Dhanteras, Diwali 2026 shopping tips: Buying gold and silver jewellery? 3 hallmark checks and how to use BIS Care app

If you are sitting in a jewellery shop today and buying gold or silver jewellery on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras, checking the price and making charges is not enough. You must also verify the hallmark signs to ensure that the jewellery meets the declared purity standards.

According to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release dated 5 November 2026, more than 65 crore gold articles had received Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) numbers as of 15 October 2026. The number of BIS-registered jewellers also increased from 43,153 to 2,36,624 since mandatory gold hallmarking was introduced in 2021.

While silver hallmarking remains voluntary, HUID-based marking became mandatory for all hallmarked silver articles from 1 September 2025. More than 90 lakh silver articles have received HUID numbers.

Here is what you need to check on gold and silver jewellery pieces and how to use the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Care app to verify its authenticity.

BIS specifies three key identification marks that buyers should look for on hallmarked jewellery and artefacts.

• BIS mark: The official BIS logo indicating that the article has been hallmarked.
• Purity or fineness mark: Indicates the gold's purity. For example, 22K916 denotes 22-karat gold with a fineness of 916 parts per thousand.
• HUID: A unique six-digit alphanumeric identification code assigned to the jewellery article.

• BIS mark: The BIS logo accompanied by the word ‘SILVER’.
• Purity or fineness mark: Indicates the silver's purity, such as 925.
• HUID: A unique six-digit alphanumeric identification code assigned to the article.

Under IS 1417, gold jewellery can be hallmarked in seven caratages: 9K (375), 14K (585), 18K (750), 20K (833), 22K (916), 23K (958) and 24K (995).

Similarly, silver jewellery can be hallmarked in eight fineness grades: 800, 835, 900, 925, 958, 970, 990 and 999. These numbers represent the metal's purity in parts per thousand.

You can check the authenticity and details of hallmarked jewellery through the BIS Care app for free.

The app displays details such as:

• Purity and fineness of the article.
• Type of jewellery or artefact.
• Jeweller's name and registration details.
• Assaying and Hallmarking Centre (AHC) details and testing date.

You can also check photographs of the article, images of its hallmark markings, and its automatically recorded weight. This allows buyers to compare the physical jewellery with the information available on the app before completing the purchase.

You can use the BIS Care app's ‘Verify Licence Details’ feature to check the authenticity of products carrying the ISI mark and check the list of BIS-registered jewellers.

Sheetal Goel is a Content Producer at Livemint, where she covers corporate developments, personal finance, business trends, markets, and SEBI-related updates. She focuses on simplifying complex financial concepts and presenting them in a clear, reader-friendly manner, thereby helping audiences better understand investment trends, personal finance, and market developments. Her writing focuses on making finance more accessible to everyday readers while maintaining clarity, accuracy, and relevance. <br><br> She holds a degree in Economics (Hons.) along with an MBA in Finance, which has helped her develop a strong foundation in financial analysis, market understanding, and business reporting. Before joining journalism, she worked with finance and broking firms, where she closely followed market developments, investment strategies, and evolving industry trends. This practical exposure strengthened her understanding of financial markets. She has also written content across multiple formats and platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. <br><br> Over time, she has developed expertise in covering market-linked stories, investor-focused topics, and regulatory updates in a simplified yet informative style. She also enjoys reading and listening to Hindi poetry, reflecting her appreciation for literature and creative expression beyond the world of markets and numbers.

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