Buying Gold and Jewellery in Istanbul

Jewellery for Türkiye’s own market is made in 22, 18 and 14 ayar, says the State Mint’s glossary, and 21 ayar mostly for export.

The stamp is the maker’s registered mark beside the milyem number, 916 for 22 ayar, and the maker stands behind that fineness. If a piece is disputed, assay houses authorised by the State Mint test it.

Türkiye’s origin register names the crafts: Trabzon wire-mesh, Midyat filigree and the Maraş twisted bracelet, usually 22 ayar, among others.

Among stones, zultanite is the trade name for the colour-change diaspore of Ilbir Mountain near Milas, long the only source of jewellery-size crystals.

The gold itself follows the market, in Istanbul as at home. What differs is the labour charge, so ask any Istanbul jeweller for the weight, the milyem and the labour as separate numbers, and compare those.

An Istanbul jeweller multiplies the weight by the milyem and the day’s rate, then adds the labour charge, işçilik. Turkish price rules have the shop show the price for each type of gold and say whether labour is included.

On the labour line, often; on the gold rate, rarely, because it follows the market. In the Grand Bazaar a guide from The Other Tour knows what things are worth and bargains for you where bargaining is normal.

Yes, from a shop holding a tax-free permit, but on gold the refund is small. Under Türkiye’s VAT law, VAT on gold jewellery and coins falls only on the price above the gold itself (Revenue Administration), so that part is all a refund returns. The tax-free invoice carries your passport number.

Türkiye’s customs guide lets a traveller take out personal jewellery worth up to USD 15,000. Above that, the piece leaves on your entry declaration or proof that you bought it in Türkiye, so keep the invoice.

In the European Union, yes: coins of at least 90% gold count as cash, declared at €10,000 or more.

Türkiye’s Cumhuriyet coins are 916.6 thousandths, so they count. Northern Ireland lists gold coins too; Great Britain, the United States, Australia and Canada do not list gold bars.

Inside Türkiye, some: Law 2863 lets coins of the late sultans, from Abdülmecit to Vahidettin, be bought and sold without registration. Taking an old coin home is another matter, because protected cultural assets cannot leave and an object may go only with a museum’s document that it is not registered.

Reşad gold coins carry the Ottoman date 1327 and no year of striking, and the State Mint makes those today.

In Türkiye a defective piece can be refunded, repaired or replaced under Law 6502, and the consumer committee takes a foreign passport number. On a day with The Other Tour, your guide goes back to the shop with you.

Yes. A licensed guide from The Other Tour plans the day around markets that are open, translates at the counter, bargains where bargaining is normal and helps you tell handmade goods from factory stock. A shop goes on the day only when you ask.