Hallmark Signs on Jewellery in India: How to Read All Three BIS Marks

Hold a bangle up to the light with a magnifying glass and a short story appears, stamped in millimetre-high characters. Those hallmark signs jewellery carries tell the reader exactly what was tested, how pure the metal proved, and which individual piece this is out of every ornament in the country: three marks, three answers. Current BIS hallmarks consist of the triangular BIS logo, a fineness number such as 916, and a six-character HUID code, and reading them takes about a minute once each is understood. Older pieces carry a fourth mark, which this guide explains too. What follows covers what a hallmark is, each of the three current marks in turn with the full fineness-to-karat table, the 2021 changeover from the old four-mark system, a four-step verification routine, and why the fineness stamp is the first thing a gold loan appraiser looks for.

What Is a Hallmark on Gold Jewellery?

A hallmark is an official stamp applied by a certified Assaying and Hallmarking Centre after testing a piece, confirming the gold matches the purity the jeweller declared. The Bureau of Indian Standards governs the system, and hallmarking became mandatory for gold jewellery sold in India in phases from June 2021. So the stamp is third-party proof, not the seller's own claim, which is the whole point: the hallmark stamps meaning comes from the independence of the tester. Everything else on this page unpacks what those few stamped characters certify.

The Three BIS Hallmark Signs and What Each One Means

Searches for 4 hallmark signs gold reflect the older system, and that history gets its own section below. The current set runs to three, always stamped together.

Mark 1: The BIS Logo

A small triangle, the Bureau's registered mark. Its presence certifies two things at once: the piece was tested at a BIS-recognised centre, and the selling jeweller is registered with BIS. No triangle, no hallmark, whatever else is stamped. The bis logo is deliberately distinctive so that imitations of it constitute a clear offence rather than a grey area.

Mark 2: Purity and Fineness Number

The three-digit number states parts of pure gold per 1,000 parts of metal, so higher means purer, and the mapping to karat runs as follows.

Note: Fineness values are standard BIS grades under IS 1417 and do not vary by market; the hallmarked purity of any specific piece is shown on its stamp.

916 gold dominates Indian jewellery, being 22-karat's fineness form, while 750 gold marks the 18-karat pieces common in diamond settings. A 375 grade for 9-karat gold joined the recognised set in July 2025. Whatever the grade, the arithmetic never changes: the stamped fineness divided by ten is the purity percentage.

Mark 3: HUID - The Six-Character Unique Code

The huid, or Hallmark Unique Identification, is a six-character alphanumeric code assigned to each individual piece at the hallmarking centre and recorded in the BIS database, which makes every stamped ornament in the country traceable on its own. Entering the code in the BIS Care mobile app returns the piece's certified purity, the centre that tested it, and the registered jeweller. The hallmark unique identification system turned the hallmark from a stamp into a database record, and the difference matters: stamps can be copied, database entries answering to a code cannot easily be.

What Happened to the Old Four-Mark System?

Before the changeover, a hallmark carried four marks: the BIS logo, the fineness number, the Assaying and Hallmarking Centre's own code, and the jeweller's identification mark. From the HUID's introduction in 2021, those last two became redundant, since the six-character code links the piece to both the centre and the jeweller through the database, and the ahc mark and jeweller's mark were retired from new hallmarking. So jewellery stamped under the old hallmark system legitimately shows four marks, sometimes with a year letter besides, while pieces hallmarked since show three. Both remain valid; the fineness number reads identically in either generation, and the count of stamps simply dates the certification.

How to Verify a Hallmark in 4 Steps

Find the stamp. On rings it sits on the inner band; on necklaces and chains, near the clasp; on bangles, the inner surface; on pendants, the back of the setting or the hanging loop. A magnifying glass helps, and jewellers are required to keep one at hand for exactly this.
Confirm the triangular BIS logo is present among the marks.
Read the three-digit fineness number and match it against the karat the seller quoted, using the table above. A piece sold as 22K must read 916.
Open the BIS Care app, enter the HUID, and check that the returned details, purity, jeweller, centre, agree with the invoice in hand.

Any mismatch, a missing mark, or a HUID the app cannot find is reason to pause the purchase and ask the jeweller for an explanation before money moves. The whole check hallmark gold routine takes under five minutes, and the huid verification step is the one that cannot be fooled by a well-copied stamp. That is how to read hallmark jewellery like an appraiser rather than a hopeful buyer.

Why Hallmark Purity Matters When Pledging Gold

At a loan counter, the fineness number goes straight into the valuation. A lender assesses pledged gold on purity-adjusted weight, so a 916 piece carries more lendable value per gram of gross weight than a 750 one, in direct proportion to the gold content the stamp certifies. The gold purity gold loan connection is arithmetic, not judgement.

Hallmarked pieces also move with less friction. Certified purity spares the conservative estimation that unstamped jewellery invites, so the appraisal simplifies and the hallmark gold loan value firms up with less back-and-forth. Owners curious what their stamped pieces could raise may check an indicative IIFL Finance gold loan figure online from weight and fineness, or have the jewellery appraised at a branch, with the final amount subject to assessment and whichever guidelines prevail that day.

Conclusion

Three marks, one minute, full information: the triangle certifies the tester, the fineness number states the purity in parts per thousand, and the HUID ties the individual piece to a database record no counterfeit stamp can imitate. Older jewellery wearing four marks is telling the same story in the pre-2021 dialect. The verification routine above turns any buyer into their own first appraiser, and the same fineness number that protects a purchase later prices a pledge, since a gold loan may advance against exactly the purity the stamp certifies, subject to eligibility and applicable guidelines. Figures and steps here are illustrative of the general process, and actual valuations, loan amounts, and procedures follow the assessed piece, the day's rates, and the rules operative at the time.

Disclaimer : The information in this blog is for general purposes only and may change without notice. It does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Readers should seek professional guidance and make decisions at their own discretion. IIFL Finance is not liable for any reliance on this content. Read more