{"id":20269,"date":"2026-10-05T05:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T04:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/glossary\/karat\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T07:46:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T06:46:52","slug":"karat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/glossary\/karat\/","title":{"rendered":"Karat"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mrf-gl\"><p class=\"gl-def\">Karat (K) is a scale for gold purity based on 24 parts: 24K is pure gold, 22K is 22 parts gold out of 24, or 91.6%. It is mainly used for jewellery, while bullion is usually marked by fineness.<\/p><aside class=\"panel gl-live\"><p class=\"gl-live-h\">\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddec Today in Singapore<\/p><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Gold, 1 troy ounce (spot)<\/span><b>S$5,320<\/b><\/div><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Cheapest 1 oz gold coin: <a href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/product\/1-oz-krugerrand-gold-coin\/\">1 oz Krugerrand Gold Coin<\/a><\/span><b>S$5,494.70<\/b> <small>+3.3% premium<\/small><\/div><p class=\"gl-src\">Data as of 05.10.2026, updated daily.<\/p><a class=\"btn primary\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">Compare gold coin prices \u203a<\/a><\/aside><div class=\"gl-body\"><h2>Converting karat to fineness<\/h2><p>Divide the karat number by 24 to get the share of pure gold. Singapore jewellers often print both on the tag, such as \"916 \/ 22K\".<\/p><table><thead><tr><th>Karat<\/th><th>Gold content<\/th><th>Fineness mark<\/th><th>Typical use in Singapore<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>24K<\/td><td>99.9% or higher<\/td><td>999 \/ 999.9<\/td><td>Bars, bullion coins, some \"pure gold\" jewellery<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>22K<\/td><td>91.6%<\/td><td>916<\/td><td>Wedding sets, bangles, Indian and Chinese style jewellery<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>18K<\/td><td>75%<\/td><td>750<\/td><td>Diamond settings, watches, white and rose gold<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>14K<\/td><td>58.5%<\/td><td>585<\/td><td>Imported fashion jewellery<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><h2>Why 916 is so common here<\/h2><p>For many families in Singapore, gold is bought for weddings, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and gifts for a newborn, and 916 is the traditional standard for those pieces. It is hard enough for bangles worn every day while keeping the deep yellow colour buyers expect. Shops quote these pieces per gram, with a separate workmanship charge.<\/p><p>As savings, though, 22K jewellery works differently from bullion. The price includes design and workmanship that you do not get back on resale, it is not Investment Precious Metal, so GST at 9% applies, and the buyer of your old piece will pay for fine gold minus a deduction. Read about <a href=\"investment-gold-tax}}\">IPM and GST rules<\/a> and the <a href=\"spread}}\">bid-ask spread<\/a> for the detail.<\/p><h3>Example: 22K coin versus 24K coin<\/h3><p>The gold Krugerrand and gold American Eagle are 22K bullion coins. Each contains one troy ounce of fine gold, but because they are below 99.5% purity they are not on the IPM gold coin list and are charged GST in Singapore. A 24K coin such as the <a href=\"\/sg\/categories\/maple-leaf-gold-coin\/\">Maple Leaf gold coin<\/a> or the Kangaroo is exempt. Compare final prices in our ranking of <a href=\"\/sg\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">gold coins sorted by total cost<\/a>.<\/p><h2>Karat or fineness: which to look at<\/h2><p>For bullion, use <a href=\"fineness}}\">fineness<\/a>: it is more precise, and it is the figure IRAS uses. For jewellery, karat is fine for a quick read, but always multiply the weight by the purity to get the real gold content. A 15 g bangle at 22K holds 15 x 22\/24 = 13.75 g of gold. Multiply that by the <a href=\"\/sg\/charts\/gold-price\/gold-price-per-gram\/\">SGD gold price per gram<\/a> to see the metal value before workmanship and GST.<\/p><p>Note that \"karat\" for gold purity is different from \"carat\" for gemstone weight, where one carat is 0.2 grams.<\/p><\/div><h2>Related terms<\/h2><p class=\"gl-chips\"><a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/glossary\/fineness\/\">Fineness<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/glossary\/investment-precious-metals-gst\/\">Investment Precious Metals (IPM) and GST<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/glossary\/bullion\/\">Bullion<\/a><\/p><section class=\"mrf-faq\"><h2>FAQ<\/h2><div class=\"faq-list\"><details open><summary><h3>Is 22K the same as 916 gold?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>Yes. 22 karat gold is 22 parts out of 24, which is 91.6% pure and stamped 916.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Is 24K gold jewellery GST-free in Singapore?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>No. Jewellery is not Investment Precious Metal, so GST applies even when it is 24K; the exemption covers qualifying bars, ingots, wafers and listed coins.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Should I buy 22K jewellery or 24K bullion as an investment?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>Bullion usually gives more gold per dollar because you avoid workmanship charges and, for qualifying items, GST, while jewellery makes more sense if you plan to wear it.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section><details class=\"gl-src-list\"><summary>Sources<\/summary><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iras.gov.sg\/media\/docs\/default-source\/e-tax\/gst-guide-on-exemption-of-investment-precious-metals7f0062ff-780a-4a53-90fa-e1f3b1e25770.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">IRAS e-Tax Guide: GST Exemption of Investment Precious Metals (IPM)<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/details><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":20237,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20269","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/"},"comment_info":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20357,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20269\/revisions\/20357"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}