In my first article on hallmarks, I taught you to read the French eagle head. But the day you hunt for second-hand, receive a piece from back home, or fall for an Italian chain, you run into something else entirely: a bare "750", an "AU750", a tiny star, markings that the French menagerie doesn't cover.
And there's a story I have to tell you, because it's what tipped me off. Once, I saw a piece marked AU750, sold as gold… at a price so low I got the feeling I was looking at plating. Spoiler: my hunch wasn't silly at all.
The numeric system: fineness in thousandths
Outside France, most pieces don't use an animal but a number: the fineness in thousandths, that is, the share of pure gold per 1000. It's universal, and it's what you'll read most often internationally.
| Mark | Fineness | Pure gold | Carats | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 999 | 999 ‰ | 99.9% | 24k | Bars, coins |
| 916 | 916 ‰ | 91.6% | 22k | Maghreb, Gulf, India |
| 750 / AU750 | 750 ‰ | 75% | 18k | Europe, international |
| 585 | 585 ‰ | 58.5% | 14k | Northern Europe, USA |
| 375 | 375 ‰ | 37.5% | 9k | United Kingdom, cheap gold |
The "AU750" often puzzles people: the "Au" is simply the chemical symbol for gold (aurum in Latin). So AU750 = gold 750 thousandths = 18-carat, exactly the same fineness as the eagle head. On paper, it's real 18-carat gold, not plated, not gilt. On paper.
The trap: a number is not a State guarantee
Here's the point I hadn't understood at first, and it's the whole heart of the matter.
The French eagle head is struck by the State after testing: it's an official guarantee. An engraved "750" or "AU750", on the other hand, is often only a maker's declaration: the brand says "this is 18-carat gold", but no independent party has verified it. On a serious Italian piece or a major brand, that declaration is reliable. On an anonymous chain bought dirt-cheap on a marketplace, it's worth no more than the seller's word.
A numeric marking tells you what the piece claims to be. The price often tells you what it is.
That's exactly the mechanism of the so-called "750 Italy" scam, which is multiplying on classified-ad sites and Asian platforms. Heavy chains and ID bracelets marked "750 Italy" or "AU750" are sold 10 to 20 times cheaper than the value of the gold they would supposedly contain. In the vast majority of cases, it's brass or gilded steel: plating whose gold layer is sometimes thick enough to fool a quick acid test. The marking is laser-engraved, clean and pretty, but it guarantees nothing at all.
My rule has become simple: on a piece with a numeric marking, I first calculate the metal value (weight × 0.75 × spot price), and if the asking price is far below it, the hallmark changes nothing — it's too good, so it's false. It's the same price-per-gram method as for any second-hand purchase.
Italian gold: the good stuff, as long as you read the real hallmark
Italy is a great jewellery tradition, and real Italian 18-carat gold is excellent quality — which is exactly why it sells well and gets copied en masse. But an authentic Italian piece doesn't carry just a laser-engraved "750 Italy". The Italian system requires a precise maker's hallmark:
- a small five-pointed star (symbol of the Italian Republic),
- a number identifying the manufacturer or importer,
- a province abbreviation: for example VI for Vicenza or AR for Arezzo, the two capitals of Italian gold.
The fineness (750) appears alongside, often in a small lozenge. So real Italian gold is recognised by this struck set — star + number + province — not by a simple "Italy" word engraved on an anonymous chain. If you see "750 Italy" on its own, without the star or the maker code, be wary.
916, 22-carat: the gold of the Maghreb, the Gulf and India
If you have family in the Maghreb, the Gulf or South Asia, you already know that very yellow, very pure gold. The mark you'll read most is 916 — that is, 22-carat (91.6% gold). In India, this 916 is often accompanied by the official BIS hallmark (logo, fineness, assay centre, jeweller's code), which plays the role of local guarantee.
This 22-carat is neither a trap nor a scam: it's simply a different gold culture, one that favours purity for savings rather than everyday sturdiness. I explained why Europe and the Maghreb still settled on 18-carat for wearing. Value-wise, a 916 is worth more per gram than a 750, logically: there's more gold in it.
What our parsers see go by
On OrOGramme, I only display 18-carat and above, but behind the scenes our parsers read the fineness declared by each shop. And what comes up is exactly these numeric marks: 999, 916, 750, 585, 375. It's the international grammar of gold — the eagle head is just the French version of the same "750" message. Anything below 750 (585, 375) I filter out by default, for the reasons I detail about 9-carat gold.
The check, international edition
The reflex stays the same as with French hallmarks, with one extra layer of vigilance on the guarantee:
- I read the fineness. 999 / 916 / 750 / 585 / 375, or AU750: I immediately know how many carats I'm dealing with.
- I separate declaration from guarantee. A serious maker's mark, a complete Italian hallmark, a BIS hallmark, or — in France — the owl head struck on imported gold: these are real guarantees. A lone laser-engraved number is not.
- I run the price through the per-gram filter. Far below the metal value → plating in disguise, I put it back.
- At the slightest doubt, I have it certified for €5 to 10 at a buy-back shop — even truer for a private-seller purchase, where the marking is worth no more than the seller's word.
French second-hand 18-carat gold shops, certified and normalised per gram — the fineness is guaranteed, all you have to do is compare the price.
To wrap up
A foreign marking isn't a red flag in itself: Italian gold, the family's 916, a real brand's AU750 — that's good gold. The real safeguard isn't the country, it's never confusing a declaration (an engraved number) with a guarantee (a State hallmark or a test). And the best fake-detector is still free: the price per gram. If it's ten times too good, it's not gold.
For French hallmarks — eagle head, owl, plating — it's all in the companion article. I'm telling you what I learned buying for myself and for my daughters. Apply it to your situation — but always turn the piece over, and read before you believe.
Sources for the figures cited:
- Meaning of AU750 (Au = chemical symbol for gold, 750 ‰ = 18-carat): jbrjeweler.com, accessed 11 June 2026
- "750 Italy" jewellery scam (brass/gilded steel, plating passing the acid test, prices 10–20× too low): orcompagnie.fr, accessed 11 June 2026
- Italian hallmark system (5-pointed star + maker number + province VI Vicenza / AR Arezzo, fineness in a lozenge): douane.gouv.fr — Precious-metal guarantee organisation, Italy, accessed 11 June 2026
- 916 / 22-carat gold (91.6%, standard across Maghreb-Gulf-India, Indian BIS hallmark): serendipitydiamonds.com, accessed 11 June 2026
- Fineness ↔ carat conversion (999, 916, 750, 585, 375): Fineness — Wikipedia, accessed 11 June 2026