What a gold chain for men costs in Pakistan, and why

A real gold chain in Pakistan is priced as weight multiplied by the day's gold rate for its karat, plus a making charge, so there is no fixed price and anyone quoting one without a weight is not telling you much. A gold-plated or PVD gold-tone steel chain is priced like any other manufactured product, by materials and workmanship, and costs a small fraction of the real thing. Knowing which of the two you are looking at is most of the answer.

We will not print a gold rate here, because it moves every day and a number in an article is wrong by the following morning. What does not move is the method, and the method is what protects you at the counter.

How a real gold chain is priced

Sarafa markets across the country quote gold per tola, and a tola is 11.664 grams. The headline rate you see in the news is for 24 karat. Jewellery is almost never 24 karat, because pure gold is too soft to hold a link shape, so chains are usually 22k or 21k and priced at the matching lower rate.

1. 1Weigh the chain. The jeweller will do this in front of you on a digital scale, in grams or in tola, masha and ratti.
2. 2Confirm the karat. 22k is 91.6% gold, often stamped 916. 21k is 87.5%, often stamped 875. 18k is 75%, stamped 750.
3. 3Apply that day's rate for that karat to the weight. This is the metal value.
4. 4Add the making charge, often called banwai or mazdoori. It is quoted per tola, per gram, or as a lump sum, and it varies with how intricate the chain is.
5. 5Ask what deduction applies if you sell it back later. This katoti is the part people forget, and it is the real cost of owning gold jewellery rather than gold.

What a man's gold chain actually weighs

This is where expectations usually break. Gold is dense, roughly twice as heavy as steel for the same shape, so a chain with any visible presence adds up quickly. A thin 2 mm chain at 50 cm might be well under half a tola. A 4–5 mm curb or Cuban at 55 cm, the width most men actually picture when they say gold chain, can easily be a tola or more once it is solid rather than hollow.

That is why so many gold chains sold to men are hollow. Hollow links give you the width at a fraction of the weight, and therefore a fraction of the price. They are honest if they are described as hollow. They also dent, and a dented hollow link cannot be pushed back out properly.

The three things sold as a gold chain

The ranges for the second and third rows are typical of what the market charges for those kinds of chain, not quotes for any particular product. The first row has no range on purpose, because it is set by the scale and the rate board, not by the seller.

Gold-plated versus PVD: the gap people miss

Both are gold coloured, both cost far less than gold, and both get described as gold chains in listings. They are not remotely the same product. Electroplating dips a brass or alloy chain in a bath and deposits a very thin layer of gold on it. Sweat, wudu and perfume wear that layer through, usually first at the clasp and on the links that rub against each other.

PVD, physical vapour deposition, bonds a much harder coating onto the surface in a vacuum chamber. On 316L steel, which does not rust or react with water, the result survives daily wear far longer. Zayr's men's chains are 316L steel, and the gold tones are PVD rather than electroplate, for exactly this reason. The full explanation is in our PVD coating guide.

The question many men ask first

For a lot of Muslim men in Pakistan, the price of gold is the second question. The first is whether to wear it at all. The mainstream scholarly position is that gold jewellery is not permitted for men, and there is genuine discussion among scholars about gold-plated and gold-coloured pieces. We have written up the position and where views differ in can men wear gold in Islam, and the honest advice is to ask a scholar you trust rather than a jewellery seller.

What you get at each level

• Under Rs. 2,000: gold-plated alloy, or a light PVD steel chain. Buy plated for a single event, not for daily wear.
• Rs. 2,000–6,000: a solid PVD gold-tone steel chain at 4–6 mm. This is the everyday-proof option and it looks like gold at conversational distance.
• Real gold: priced by the tola. Buy it as an asset and an heirloom, from a jeweller you can walk back into, with a receipt that shows weight and karat.

If you are deciding between widths before you decide on metal, our chain thickness guide shows what each millimetre looks like on a real neck. And if you are buying real gold, learn how to tell if a chain is real gold before you go, not after.

A real gold chain has a price on the day. Everything else gold-coloured has a price for its finish. Know which one you are paying for.