A tola is a traditional unit of weight from South Asia and the Middle East, historically used for gold and now commonly used for oud oil, equal to roughly 11.7 grams — it’s the reason you’ll often see oud priced and sold by the tola rather than by millilitres like a typical spray perfume.

Why oud sticks to this older unit

Oud oil trading grew out of the same regional trading culture that used tolas for gold and other precious commodities, and that tradition has simply carried through into how pure oud oil is measured and sold today, particularly among traditional attar houses and oud specialists. It’s worth knowing this conversion if you’re comparing prices between a retailer quoting in tolas and one quoting in millilitres or grams, since they’re not directly interchangeable without doing the maths.

  • 1 tola is approximately 11.7 grams
  • A traditional South Asian and Middle Eastern unit, historically used for gold
  • Still commonly used for pricing and selling pure oud oil today

This is one of several traditional units still used across different oud-producing and trading regions, alongside grams and, less commonly, other local measures, so it’s always worth clarifying which unit a specific price refers to.

Our complete guide to oud and our complete guide to perfume explain oud measurement and pricing conventions in more depth, and our pure oud oil collection is a good place to see this in practice.