Karat

From karats to fineness

Divide the karat number by 24 and you get the share of pure gold. Jewellers in Dubai display rates for four grades every day, and the gap between them is simply the gold content.

Karat	Pure gold	Fineness	Typical use in the UAE
24K	99.9% and above	999 / 999.9	Bars, TT bars, bullion coins and small gift bars
22K	91.6%	916	Traditional South Asian jewellery, Krugerrand
21K	87.5%	875	Arabic and Emirati style jewellery
18K	75%	750	Diamond and designer jewellery

For a more precise scale, see fineness in parts per thousand.

Jewellery or bullion: what you actually pay for

A 22K bangle and a 24K bar can both be bought in the Gold Souk on the same afternoon, but they are different purchases. The jewellery price is built from three parts:

1. Gold value: weight × the day's rate for that karat.
2. Making charges: the jeweller's fee for design and labour, per gram or per piece.
3. VAT: 5% on the invoice, because jewellery is not investment metal.

A 24K bar of 99.9% or more skips most of that. There is no design premium, and investment metal of 99% purity is zero-rated (see VAT on gold in the UAE). The cost above metal value is the dealer's premium over spot.

Example: same weight, different gold

Take three 20 g items:

• 24K bar (999.9): 19.998 g of pure gold.
• 22K chain (916): 18.32 g of pure gold.
• 18K ring (750): 15 g of pure gold.

When you sell, a buyer pays for pure gold, so the 18K ring returns roughly three quarters of the bar's metal value, and the making charges you paid are not refunded.

Which karat should you choose?

Choose 22K or 21K if you want to wear the gold and accept that design costs are part of the price. Choose 24K bars or coins if the goal is saving in gold at the lowest cost per gram. Our gold bar price comparison in AED and the 24K gold rate per gram show where the metal itself is cheapest.