999.9 vs 995 gold — what the numbers actually mean
Walk into most jewellery shops in India and you will hear "22 carat" and "24 carat". Walk into a bullion desk and you will hear "999.9" and "995". They describe the same thing — how much of the metal is actually gold — but the second system is far more precise, and it is the one that decides what your gold is worth when you sell it.
Carat vs fineness
Carat is a fraction out of 24. Fineness is parts per thousand. The conversion is simple:
| Marking | Fineness | % Pure gold | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 999.9 (24Kt) | 999.9/1000 | 99.99% | Investment bars, LBMA good delivery |
| 999.0 (24Kt) | 999/1000 | 99.9% | ABRAF 24Kt jewellery, coins |
| 995.0 (24Kt) | 995/1000 | 99.5% | Standard bullion bars in India |
| 916 (22Kt) | 916/1000 | 91.6% | Most Indian jewellery |
| 750 (18Kt) | 750/1000 | 75% | Studded / diamond jewellery |
Why the 0.4% between 999.9 and 995 matters
On one gram it is negligible. On 100 grams at ₹15,700/g it is roughly ₹7,850 of actual metal. More importantly, when you resell, a 995 bar is discounted against a 999.9 bar — so the gap compounds at both ends of the trade.
So why is most Indian jewellery 22Kt?
Pure gold is soft. For intricate, stone-set designs, 22Kt and 18Kt hold shape better. That is a legitimate engineering reason — but it is often used to justify selling you less gold at a rate quoted as if it were pure. Ask two questions: what is the fineness, and what is the rate applied to that fineness.
ABRAF makes 24Kt 999.0 jewellery — wearable pieces at a purity almost nobody in India offers — precisely so you are not paying a 24Kt-linked price for 91.6% metal.
How to verify purity — without acid
The old method was a touchstone and nitric acid, which scratches your piece and estimates. The modern method is XRF (X-ray fluorescence): a non-destructive scan that reads the exact metal composition on screen in seconds. At ABRAF the assay is free, and you watch the reading yourself.