What Does 750 Mean on Gold?

The mark on your jewelry tells you something about where it was made. The United States and Canada use the karat system — stamps like 10K, 14K, and 18K. Most of the rest of the world uses millesimal fineness — three-digit numbers like 375, 585, 750, and 916.

If your piece is stamped 750 rather than 18K, it was most likely manufactured in Europe, Japan, or the Middle East. The 750 fineness mark is especially common on Italian, French, and Swiss jewelry. In many European countries, official assay offices — government-authorized testing facilities — verify gold purity before a piece can be legally sold. The hallmark is their stamp of approval.

In the U.S., hallmarking is voluntary. Manufacturers self-stamp their pieces, and the FTC requires a maker's trademark alongside any karat mark, but no government office verifies the content. Some pieces carry both marks — "18K 750" — which serves both conventions.

18K (750) is the dominant standard for fine jewelry across most of the world. In France, 18K has historically been the standard for fine gold jewelry, and lower-karat items remain uncommon in the domestic market. Across Italy, the UK, Switzerland, and the broader European hallmarking convention, 750 is what quality jewelry is made from.

Hallmark stamps are placed in inconspicuous locations to avoid affecting the piece's appearance. A magnifying glass or your phone's camera zoom makes them much easier to read.

The 750 stamp tells you the purity, and the purity determines the gold value per gram. At the posted spot price of $5,019.18 per troy ounce, one gram of 18K (750) gold contains $121.03 worth of pure gold.

To find what a specific piece is worth, you need two things: the weight in grams and the karat. A 5-gram ring stamped 750 contains 3.75 grams of pure gold. A 20-gram chain contains 15.0 grams. The rest is alloy.

A 750 stamp is a strong indicator of 18K gold, but it is not a guarantee. There are several things the mark alone cannot settle.

• It doesn't prove the piece is genuine. Stamps can be forged. Counterfeit jewelry with fake fineness marks exists — base metals, gold-plated items, and gold-filled pieces can all carry a 750 stamp that doesn't belong there. In countries without mandatory assay testing, the manufacturer self-stamps and no one independently verifies the content. Red flags include uneven stamp depth, blurry edges, and misaligned numerals.
• It doesn't determine resale value. Melt value and resale value are different things. An 18K piece from Cartier or Bulgari may be worth many times its gold content. A plain band with no brand name or gemstones is worth close to melt. The stamp tells you the purity — not whether the piece has value beyond the gold itself.
• It doesn't mean the entire piece is 750. On composite items — like a watch with a gold case and steel back, or a two-tone bracelet — the 750 stamp applies only to the gold component. Solder joints may also use a slightly different alloy than the body of the piece.
• It doesn't tell you about gemstones. If the piece has stones, the stamp says nothing about their type, quality, or value. A diamond set in a 750 ring could be worth more than the gold — or it could be a low-quality stone worth very little. For pieces with significant gemstones, the stones should be appraised separately.

The table below shows how 750 sits among the standard gold purities, from 9K to 24K.