Govt 'stamping' helps people buy jewellery with confidence

KUWAIT - Buying an exquisite piece of jewellery made of precious metals requires a great deal of trust between the dealer and the purchaser. In Kuwait, however, it is safe to buy gold or silver and be certain that what the invoice of the jewellery purchase states is the precise grade of the item.

In Kuwait, every precious metal or rather jewellery made of the metal-be it imported or manufactured-is checked and its value is hallmarked prior to reaching the market and its customers. Jewellery dealers are not allowed to take the precious metal stock on stalls prior to the stamping process, overseen by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is completed.

"We spend millions of dinars to protect the consumer [in Kuwait]," said Robert Tuqatijian, a third generation jeweller talking to a group of 10 members of the British Ladies Society last week.

The group of women toured the facilities of the Department of Precious Metals within the Ministry of Commerce and Industry located in the Gold Souq in Kuwait City end last week.

Mohamed Hamdan, chief chemist with the department, guided the group of visitors through the whole process of receipt of the precious metal items, sampling via several non-destructive methods and hallmarking them with the Kuwaiti sign, which takes the shape of the country's map.

Each goldsmith deposits its gold-that usually comes in various shapes-in a strong transparent bag that is then stored in a tin box and is kept in the department for the duration of the hallmark process.

The deposited pieces could be stamped either manually or with a laser, Hamdan said, pointing to large laser equipment manned by one of the 230 staff working in the department.

Jewellery traders pay KD 3 per kilogram for the whole process of gold marking in Kuwait.

The procedure of testing the jewellery pieces, gold and silver in particular, has been used in the United Kingdom for two centuries. "It is the best procedure of testing gold ensuring that the gold is the same karat," Hamdan said during the tour of the department.

He added that gold purity available at Kuwait's market is of 18, 20, 21 and 22 karats. According to Hamdan, 18 is the lowest available gold karat-rating. "You cannot find 14-karat gold in Kuwait," he added.

In Tuqatijian's words if any jeweller is caught cheating [about the karats and quality] "there will be a criminal investigation and his shop will be closed and sealed immediately." For instance, in Kuwait, one kilogram of gold costs KD 6,500.