How to Calculate the True Value of Gold Jewellery You Own

Most people overestimate the value of their gold jewellery by 30-50%. The retail price you paid included craftsmanship, brand, margin, and VAT. The price you get back is almost entirely melt value — the weight of pure gold multiplied by the spot price minus the refiner's margin.

Step 1 — Identify the Purity

Look for the hallmark stamp. Common markings:

24K / 999 / 9999: 99.9-99.99% pure gold.
22K / 916: 91.6% pure.
18K / 750: 75% pure — most common in European fine jewellery.
14K / 585: 58.5% pure — most common in US jewellery.
10K / 417: 41.7% pure — cheap costume-grade gold.
9K / 375: 37.5% pure — UK and commonwealth common.

No hallmark doesn't mean no gold, but it does mean you need a professional acid test or XRF scan before trusting any calculation.

Step 2 — Weigh It Accurately

Use a jewellery scale accurate to 0.01 grams. Kitchen scales are not accurate enough. Weigh each piece separately — mixing purities ruins the calculation. Remove stones, clasps, and non-gold elements if possible (jewellers will deduct for these automatically when buying).

Step 3 — Calculate Pure Gold Content

Pure gold weight = total weight × purity fraction.

Example: a 15g 18K ring contains 15 × 0.750 = 11.25g of pure gold.

Step 4 — Convert Grams to Troy Ounces

Gold is priced in troy ounces. 1 troy oz = 31.1035 grams.

11.25g ÷ 31.1035 = 0.3617 troy oz.

Step 5 — Multiply by Spot Price

Use the current spot price — check our live gold calculator or any bullion site. Assume $2,300/oz for this example:

0.3617 × $2,300 = $832 — the melt value of that ring.

Step 6 — Apply Realistic Dealer Margin

Pawnbrokers typically offer 50-70% of melt value. Refiners offer 85-95%. Private buyers range 80-95%. For our example ring:

Pawnbroker offer: ~$500
Refiner offer: ~$750
Realistic private sale: ~$700-$780

Step 7 — Consider Whether to Sell At All

If the jewellery has sentimental, design, or brand value (Cartier, Van Cleef, Bvlgari) the melt calculation understates its worth — auction or specialist resale recovers more. If the jewellery is generic, selling at melt value and rolling the proceeds into bullion at SilverGoldBull is usually the best use of the capital — bullion carries 3-5% spread vs 20-40% on jewellery.