Full transparency
How Gold Prices Are Calculated
Every number on this site traces to a public feed and a published formula. We never invent prices — this page documents exactly how a global gold ounce becomes the gram price in Riyals on your screen.
1. The spot price feed — a triple-source cascade
The global reference is the XAU/USD gold spot price, fetched through our own Cloudflare Worker running a triple-source cascade: the primary source is the Swissquote bank feed, then gold-api.com as first fallback, then goldapi.io (key held as emergency backup only). Snapshots are taken roughly every minute and stored in KV during trading sessions — at zero cost, with no paid plan required.
The actual live source behind the price you see is always named in the honesty line under every price panel: "Source: {src} · formula · updated HH:MM Mecca time" — so you always know exactly where the number came from.
Every successful snapshot is stored; if a fetch fails we show the last valid price with a clear amber "delayed" badge — we never silently freeze the page and never invent a substitute price.
2. The gram price formula (SAR)
Where 31.1034768 is the grams in a troy ounce and 3.75 is the official fixed SAR/USD rate from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). Live example from the market right now:
24K gram
Ounce ÷ 31.1034768 × 3.75
21K gram
24K gram × 21/24
18K gram
24K gram × 18/24
14K
24K gram × 14/24
3. Karat factors
| Karat | Purity | Factor |
|---|---|---|
| 24K | 99.9% | × 1.0000 (24/24) |
| 22K | 91.7% | × 22/24 |
| 21K | 87.5% | × 21/24 |
| 18K | 75.0% | × 18/24 |
Ounce price in SAR = gram price × 31.1034768. Tola price = 21K gram price × 11.6638.
4. Buy/sell spread (indicative)
The header shows indicative 21K buy and sell prices with a ±0.39% spread around the market price:
This is a spot-market reference spread only — every jeweler sets their own spread, which may differ substantially.
5. An indicative benchmark — not a shop quote
All our prices are global spot-market benchmarks, not in-store selling prices. Actual retail prices = spot price + making charges (typically 15–60 SAR/gram) + 15% VAT on worked jewelry. Investment-grade 24K gold bars are VAT-exempt (0% under ZATCA rules).
6. Badge & delay policy
- The green "LIVE" badge means: the last price fetch succeeded within the past minute.
- The amber "delayed" badge means: fetching failed, and what you see is the last valid price with its update time — we never present a stale price as live.
- Change percentages are always computed from the current price vs. the last successful fetch in your session — never hardcoded.
7. No fabricated data — ever
- No random price walks, no fabricated ticks, no generated numbers — a price is either real from the feed or a "—" awaiting the first fetch.
- Charts show only real observed points; with fewer than two points we honestly display: "Building history — check back soon".
- No misleading clocks or fabricated timestamps — every timestamp comes from the feed itself.
8. Official references
- › London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) — global spot pricing benchmark
- › Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — fixed peg 3.7500 SAR/USD
- › Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) — gold VAT regulations
- › World Gold Council — gold market data
Methodology last reviewed: 12 October 2026.