: 50 tola of 22K gold has 45.83 tola of pure gold, which is compared against the Nisab threshold for obligation.

A 200 g 21K Middle-Eastern bangle set contains 175 g pure gold (21/24 × 200) and 25 g alloy.

Melting down a 15 g 14K ring yields only 8.75 g of recoverable pure gold — useful to know when considering melting for remake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Two ways of saying the same thing. Karat is out of 24 — so 22K, 18K, 14K. Purity is out of 100, expressed as a percentage or fraction — 91.67%, 75%, 58.33%. To convert: karat ÷ 24 × 100 = purity percentage. This calculator shows both side by side so you can verify whatever is stamped on your jewellery (some hallmarks use karat, others use fineness like 916 or 750) against the receipt.

Popular Conversions

Jump to a ready-made conversion — useful for quick reference and sharing:

Tola, Masha, Ratti: Gold Weight Units in Pakistan, Fully Explained

One tola, twelve masha, ninety-six ratti — the old jeweller's ladder, converted to grams and de-mystified so nobody rounds a masha out of your pocket.

Buying Gold in Pakistan: Karat, Purity, Tola, and the Real Price

The sticker rate is only half the bill. Here's how karat, weight, and making charges combine into the number you actually hand over.

Sister Site

Need more gold tools? Try Goldify Pro

Live gold rates plus a complete suite of in-depth gold converters — purity, weight, karat, jewellery, and price calculators all in one place.

Live gold rates worldwide
Every gold converter
In-depth & accurate

Visit Goldify Pro See all gold converters

Browse all Gold & Silver

Live Gold & Silver Rates

Live international spot prices for gold (XAU/USD) and silver (XAG/USD), updated every 15 minutes from global wholesale markets.

Gold Price Calculator

Calculate gold value from weight and karat, or find how much gold you can buy for any amount of money.

Silver Price Calculator

Calculate silver value from weight and purity, or find how much silver you can buy for any amount of money.

Gold & Silver Weight Converter

Convert precious-metal weights across tola, masha, ratti, grams, and troy ounces — using the exact 1 tola = 11.6638 g and 1 troy oz = 31.1035 g jeweller standards.

Karat Adjustment Calculator

Calculate how much alloy or pure gold to add to convert gold from one karat to another.

Gold & Silver Rate Finder

Reverse-calculate the effective rate per tola, gram, or ounce from money paid and weight received.

Gold Weight Add / Subtract Calculator

Add and subtract gold or silver weights across mixed units — grams, tola, ounce, and TMR.

Browse all Gold & Silver calculators & converters

See every tool in this category, plus FAQs and category-specific guides.

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Premium Converters

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

Gold & Silver

Find the pure gold and impurity content of any gold item based on weight and karat.

Loading live gold & silver rates…

Gold & Silver

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

Generated on July 8, 2026

Gold Weight

Karat (Quality)

1 min readHow we build →

Quick Answer

Find the pure gold and impurity content of any gold item based on weight and karat.

What the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator does

Gold & Silver

Formula

Pure Gold = Total Weight × (Karat ÷ 24). Impurity = Total − Pure.

24K gold is so soft (hardness ~2.5 on Mohs scale) that you can dent it with a fingernail — which is why jewellery rarely uses it.

22K gold (91.67% pure) is the sweet spot for Pakistani/Indian wedding jewellery — enough purity for resale value, enough alloy for durability.

18K (75% gold) is the global premium standard for fine western jewellery — Tiffany, Cartier, and Bulgari mostly use 18K.

By Muhammad Salman SaleemMethodologyFree, no sign-up · Runs in your browser — your data stays private

Read this first

Pro tips most people learn the hard way

Zakat is calculated on PURE gold weight, not gross jewellery weight. For 10 tola of 22K, Zakat applies to 9.17 tola of actual gold — not the full 10. Get this wrong and you're either underpaying (spiritually problematic) or overpaying (financially unnecessary). This calculator's pure-gold output is your Zakat input.
Hallmark cheat sheet for Pakistani gold: 916 = 22K (the South Asian wedding standard), 750 = 18K (Western premium standard), 585 = 14K (US mass market), 375 = 9K (UK legal minimum). No stamp at all on inherited pieces is suspicious — pre-1960s Indian/Pakistani gold often went unhallmarked but is usually still 22K because that's what jewellers worked in.
22K vs 18K isn't a quality contest, it's a use-case decision. 22K (91.67% gold) is the South Asian sweet spot for wedding/store-of-value jewellery — high purity, deep yellow, acceptable durability for occasional wear. 18K (75%) is the Western fine-jewellery standard — harder, better for daily-wear rings, less deep yellow.
Higher karat = more gold per gram, but also softer. 24K is so soft you can dent it with a fingernail, which is why it's rarely used for jewellery and mostly for bullion bars. 22K bends with rough wear. 18K is durable enough for daily rings. 14K and below feel almost like everyday metal.
Pro tip: for any purchase above PKR 500,000, get the piece tested with an XRF spectrometer before paying. Reputable jewellers will let you. Walking in with the stamp's claimed karat and confirming with a 30-second non-destructive scan saves you from paying 22K prices for unmarked 18K — a small but real Sarafa Bazar trick.

?What is the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator?

The Formula

Pure Gold = Total Weight × (Karat ÷ 24). Impurity = Total − Pure.

Gold Karat to Purity — Complete Reference Table

The definitive karat-to-purity chart with equivalent fineness and hallmark stamps.

Karat	Purity %	Fineness (parts per 1000)	Hallmark Stamp	Common Use
24K	99.99%	999	999 / 24K	Pure bullion bars, investment coins
22K	91.67%	916	916 / 22K	Most Pakistani / Indian gold jewellery
21K	87.50%	875	875 / 21K	Popular in Gulf markets (UAE, KSA)
20K	83.33%	833	833 / 20K	Traditional South Asian pieces
18K	75.00%	750	750 / 18K	Fine western jewellery, diamond settings
14K	58.33%	583	583 / 14K	US mass-market jewellery
10K	41.67%	417	417 / 10K	Minimum legal gold in US, cheap items
9K	37.50%	375	375 / 9K	Minimum legal gold in UK

Put It in Perspective

24K gold is so soft (hardness ~2.5 on Mohs scale) that you can dent it with a fingernail — which is why jewellery rarely uses it.

22K gold (91.67% pure) is the sweet spot for Pakistani/Indian wedding jewellery — enough purity for resale value, enough alloy for durability.

18K (75% gold) is the global premium standard for fine western jewellery — Tiffany, Cartier, and Bulgari mostly use 18K.

A hallmark stamp of '916' on Pakistani gold means 22K purity — one of the most important checks when buying.

Practical Examples

10 tola of 22K gold contains 10 × 22/24 = 9.17 tola of pure gold and 0.83 tola of alloy.

50 g of 18K gold contains 50 × 18/24 = 37.5 g of pure gold and 12.5 g of alloy metals.

A 100 g 14K US necklace contains only 58.33 g of actual gold — the rest is copper, silver, or zinc alloy.

For Zakat purposes: 50 tola of 22K gold has 45.83 tola of pure gold, which is compared against the Nisab threshold for obligation.

A 200 g 21K Middle-Eastern bangle set contains 175 g pure gold (21/24 × 200) and 25 g alloy.

Melting down a 15 g 14K ring yields only 8.75 g of recoverable pure gold — useful to know when considering melting for remake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Popular Conversions

Jump to a ready-made conversion — useful for quick reference and sharing:

Tola, Masha, Ratti: Gold Weight Units in Pakistan, Fully Explained

One tola, twelve masha, ninety-six ratti — the old jeweller's ladder, converted to grams and de-mystified so nobody rounds a masha out of your pocket.

Buying Gold in Pakistan: Karat, Purity, Tola, and the Real Price

The sticker rate is only half the bill. Here's how karat, weight, and making charges combine into the number you actually hand over.

Sister Site

Need more gold tools? Try Goldify Pro

Live gold rates plus a complete suite of in-depth gold converters — purity, weight, karat, jewellery, and price calculators all in one place.

Live gold rates worldwide
Every gold converter
In-depth & accurate

Visit Goldify Pro See all gold converters

Browse all Gold & Silver

Live Gold & Silver Rates

Live international spot prices for gold (XAU/USD) and silver (XAG/USD), updated every 15 minutes from global wholesale markets.

Gold Price Calculator

Calculate gold value from weight and karat, or find how much gold you can buy for any amount of money.

Silver Price Calculator

Calculate silver value from weight and purity, or find how much silver you can buy for any amount of money.

Gold & Silver Weight Converter

Convert precious-metal weights across tola, masha, ratti, grams, and troy ounces — using the exact 1 tola = 11.6638 g and 1 troy oz = 31.1035 g jeweller standards.

Karat Adjustment Calculator

Calculate how much alloy or pure gold to add to convert gold from one karat to another.

Gold & Silver Rate Finder

Reverse-calculate the effective rate per tola, gram, or ounce from money paid and weight received.

Gold Weight Add / Subtract Calculator

Add and subtract gold or silver weights across mixed units — grams, tola, ounce, and TMR.

Browse all Gold & Silver calculators & converters

See every tool in this category, plus FAQs and category-specific guides.

Browse other categories

Islamic9 Financial14 Health25 Unit19 Date & Time9 Math21 Construction22 Utility20 Fun12

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator | Premium Converters

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Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

What the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator does

Read this first

Pro tips most people learn the hard way

?What is the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator?

The Formula

Gold Karat to Purity — Complete Reference Table

Put It in Perspective

Practical Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

Popular Conversions

Embed this calculator on your site

Need more gold tools? Try Goldify Pro

Browse other categories

Premium Converters

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

What the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator does

Read this first

Pro tips most people learn the hard way

?What is the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator?

The Formula

Gold Karat to Purity — Complete Reference Table

Put It in Perspective

Practical Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

Popular Conversions

Embed this calculator on your site

Need more gold tools? Try Goldify Pro

Browse other categories

Premium Converters

Premium Converters

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

What the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator does

Read this first

Pro tips most people learn the hard way

?What is the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator?

The Formula

Gold Karat to Purity — Complete Reference Table

Put It in Perspective

Practical Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between purity and karat?

Why is gold not always 100% pure?

Does lower karat mean lower quality?

Why does 22K gold look more yellow than 18K?

How does this relate to Zakat?

Can you recover pure gold from jewellery?

Is a higher-karat piece always worth more?

What alloy metals are in 18K gold?

Popular Conversions

Guides that go deeper

Embed this calculator on your site

Need more gold tools? Try Goldify Pro

More Gold & Silver Tools

Browse other categories

Premium Converters

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator

What the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator does

Read this first

Pro tips most people learn the hard way

?What is the Gold Purity & Impurity Calculator?

The Formula

Gold Karat to Purity — Complete Reference Table

Put It in Perspective

Practical Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between purity and karat?

Why is gold not always 100% pure?

Does lower karat mean lower quality?

Why does 22K gold look more yellow than 18K?

How does this relate to Zakat?

Can you recover pure gold from jewellery?

Is a higher-karat piece always worth more?

What alloy metals are in 18K gold?

Popular Conversions

Guides that go deeper

Embed this calculator on your site

Need more gold tools? Try Goldify Pro

More Gold & Silver Tools

Browse other categories