Jewellery stock management: weight, purity, tags and HUID

Why jewellery stock is different

A grocery shop counts boxes. A jewellery shop counts pieces, and no two pieces are quite the same. Two 22K chains of the same design can differ by a few hundred milligrams, and that difference is money at today’s rate.

So the unit of stock is the piece, not the item. Each piece needs its own tag, its own weights and its own price, worked out from the day’s rate, the making and the stones. When a piece is sold, that exact piece has to leave your stock, not “one chain”.

Stock also moves in ways other shops don’t see: to a karigar, out on approval, between counters and branches, and back as old gold. Good jewellery inventory software follows each move.

What to record for every piece

• Tag number: a unique number printed on the tag, used to find the piece in seconds.
• Gross weight, stone weight and net weight: gross is the whole piece on the scale; net is the metal you charge the gold rate on, after the stones and other non-metal parts are taken off.
• Purity: the karat and fineness, such as 22K (916), 18K (750) or 14K (585). Our gold purity converter shows how they line up.
• Making charges: a percentage, a rate per gram or a flat amount, as your shop prices it.
• Stones: each stone by carat or by piece, with its rate, and the certificate number for any diamond or gemstone that comes with one.
• HUID: the six-character code laser-marked on each hallmarked piece.
• Where it sits: the counter, tray or branch, so anyone can find it.
• Cost and supplier: what you paid and who you bought it from, for your margin and your purchase records.

Mandatory hallmarking and HUID in India

Under the Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts Order, 2020, gold jewellery and gold artefacts sold in the districts the order covers must be hallmarked. From 1 April 2023, a jeweller in those districts may not sell, display or offer to sell gold jewellery unless it is hallmarked to the BIS standard IS 1417.

A hallmark today has three marks: the BIS standard mark, the purity in carat and fineness (for example 22K916), and a six-character alphanumeric HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification). The HUID is unique to that one piece. A customer can check it in the BIS Care app with “Verify HUID”.

The order started with 256 districts in June 2021, and BIS has added districts in phases since. By BIS’s own list, the eighth phase, dated 3 August 2026, brought the total to 392 districts. BIS keeps adding districts, so check the current list on bis.gov.in before you decide your district is outside it.

For your stock, the point is simple. Each HUID belongs to one piece, so record it against that piece when it comes in, print it on the tag and carry it to the customer’s bill. That is what HUID software is for.

What the hallmarking rules exempt

• BIS lists these among the exemptions under the mandatory order. They apply only to the districts the order covers, and BIS can change them, so check bis.gov.in for the current list.
• Articles weighing less than 2 grams. They can still be hallmarked if you choose.
• Kundan, Polki and Jadau jewellery.
• Jewellers with an annual turnover of up to ₹40 lakh.
• Gold watches and fountain pens.
• Gold thread, and bullion in bar, plate, sheet, foil, rod, wire, strip, tube or coin form.
• Articles for export to a foreign buyer’s specification, articles for medical, dental, scientific or industrial use, and pieces that are not yet finished and are meant for further manufacture.
• Jewellery for international exhibitions, and for domestic B2B exhibitions approved by the government.

Tags, barcodes and finding a piece

A tag is how the counter and the stock register meet. Print the tag when the piece comes in, with the tag number, purity, weight and HUID, and add a barcode or QR code so a scanner can read it. Scanning at the counter brings up the exact piece, so the bill uses its real weight rather than a typed guess.

Search matters as much as the tag. A customer may bring back a piece with only a HUID on it, or a salesperson may remember only the design. Jewellery tagging software should find a piece by tag number, name or HUID, and say where it sits.

Stock checks and missing pieces

Count stock regularly, and count by piece. Counting by weight alone hides mistakes: a missing ring can be covered by a heavier chain. Go tray by tray and compare each tray with what the records say should be there.

When a piece doesn’t turn up, check where it might honestly be before assuming the worst. Was it sold on a bill that wasn’t finished? Is it with a karigar, out on approval, or moved to another counter or branch without being recorded? Most missing pieces turn out to be a move that nobody wrote down.

Branches, karigars and slow stock

• Moving between counters and branches: record every transfer, so each branch’s stock is its own and a piece is never counted twice or not at all.
• Karigar (job work) metal: note the metal issued to each karigar by weight and purity, what came back as finished pieces, and the difference. Know which piece is with which karigar and when it is due back.
• Pieces on approval (memo): a piece out with a trade customer is still yours until it is sold or returned. Keep it on the books with who has it.
• Slow stock: look regularly for pieces that haven’t sold in 90 days or more. They can be moved to a better counter, offered to a regular customer, or sent for remaking.

Bringing your existing stock in

If your stock is in an Excel sheet or older software, moving it across is a once-only job worth doing carefully. Before you import, make sure each row has a unique tag number, the weights in grams, the purity and, for hallmarked pieces, the HUID.

A good import shows you the rows that need a second look, such as a missing purity or a repeated tag number, before anything is added. Fix those first, then do a full stock check so your opening stock matches the trays.

How CaratOS handles jewellery stock

• Every piece with its weight, purity, making and stones, and where it sits: counter and tray. Purity covers 916, 750, 585 and your own, with the rate for each.
• HUID on every hallmarked piece. It stays with the piece from your stock to the customer’s bill, and prints on each bill line. On Growth, you can check a HUID with BIS.
• Price tags with the tag number, purity, weight and HUID, on any printer your computer can print to, plus a label designer for your own layouts. Scan the tag at the counter with a barcode or QR scanner.
• Search by tag, name or HUID, and see a piece’s weight and where it sits.
• Excel import, and help moving from your old software. Send us the export and we bring your stock across. You check every row before anything is added.
• Karigar jobs on every plan: which piece is with which karigar, and when it is due back.
• On Growth: stock check tray by tray, more than one branch with transfers between them, pieces on approval (memo), split, merge and re-tag, and reports such as slow stock.
• CaratOS does not do RFID today. See Stock and tags for the full feature list, pricing for what each plan includes, or book a demo and bring a few rows of your stock sheet.

Questions shop owners ask