Planning to invest in Gold; here's what you need to remember

Over the years, gold in India has been considered as the most precious investment as Indians believe it to be a symbol of wealth, power and prosperity.
 
Gold in India is bought in the form of jewellery or coins. Investment in yellow metal is also made through Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) or Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) scheme as we Indians always see investment in gold as a wise decision.
 
In a bid to boost investment in gold, the GST Council, last year, provided relief to this sector by withdrawing KYC norms and PMLA.
 
As per the council norms, if a person is buying jewellery above Rs 50,000, he will not be required to submit his PAN or Aadhaar card details.
 
Further, an entity dealing in gems or jewellery or any other high-value goods having turnover of Rs 2 crore or more will not be covered under PMLA.
 
During 2017, gold hit a high of Rs 31,350 per 10 grams (on September 8), and a low of Rs 28,300 (on January 2).
 
Now, let us know what happens when we invest in gold jewellery.
 
Buying physical gold jewellery comes with lot of responsibility as you may not get it at the same price everywhere because their prices fluctuates. There are no specific rules for pricing and invoicing when you buy a gold ornament.
 
However, there are some points you must keep in mind before buying a gold jewellery.
 
Purity of gold
 
Purity of gold is denoted in karats – with 24 karat gold being 99.9% pure and 22 karat gold being 92% pure.
 
Each karat of gold is equivalent to 4.2% pure gold, which means 14 and 18 karat contain only 58.33% and 75% pure gold, respectively.
 
24 karat gold is not suited to make jewellery, which is why jewellers use either 14, 18 or 22 karat gold.
 
Making charges
 
This is another important factor you need to remember while buying gold jewellery, as it has major impact on your total bill.
 
Some jewellers in India follow making charge in the bill at a fixed rate per gram of gold, while others may charge it on certain percentage of the total weight of jewellery.
 
Current gold rates usually include making charges, therefore, it is important to insist on fixed making charges otherwise you can be fooled by jewellers.
 
Gold jewellery prices can be calculated by gold price per gm)* (Weight in gm) + (Making charges)*(Weight in gm) + GST.

 
Man-made Vs Machine made ornaments
 
One should discuss the making charges with the jewellers and as these charges on machine made artefacts are lower than charges on man-made artefacts - making them cheaper.
 
Check the weight
 
In India, most jewellery are sold by weight. Heavier pieces usually cost more.

Precious stones like diamond and emerald are often added to gold jewellery, making them heavier in the process.
 
Buy back
 
In case you want to exchange your old jeweller with a new one, there are buyback options available in many jewellery shops
 
While designs and trends can change, the value of gold remains same and discussing buy backs during a purchase could benefit one.
 
Jewellery store
 
There are million of jewellery stores in India.
 
Purchasing gold jewellery from small stores could be a risk as they might pass of impure gold as pure gold or could sell stolen gold artefacts.
 
Thus, buying gold from a reputed jeweller erases the amount of risk as it comes with guarantee.
 
Mark of Bureau of Indian Standards
 
Buy gold which are hallmarked by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The BIS Hallmarking Scheme has been aligned with International criteria on hallmarking (Vienna Convention 1972). As per this scheme, licence is granted to the jewellers by BIS under Hallmarking Scheme.
 
There are two types of jewellery in the market, i.e. one would be non-standardised, and the other is standardised as per BIS, which certifies the purity of gold.
 
The BIS marked jewellery are sold at a premium, but you can anytime exchange such gold jewellery at any jewel shop by bearing a small quality margin or at the same jeweller at prevailing market rates of gold.
 
According to Bank Bazaar, when you buy gold for both jewellery and investment purpose, you should consider metal with high purity and BIS mark.
 
"You should avoid a stone embedded jewellery if you are buying it for investment purpose as the price of low-quality stone will not give you any return in the long term in comparison to a pure gold jewellery," Bank Bazar added.
 
If you are planning for investment in gold jewellery from a store, make sure you have the above mentioned pointers in check.