How should the gold that contains “stones” be bought and sold?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

It is permissible to buy and sell gold that contains stones, provided that the stones are removed or their price is estimated, and also when they are not removed.

This depends on custom. If people are satisfied to sell the stones at the price of the gold, then there is no need to separate them or estimate their price. A person who needs to sell used gold should only receive the price of gold estimated, because gold should not be sold to him in the first place unless the price of gold is separated from the price of the stones. This applies to buying and selling gold for cash.

In the case of selling gold for gold, the stones must be separated so that the gold will be weighed apart from them, because gold is to be sold for gold. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was reported to have said: “Do not sell gold for gold except like for like.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

It was also narrated on the authority of Fadhaalah ibn ‘Ubayd Al-Ansaari that he said: “When the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was in Khaybar, a necklace containing pearls and gold, which was part of the booty, was brought to him to be sold. He ordered that the gold in the necklace should be separated from it, and then he said, ‘Gold for gold, weight for weight.’” [Ahmad, An-Nasaa’i and Abu Daawood]

Allaah Knows best.