Gold Chain Buying Guide: Weight, Link Types and Price

A gold chain's price in Dubai is its weight times the day's rate for that karat, plus making and 5% VAT. Machine-made chains like box, rope and curb carry some of the lowest making charges in any jewellery shop. What you really choose is the link style, because that decides how strong the chain is for its weight.

Two chains of the same 10 grams can behave very differently. One will survive twenty years of daily wear. The other may snap the first time it catches on a dupatta.

The main link types, compared

These are the styles you will see on every Souk counter. The strength column is a general guide for chains of similar weight.

If you want one chain to wear every day with a small pendant, a box or curb chain is hard to beat. Singapore chains look beautiful but are better as an occasional piece. Herringbone looks like liquid gold until it kinks, and then it stays kinked.

Weight versus strength: why thin can still be fine

People often assume a heavier chain is a stronger chain. Not always. Strength comes from how the links lock together and how thick the wire in each link is. A solid 6 g box chain can outlast a hollow 12 g rope that looks twice its size.

Three things to look at:

• Solid or hollow. Ask directly. Hollow chains are lighter and cheaper in gold but dent and break easily, and many jewellers will not repair them.
• Wire thickness. Hold the chain to the light. If you can see daylight through thin links, it will stretch.
• Clasp. A lobster clasp is far more secure than a spring ring. On anything over a few grams, insist on a lobster.

Which karat for a chain?

For Indian buyers, 22K is the usual choice. It looks rich, sells easily back home and is firm enough for most link types. If you want a very thin chain for daily wear, or one for a diamond pendant, 18K is harder and resists stretching better, though it is paler in colour. Our side-by-side of 22K and 18K gold goes deeper into that choice. Pure 24K chains exist but are too soft for regular wear.

The live table below shows what common chain weights cost in gold value today, before making and VAT.

Working out the price of a chain

Here is the full bill for a typical purchase. Say the 22K rate is AED 300 a gram and you pick an 18-inch box chain weighing 12 g, with making at AED 15 a gram.

Now compare a fancy handmade 12 g chain with making at AED 40 a gram. Making jumps to AED 480 and the total to AED 4,284, for the same amount of gold. If you ever sell either chain, the jeweller pays you for the gold, not the making. That is a good reason to keep everyday chains simple.

To try your own weight and making figures, use the gold price calculator; it adds VAT for you.

Length changes the weight

Every chain style is sold in several lengths, and the price on the tag usually applies to one particular length. A 22-inch version of the same chain will weigh roughly 22/18 of the 18-inch one, so about 22% more. If you are unsure which length suits a pendant or a man's neck, our chain length guide has a simple way to test at home with a piece of thread.

How to buy a chain at the counter, step by step

1. Decide use first. Daily wear with pendant, occasional wear, or gift. That narrows the link types.
2. Set a weight range. For example 8 to 12 g. Ask the shop to show only chains in that range.
3. Feel it. Run it through your fingers. Stiff spots or rough links mean poor finishing.
4. Test the clasp a dozen times. It should snap shut every time.
5. Watch it weighed on the shop's scale, with the display facing you.
6. Ask making per gram. Then ask again for a better rate. Machine chains have thin margins but there is usually something to give. Our tips on bargaining in the Gold Souk help here.
7. Read the invoice for karat, weight, rate and making before paying.

What a chain is worth when you sell or exchange it

Chains are among the easiest pieces to resell, because there are no stones to argue about and the gold content is simple to test. A jeweller will weigh it, check the karat, and offer a price based on the gold, minus their own margin. The making you paid is gone.

That is fine for a box chain where making was a small slice of the bill. It hurts more on a fancy handmade piece where making was a third of the price. So if a chain is partly a savings decision, keep the design plain and the karat at 22K, which Indian jewellers handle every day.

Taking a Dubai chain to a jeweller in Chennai or Ahmedabad? It will not carry a BIS HUID, so expect it to be tested on the spot. Your Dubai invoice showing karat and weight makes that conversation much smoother. Our guide to selling Dubai gold in India covers what to expect at the counter.

One more practical point: broken chains still have full gold value. Never throw away a snapped chain or a single loose link. Bring every piece to the jeweller, whether you want it repaired or melted into something new.

Mistakes that cost chain buyers money

• Buying a hollow chain for a child or for daily wear. It will dent within months.
• Hanging a heavy pendant on a Singapore or snake chain. The chain fails before the pendant does.
• Paying for a long chain when the wearer always doubles it. Buy the length they will actually wear.
• Comparing only the gold rate between shops. On chains, the gram rate barely differs; making does.
• Forgetting the chain counts towards customs. A man's 20 g duty-free allowance can be used up by a single thick chain. See our men's gold jewellery guide for typical weights.

Your chain shortlist in one minute

• Everyday with pendant: 22K or 18K box or curb, solid, lobster clasp.
• Men's daily chain: solid curb or rope, 22K, length chosen by trying on.
• Occasion wear: Singapore or fancy handmade, 22K, accept higher making.
• Gift on a budget: light solid box chain rather than a heavy-looking hollow one.

If the chain is part of a wedding order, fold it into the family's gram plan from our guide to buying wedding jewellery in Dubai.