Hallmarking is India's way of guaranteeing gold purity, but the marks themselves aren't self-explanatory unless someone's walked you through them once. Here's what to actually look for.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) hallmarking is the official purity certification for gold jewellery sold in India. A hallmarked piece carries a small set of marks — usually laser-engraved — that together certify the gold's purity, rather than relying on the seller's word alone.
Since mandatory hallmarking rules took effect, jewellers selling hallmarked gold are required to register with BIS and get each piece marked through a licensed Assaying & Hallmarking Centre before it reaches the showroom floor.
Look closely (a jeweller's loupe or your phone camera zoomed in both work) for four things: the BIS logo itself, a purity/fineness number such as 916 for 22K or 750 for 18K, the six-character alphanumeric HUID (Hallmark Unique ID) unique to that exact piece, and the Assaying & Hallmarking Centre's mark.
The 916 you'll see most often on Indian gold jewellery means 91.6% pure gold by weight — the standard for 22K jewellery. 750 means 75% pure, the standard for 18K, common in lighter or stone-set designs where 22K would be too soft to hold settings well.
The HUID is what makes a hallmark checkable rather than just decorative — it's a unique identifier for that specific piece, generated at the point of hallmarking, and it's what a jeweller or BIS verification tool can trace back to confirm the piece was genuinely certified rather than marked without going through the process.
It's worth asking to see the HUID on the invoice as well as the piece itself — a legitimate hallmarked purchase will have it on both.
Ask for the purity number and HUID to be pointed out on the piece itself, not just quoted verbally. Ask whether the invoice lists the HUID against that specific item. And if a design is 18K rather than 22K (common for stone-set or bridal pieces with fine detailing), ask why — it's usually a structural choice for the design, not a purity shortcut.
916 means the piece is 91.6% pure gold by weight, which is the BIS standard for 22K gold — the most common purity for Indian gold jewellery.
HUID stands for Hallmark Unique ID — a six-character alphanumeric code unique to that specific piece of jewellery, generated when it's hallmarked, which can be used to verify the piece was genuinely certified.
No — 18K (750 mark) is simply a lower gold purity than 22K (916 mark), often chosen for stone-set or intricately detailed designs where a harder alloy holds up better. Both are legitimate, hallmarked purity standards.