If you have bought gold and doubt its karat, the Precious Metals Department will test it. The department is in Mubarakiya inside the central gold souq; the phones are 22462702 and 22420956.
Gold bought in the local market
- The test is free for consumers.
- Turnaround is one day.
- You attend in person with the pieces.
- Papers: a detailed purchase invoice matching the items, and your civil ID.
Gold you brought in from abroad
- KD 50 for gold and platinum, KD 5 per kilo for silver, and a KD 10 release fee.
- Gemstone fees follow ministerial decision 152 of 2020.
- Papers: the customs declaration, your civil ID, the customs-fee receipt, and a detailed purchase invoice stating type and karat.
- You sign the personal-use form and present the goods.
- If a piece fails the karat or weight check it can be re-exported for KD 5, with customs approval and a travel ticket.
Certificate for valuable stones
KD 8, issued in one to two hours, but only if the piece has already been hallmarked by the department.
Check before you go
These figures come from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s service guide, which carries no date on its face and supersedes a fourth edition from 2021, so the fees may have moved. The guide publishes no opening hours, and does not say whether the free local-market test covers non-Kuwaitis — the abroad service is headed “for citizens”. Call and ask before you carry your pieces over.
Photo: Gold jewellery behind glass. Photograph by E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. It is not Kuwait’s gold souq.
Source: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry service guide, Precious Metals Department section.
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