Sell your 22K gold online with clarity

They are two systems describing the same thing. 22K is the karat system: 22 parts gold out of 24, or about 91.67%. 916 and 917 are millesimal fineness marks, expressing that purity as parts per thousand, and the difference between them is rounding. 916 rounds down, 917 rounds up; which you see depends largely on where the piece was made. Indian jewelry is usually marked 916. None of the three is proof on its own, because a stamp records what a manufacturer claimed. Purity is confirmed by testing.

Take the verified fineness, apply it to the net gold weight, and multiply by the gold price at a stated moment. One gram of 22K contains roughly 0.917 grams of pure gold; its better to work from that rather than from the gross weight on your scale. Any figure without a date and time attached is close to meaningless, because gold moves continuously through the trading day. 

Your Unvault estimate shows the fineness, the net weight and the price used, along with when it was taken, and it holds for 30 days. You can run the same numbers yourself using our gold calculator.

Per gram, yes, and by a wide margin. 22K carries about 91.7% gold against 75% for 18K and 58.5% for 14K, so the same weight holds substantially more metal. That is only the metal, though. A heavy 14K piece can beat a light 22K one, and design, stones, maker and condition all move the final number.

Be sure to weigh what you have, photograph the marks, and let an itemized estimate compare them properly rather than assuming the higher karat wins.

The usual first step is XRF, an X-ray fluorescence scan that reads composition without marking the piece. It is quick and non-destructive, but it reads the surface, so on a plated or filled item it can report the coating rather than the core. That is why it is paired with other checks: specific gravity, which compares weight against displaced water, and where needed a touchstone and acid streak taken from an inconspicuous spot.

We know that every method has limits, and a careful buyer will tell you which was used and why.

Usually two things at once. Gold is priced in troy weight, where a troy ounce is 31.1 grams rather than the 28.35 grams of a standard ounce, so comparing the two directly makes any figure look wrong and ultimately a buyer weighs net gold, not the whole object. Stones, clasps, steel springs, thread, enamel and the lac or wax inside hollow bangles all come off first. Kitchen scales are also imprecise at jewelry weights. Ask for the gross weight, the deductions and the net figure separately.

Yes. Paperwork helps, but it has never been what establishes what a piece is, and most inherited gold arrives without any. Broken clasps, snapped chains, bent bangles and single earrings all still carry their full gold content. What matters is identification and testing, and both happen the same way whether or not you have a receipt.

Be sure to send the piece as it is, with any loose parts included, and do not pay for repairs beforehand.

It depends which you value more, speed or explanation. A pawn shop or local gold buyer can pay the same day, and for a plain, worn piece that may be the whole answer. The questions worth asking are more about how they tested the purity, whether they will show the gross and net weights separately, what fees come off the top, and whether craftsmanship or stones were considered at all. If those answers are vague, get a second itemized estimate before you accept.

Work from numbers you can check. This means establishing the verified purity rather than the stamped one, get the net weight after deductions, and calculate a melt baseline yourself using a spot price with a date and time on it. Then ask for the offer itemized against those figures, and compare net proceeds after fees rather than headline numbers.

 An offer that cannot be broken into parts cannot be compared with anything. Take the time your estimate allows, since yours holds 30 days.