Q702. Gold Rolex watch - Customs

duty in India . . .

Question: Dear Sir, I am an Indian passport holder and a permanent resident (PR) of Canada. I have a permanent job in Canada. I am planning to visit India for one month to visit my family. After my visit I will be returning to Canada. I have a gold Rolex wrist watch, which I have purchased recently and I wear it regularly. It is basically one of my personal items. My question is do I have to pay any custom duty at the airport if I wear this wrist watch to India? I will be bringing it back with me to Canada when my visit is over. Also, since this is my personal item, and I am NOT bringing this to India for importation, do I need to declare this item on my customs declaration? Do I need to take any purchase proof or appraisal of this item when I go to India? Any information regarding this is highly appreciated, Sincerely, Rahul Answer: As long as the gold Rolex watch is as originally purchased and not modified to add gold content I doubt if you will have any problems with the customs authorities. Original Rolex gold watches will have factory markings on the watch showing the purity of gold, usually 18kt. There is also a decimal value shown on Rolex gold watches to indicate the weight of pure gold. For example .750 would mean 75 percent of weight is pure gold. So if the weight of all the gold parts in a watch works out to 100 grams then 75 grams is gold and the rest may be copper, zinc etc. Also keep in mind that the entire watch is not gold! only a few components such as Watch case ring, case back, bezel, band bracelet. Indian customs officials are on the lookout for gold smugglers. While a wrist watch normally would not attract attention, a watch modified to add a heavy gold band bracelet by the passenger may be considered as an attempt to smuggle gold! If, as you state that your intention is bring the watch back to Canada on your return, I suggest you contact Canada Customs office in your area or at the airport and register your watch, check the link provided here: Canada Customs Certificate of Registration for Personal Effects Taken Abroad.