Price methodology: from the ounce to the gram
This page explains exactly how every number reaches your screen: where it comes from, how it is converted into a gram price in your currency for each karat, when it updates, and what the figures do not mean. We publish it because the price in a shop differs from the world price for known reasons, and a reader deserves to know what sits behind a number before building a decision on it.
The source: the world ounce price
Gold and silver are priced worldwide in US dollars per troy ounce (31.1035 grams of pure metal). That is the "spot" price, the price for immediate delivery that banks, bullion houses and exchanges trade at. The site takes it from institutional real-time price feeds (more than one, compared against each other) and shows the time of the latest update next to it, with its timezone.
As a standing rule we do not name data providers on the site's pages, but the principle is simple: the price shown is the world market price at the moment it was fetched, not an estimate and not a figure typed in by a visitor.
The one formula behind every number
Every gram price on the site comes from one formula that never changes:
Pure gold gram price (24K) = ounce price in USD ÷ 31.1035 × the dollar's exchange rate in your currency
Any karat is then derived from its purity:
Karat gram price = 24K gram price × (karat ÷ 24)
So 21K is 21 ÷ 24 = 87.5% pure, 18K is 75%, 22K is 91.67%. Silver is computed the same way from the silver ounce and its fineness (999, 925 and so on).
An example at today's prices (November 7, 2026): the ounce is 4,072 dollars; in the United States a gram of 24K is therefore 130.92 dollars and a gram of 18K 98.19 dollars. In the United Kingdom, with the dollar at 0.7487 pounds, a gram of 24K is £98.02 and a gram of 22K £89.85. In India, with the dollar at 93.91 rupees, ten grams of 24K cost ₹12,294.80 × 10.
The exchange rate used
- Currencies pegged to the dollar (Saudi riyal 3.75, UAE dirham 3.6725, Qatari riyal 3.64, Bahraini dinar 0.376, Omani rial 0.3845, Jordanian dinar 0.709) are fixed at their official peg and never move.
- All other currencies (the Egyptian pound, the Indian and Pakistani rupee, the Turkish lira, the euro, sterling and the rest) come from a daily reference exchange-rate table, refreshed during the day from market quotes when available. The rate used is the official banking reference rate, not a parallel-market rate where one exists in your country.
- The dollar rate used is shown next to the price table, so you can redo the calculation yourself.
Weight units
The base unit is the gram. Local units appear where they are used: the gold pound in Egypt (8 grams of 21K), 10 grams in India, the tola in Pakistan and India (11.6638 grams), the troy ounce in the United States and the United Kingdom, and the gram, quarter, half and full coin in Turkey. Each unit is the gram price multiplied by its weight in pure metal.
Rounding
Full precision is kept at every step; rounding happens only on display, to the currency's smallest unit: two decimals for most currencies, three for the Kuwaiti, Bahraini and Jordanian dinar and the Omani rial, none for the Indonesian rupiah. A manual calculation can therefore differ by a cent or two because of successive rounding.
Timing and updates
- The live price on the pages refreshes every few seconds during world market hours (Sunday evening to Friday evening, New York time). At the weekend the closing price is shown with a "market closed" note.
- The pages themselves are rebuilt twice a day (morning and early afternoon, Riyadh time) with the latest price, so today's date appears in every page title and in the daily table.
- Every timestamp on the site states its timezone (for example "GMT+3") so that a reader in another country is never misled.
- The daily archive records the last price of each calendar day and keeps it permanently.
What the figures include and leave out
The figures are the value of the raw metal only. They do not include:
- Making charges: the cost of working the piece, which varies with its type, weight and the shop.
- Hallmarking: the fee for the official purity stamp, usually charged per gram.
- VAT where it applies: 15% on jewellery in Saudi Arabia, 5% in the UAE, 20% in the United Kingdom, and in Egypt 14% on the making charge only, not on the gold value.
- The dealer's margin when you buy, and the deduction when you sell scrap (typically 3% to 10% of the metal value depending on condition and karat).
- The local market premium: in some markets, Egypt among them, the shop price can drift from the formula by a margin that follows demand and the availability of dollars.
That is why a shop quotes more when you buy and less when you sell. The fair price tool adds these elements for you and compares a jeweller's offer with the usual range in your country.
Indicators and the outlook
The buy/sell indicators and tomorrow's outlook are statistical readings (moving averages, oscillators, the standard deviation of the daily move over the last 30 days). Each page states how its reading is computed; they are there to follow the market, not to recommend buying or selling.
Limits of accuracy
- Two feeds can differ by fractions of a dollar per ounce; we show the latest and watch the gaps.
- The reference exchange rate can lag the market on volatile days.
- The local price you actually pay is set by the jeweller. Use our figures as a reference for negotiating, not as a substitute for asking in the shop.
Corrections
If you find a figure that does not agree with the formula above, or an error in a tax rule or a unit of weight, write to us from the contact page with the page name and a screenshot. We review every report and correct within two working days, and every written page shows the date it was last updated.