Why gold and silver need converting
Gold and silver are never priced as a single number. The price always depends on three things: how much metal there is, how pure it is, and which unit the quote uses. Change any one of them and the number changes.
That is why conversion matters in practice. A jeweller in Lahore quotes per tola, an international dealer quotes per troy ounce, and a buyer comparing the two needs both numbers in the same unit before the comparison means anything.
The same applies to purity. Two pieces of the same weight can have very different values if one is 24K and the other is 18K, because only part of the second piece is actually gold.
The units: tola, gram, ounce and kilogram
The tola is the everyday unit in Pakistan and South Asia: one tola is 11.66 grams. Ten grams of gold is about 0.857 tola, which is a conversion buyers use constantly when comparing local and online quotes.
The troy ounce is the international standard for precious metals: one troy ounce is 31.10 grams, or about 2.667 tola. If a global price is quoted per ounce, that is the number to start from.
Grams and kilograms are the metric bridge between the two. One kilogram is 1,000 grams, and every other unit converts cleanly through grams, which is why converters work in grams behind the scenes.
- 1 tola = 11.66 grams
- 1 troy ounce = 31.10 grams = 2.667 tola
- 1 kilogram = 1,000 grams
Purity: 24K, 22K, 21K and 18K
Purity is measured in karats for gold, with 24K meaning pure gold. Jewellery is rarely 24K because pure gold is soft and scratches easily, so other metals are mixed in for strength.
The common purities are 22K at 91.67% gold, 21K at 87.5% and 18K at 75%. Each step down means less gold per gram and a lower metal value for the same weight.
That is why the converter asks for purity. A 10-gram piece at 22K contains about 9.17 grams of gold, while the same weight at 18K contains 7.5 grams — and the value follows the gold content, not the total weight.
- 24K = pure gold (100%)
- 22K = 91.67% gold, 21K = 87.5% gold, 18K = 75% gold
- Value follows gold content, not total weight
How to use the converter
Start by choosing the metal — gold or silver — then enter the rate you were quoted, per tola or per gram, whichever your jeweller used. Because rates move daily, entering the current rate is what keeps the result accurate.
Next enter the weight of your piece and select its purity. The converter applies the purity to the weight first, so you are valuing the actual gold or silver content.
The result shows the value across all four units — tola, gram, ounce and kilogram — so you can compare a local per-tola quote against an international per-ounce price without doing any of the math yourself.
- Pick gold or silver, then enter the rate per tola or per gram.
- Enter the weight and select the purity (24K, 22K, 21K or 18K).
- Read the value in tola, gram, ounce and kilogram side by side.
What the converter does not do
The most important limit is the rate itself. The tool never hard-codes a gold or silver price, because any built-in price would go stale within a day and mislead you. Always enter the rate your jeweller quotes today.
Making charges are the other thing the converter cannot know. Jewellers add them per piece based on design and workmanship, so they are negotiated at the shop, not calculated from weight.
Finally, remember that buying and selling rates differ. A jeweller's selling rate is higher than the rate at which they buy back, so run the conversion with the rate that matches what you are actually doing.
