What does 916 gold mean?
916 refers to fineness: 916 parts of pure gold per 1,000 parts of metal, or approximately 91.6% gold purity. It is the millesimal equivalent of 22 karat (22 ÷ 24 = 0.9166…), so "916 gold" and "22K gold" describe the same alloy. The remaining 8.4% is typically copper and silver, added to make the metal hard enough for daily wear.
Australian jewellery is typically 9K or 18K rather than the 22K standard of Asia, so the 916 rate mainly matters for imported and heritage pieces. Local pieces are stamped with fineness marks such as 375 or 750 rather than a formal national hallmarking scheme.