Gold jewellery in Pakistan costs more than the gold inside it. The gap has a name — making charges — and it is the difference between buying gold well and buying gold expensively.
What are making charges on gold in Pakistan?
Making charges are the jeweller’s fee for turning metal into a finished piece, added on top of the day’s gold rate. Design, casting, soldering, stone setting, polishing, the karigar’s hours and the shop’s margin all sit inside that one line.
Oraan’s own guidance puts typical making charges at 8-15% on jewellery and roughly 2-3% on coins and bars. That gap tells you exactly what you are paying for: labour and design, not metal.
| Piece | Typical making charge | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Coins and bars | 2-3% | Almost no labour in a minted coin |
| Plain machine-made chains | Low end of 8-15% | Minimal hand work |
| Everyday jewellery | 8-15% | Oraan’s own guidance |
| Bridal and kundan, hand-worked | Sometimes above 20% | Wider market surveys — more hands, higher charge |
That is not a scam. It is a workshop. But only half the bill is public: the metal half is weight times the day’s published rate. The making half is set by the shop you walk into.
How are making charges calculated?
Making charges are charged three different ways in Pakistan, and there is no single national standard. That is precisely why buyers get confused.
| Method | How it works | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of gold value | “Fifteen per cent making.” The most common | Rises with the gold rate, though the workshop hours have not |
| Flat per gram or per tola | Common on simpler pieces | Easier to check; does not inflate when the rate moves |
| Waste, or kaat, on top | Gold said to be lost in soldering and polishing — roughly 2-5% of the weight | Some fold it into the making charge; some add it separately |
What do making charges cost on a real purchase?
On a 2 tola 22K bangle set, the normal making-charge range swings the bill by PKR 65,905. Figures are as of 25 August 2026, 4:04pm PKT; gold moves daily, so check the current rate first.
- 24K: PKR 513,920 per tola
- 22K: PKR 470,751 per tola (PKR 40,360 per gram)
- 21K: PKR 449,680 per tola
A 2 tola set weighs 23.33 grams, because one tola is 11.6638 grams. Metal value is 2 × PKR 470,751 = PKR 941,502. The making charge lands on top of that.
| Making charge | Charge in rupees | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| At 8% | PKR 75,320 | PKR 1,016,822 |
| At 15% | PKR 141,225 | PKR 1,082,727 |
Same gold, same weight, same day. At PKR 40,360 per gram, that PKR 65,905 spread buys roughly 1.6 grams of 22K gold — which is why the charge is worth negotiating, and why it varies across Lahore’s five gold markets.
Do you get making charges back when you sell gold?
No. You pay making charges when you buy jewellery in Pakistan, and you generally do not receive them when you sell.
Jewellery sold back is valued as metal: weight times purity times the day’s rate. Design, labour, polish and waste are gone from the valuation. Pakistani jewellers’ own published return policies say it plainly — resale is subject to deduction of making charges, which are non-refundable. That is the industry norm, not one shop’s rule.
| Making charge paid | 22K rate needed to break even |
|---|---|
| 8% | ~PKR 508,411 per tola (an ~8% rise) |
| 15% | ~PKR 541,364 per tola (a 15% rise) |
Sell that 15% set the next morning at melt value with the rate unchanged and you see about PKR 941,502 — the metal, and only the metal. Every rupee of appreciation below the break-even rate only refills the hole the making charge dug.
Resale is also often quoted below the day’s published rate, and deduction practice varies by shop and city. Ask for the exact deduction in rupees before handing anything over.
What should you check at the jeweller’s counter?
Five things decide whether a gold purchase in Pakistan is priced fairly, and none of them are rude to ask.
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Watch the weighing. Digital scale, in grams, in front of you. If stones are set, ask for the gold weight separately — you should not pay the gold rate on stone weight.
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Ask about purity and hallmarking. 22K, 21K or 18K, stated clearly. Pakistan’s hallmarking standard sits under the PSQCA (PS:2113), with 999 marking 24K, but it is not applied universally across retail. Ask whether the piece is hallmarked, and by whom.
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Get the making charge as a number, not a vibe. “Thora sa making hai” is not a price. Ask for the percentage or per-gram figure, ask whether waste is included, and do the arithmetic before agreeing.
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Ask for the buy-back policy in writing. What will they pay if the piece comes back, at what percentage of the day’s rate, and is there a further deduction?
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Take an itemised receipt. Gross weight, net gold weight, purity, rate applied, making charge on its own line, date. A lump sum cannot be checked later — including for your zakat.
Why gold coins carry lower making charges
Gold coins and bars carry making charges of roughly 2-3%, against 8-15% on jewellery, because there is very little labour in a minted coin. That is the structural reason Oraan Gold delivers an ARY-certified 24K coin rather than a jewellery set.
A coin is still no substitute for jewellery. Anyone who wants a set to wear at a sister’s shaadi should buy the set — knowing what the making charge is, what it covers, and that it is unlikely to be seen again.
Prices as of 25 August 2026, 4:04pm PKT, and change daily. Making-charge and wastage ranges are typical market ranges, not quotes — confirm with your jeweller.
