24K vs 22K Gold: Which Should You Buy in Dubai?

Buy 24K gold if you want a bar or coin to hold as savings, and 22K if you want jewellery you will actually wear. 24K is 99.9% pure and very soft. 22K is 91.6% gold mixed with harder metals, so it keeps its shape on a wrist or neck for decades.

The price gap between the two is roughly the gap in gold content, about 8%. What really changes the bill is everything that comes after the gram rate: making charges, VAT and what Indian Customs lets you carry home.

The two karats side by side

Here is the short version. Each row is explained further down.

That last row surprises a lot of people, and it often decides the question on its own. More on that below.

What does today's price gap look like?

The live cards below show the Dubai rate for every karat in rupees and dirhams. Compare the 24K and 22K figures to see the gap per gram right now.

At the moment, one gram of 24K costs ₹12,320.35 (AED 480.76) and one gram of 22K costs ₹11,285.28 (AED 440.37). The difference moves in step with the international price, because both are tied to the same US dollar spot rate. You can follow each one on the 24K rate page and the 22K rate page.

Notice that 22K is not "cheaper gold". You are paying for less gold per gram, and the price reflects that almost exactly. A shop that offers 22K at nearly the 24K rate is charging you for metal you aren't getting.

Why 22K wins for jewellery

Pure gold bends under your thumb. A 24K ring will lose its round shape, a thin chain will stretch and kink, and a clasp can wear loose within months of daily use. The extra metals in 22K act like a skeleton. That is why almost every bangle, mangalsutra and wedding set sold to Indian buyers in Deira is 22K.

There are other practical reasons too:

• Stone settings hold better. Prongs made of soft 24K open up over time.
• Repairs are easier. Jewellers in India and the UAE work with 22K every day, so resizing or fixing a broken link costs less.
• Resale is familiar. An Indian jeweller sees 22K jewellery all day and knows how to test and price it.

If you are curious why goldsmiths avoid pure gold altogether, our piece on why 24K is rarely made into jewellery covers the exceptions. For the meaning of the stamp on your bangle, see what 916 gold means.

Why 24K wins for saving

If the goal is to store value, you want as much of your money as possible going into metal rather than labour. A 24K bar or coin carries a small premium over the spot price. A heavily worked 22K necklace can carry making charges that add a large slice to the bill, and you rarely get that slice back when you sell.

There's a catch for travellers, though. Gold bars, coins and biscuits are never duty-free in your baggage. Under India's eligible passenger scheme, someone returning after at least six months abroad can bring up to 1 kg on payment of duty, which is 15% at the time of writing (10% basic duty plus 5% AIDC). A short-trip tourist cannot use that scheme.

So a bar bought on a five-day holiday can cost you more at Mumbai or Kochi airport than you saved at the Souk. Our guide on choosing purity for investment versus wear goes through that maths in detail.

A worked example with 20 grams

Say Fatima, who has lived in Dubai for three years, wants about 20 grams of gold to take home to Hyderabad. Here are two options using round illustrative numbers. Assume 24K is AED 320 a gram and 22K is AED 295 a gram.

Option A: a 20 g 24K bar

• Gold: 20 × AED 320 = AED 6,400
• Premium, say AED 5 a gram: AED 100
• Total before VAT: AED 6,500
• At Indian Customs: dutiable, because bars are excluded from the jewellery allowance. Duty is worked out on the tariff value Customs assesses, not on her bill.

Option B: a 20 g 22K chain and earrings

• Gold: 20 × AED 295 = AED 5,900
• Making, say AED 25 a gram: AED 500
• Subtotal: AED 6,400
• VAT at 5% on the whole invoice: AED 320
• Total: AED 6,720
• At Indian Customs: within the 40 g duty-free allowance for women who have been abroad more than a year, so no duty if it is bona fide personal jewellery.

Option B costs more in Dubai but nothing extra on landing. Option A holds more pure gold (about 20 g against roughly 18.3 g), yet the customs bill can wipe out that advantage. For Fatima, wearing it home as 22K jewellery is the cleaner choice. Rules change, so confirm the current allowance with Indian Customs (CBIC) before you fly. The details are in our guide to the 40 g allowance for women.

Which one fits you?

Most people fall into one of these situations.

• You want wedding or daily-wear jewellery. Choose 22K. It is the standard for Indian designs and lasts.
• You live in the UAE and want to save in gold. 24K bars or coins make sense, kept in the UAE or brought home later under the eligible passenger scheme with duty paid.
• You are a tourist on a short trip. New jewellery bought on a short holiday is dutiable in India, and so are bars. Do the sums with customs included before buying either.
• You want diamond or gemstone jewellery. Neither, usually. Most stone-set pieces are 18K, which grips stones better still. Our 22K and 18K comparison explains why.
• You like the deep yellow of pure gold. Some 22K designs come close in colour. Ask to see 22K and 24K pieces together under the same light before deciding.

What do you get back when you sell?

When you sell, a jeweller pays for the pure gold content after testing, minus their own deduction. Making charges are not refunded. So a 24K coin bought at a small premium usually returns a bigger share of what you paid than a 22K necklace with high making charges, even if the gold rate hasn't moved.

In India, gains on physical gold held more than 24 months are taxed as long-term capital gains at 12.5% without indexation. Held 24 months or less, the gain is added to your income and taxed at your slab rate. Keep the original Dubai invoice for both karats, and check with a tax adviser before a large sale.

To estimate a purchase in either karat, our gold price calculator lets you plug in grams, making charge and VAT. Try it here:

Your checklist before you buy

1. Decide the purpose first: wearing or saving.
2. Check the live rate for that karat in rupees and dirhams before you walk into a shop.
3. Ask for the making charge per gram in writing, and negotiate it.
4. Make sure the invoice shows karat, net weight, gold rate, making charge and VAT on separate lines.
5. If you are flying to India, check whether your purchase fits the jewellery allowance, or budget for duty on bars and coins.
6. Look for the purity stamp (22K/916 or 24K/999) on the piece itself.