Jewelry value
Start from the metal. For a lot of ordinary jewelry the scrap price is both the floor and the ceiling. Signed and period pieces are the exception.
Sold prices move, so this page does not quote them. Use the completed listings below.
Example estimate
Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera
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The short version
| Hallmarks | 375 is 9K, 585 is 14K, 750 is 18K, 916 is 22K, 925 is sterling. No mark needs a test. |
|---|---|
| Weight | Scrap is metal weight only. Stones are estimated out, so gross weight overstates the refiner's price. |
| Diamonds | A modern retail diamond commonly resells at a fraction of what it cost. Lab-grown resale is thinner again. |
| When it is more than metal | A maker's signature or a collected period. Melting that piece for scrap can destroy most of the value. |
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Check these before you trust a price
- Find the stamp before accepting a scrap quote.
- Weigh it. A quote without a weight is not a quote.
- Do not ultrasonic-clean an antique setting. Old prongs and treated stones come apart.
What actually moves the price
- Metal and weight
- Gold karat and gram weight set a scrap floor. 14K and 18K stamps matter; plated pieces have little metal value.
- Stones
- Natural diamonds and gems are valued on cut, color, clarity and carat. Lab-grown and simulants are worth much less.
- Maker and period
- Signed designer pieces and Art Deco or Victorian jewelry carry collector premiums.
- Condition
- Worn prongs, missing stones and repairs lower value.
Photos that change the estimate
A jewelry priced from a pretty front shot is a guess. These are the shots that identify it.
- Photograph the piece on white paper in daylight.
- Take a sharp close-up of any hallmark, karat stamp or maker's mark.
- Shoot stones from the top and side so cut and setting show.
- Type the weight in grams in the details box if you have a scale.
Scrap floor, then stones, then a signature
Second-hand jewellery is valued from the bottom up, and the bottom is metal. Gold, platinum and silver have a daily spot price, and any piece can be sold for its metal content minus a refiner's margin regardless of how it looks. That scrap figure is the floor beneath every other consideration, and for a surprising amount of ordinary jewellery it is also the ceiling.
Above the floor sit stones and workmanship, and both are less generous than owners expect. Small diamonds in mass-produced settings add little to resale, because the trade can buy them in quantity. Larger certified stones have a real secondary market but trade well below retail, since the retail price included a margin that does not survive resale.
The part of the market that genuinely outruns metal value is signed and period jewellery. A piece by a recognised house, or a well-made example from a collected period, sells on its design and its maker rather than its weight. This is where valuations diverge most from expectations, in both directions.
Diamonds deserve a separate warning because the gap between what they cost and what they resell for is the widest in this category. A modern brilliant bought at retail commonly resells at a fraction of its purchase price, not because anything is wrong with it but because the retail price paid for a supply chain that resale does not use. Laboratory-grown stones have made this sharper still: they are physically excellent and their resale market is thinner again.
Hallmarks, weight and certificates
- Find and read the hallmark
- Stamps such as 375, 585, 750 and 916 give the gold content directly, and 925 indicates sterling silver. A piece with no mark may still be precious metal, but it needs testing before anyone will price it as such.
- Weigh it, including and excluding stones
- Scrap value is calculated on metal weight alone. For a stone-set piece the trade estimates the metal separately, so the gross weight on its own overstates what a refiner will pay.
- Certificates for significant stones
- A report from a recognised laboratory for a larger diamond or coloured stone materially changes what it will fetch, because it removes the buyer's need to discount for uncertainty.
- Signed pieces and original boxes
- A maker's signature, a serial number and the original case shift a piece out of the scrap market entirely. Photograph the signature clearly; it is often tiny and on the clasp.
Jewelry mistakes, including melting a signed piece
These are the mistakes that show up on this kind of item, not generic selling advice.
- Breaking up a signed piece for scrap
- Refiners pay by weight and do not look at design. A period or signed piece melted for metal can lose most of its value in an afternoon.
- Expecting to recover retail
- The margin in new jewellery is large, and resale does not include it. This is the normal outcome, not a sign of a bad buyer.
- Cleaning antique settings aggressively
- Ultrasonic cleaners loosen old settings and can damage soft or treated stones. Many antique pieces should only be cleaned by hand, if at all.
- Accepting the first scrap offer
- Refiner margins vary widely. Two shops on the same street will quote noticeably different prices for identical metal on the same day.
When to bring in a professional
Get an independent valuation before selling anything signed, anything with a stone over about a carat, and anything inherited that you cannot identify, and make sure the valuer is not the person who wants to buy it. For plain modern gold with no design interest, several scrap quotes on the same day is the whole process and an appraisal is wasted money. The one situation that always justifies a specialist is a piece that might be by a known house: that single question can change the number by a factor of ten.
Common questions
Can a photo tell if a diamond is real?
No photo can confirm a diamond. A jeweler with a tester can check in minutes. The estimate gives ranges for both possibilities when it cannot tell.
Why is resale value lower than what I paid?
Retail jewelry includes large markups. On the secondary market most pieces sell for metal value plus a fraction of the stone value.
What does a 925 or 14K stamp mean?
925 is sterling silver. 10K, 14K and 18K (or 417, 585, 750) are gold purities. GP, GF or HGE mean plated or filled, not solid gold.
Related value guides
Not this kind of item? Estimate anything from a photo, or open a related guide.