Chains, rings, bracelets, earrings, pendants and whole estate collections. Tested in front of you, weighed on a customer-facing scale, priced off the live spot market.
Gold jewelry is the single most common thing that crosses this counter, and it arrives in every possible condition. Rope chains and Cuban links. Wedding bands from marriages that ended decades ago. Charm bracelets loaded with fifty years of charms. Signet rings, hoops, herringbone chains that kinked and were never worn again, and the one earring whose partner disappeared in 1994.
All of it gets tested. All of it gets weighed. Nothing is too small or too damaged to be worth putting on the scale — and gold jewelry is bought by weight and purity, which means a mangled chain pays exactly what an intact one of the same weight pays.
There are four numbers and we show you all of them.
Purity. The karat stamp is a claim, not proof, so we verify it. Acid testing for common marked pieces, electronic testing for speed, and XRF spectrometry for anything unmarked, unusual or valuable. A 14K stamp that tests as 10K gets paid as 10K — and a "gold-tone" piece that tests as real 18K gets paid as 18K.
Weight. Measured in grams or pennyweight on a calibrated scale that faces you. Stones, spring clasps, watch movements, steel pins and any base-metal components are removed or estimated and deducted first. You see the gross weight and the net weight.
Spot price. The live global price for a troy ounce of pure gold, pulled the day you are standing here rather than from a printed sheet.
Payout rate. The share of melt value we pay. It scales with the size of the lot — a kilo of scrap earns a better rate than a single ring, because our cost to process it is nearly the same either way.
Not everything should be melted, and any buyer who melts everything is taking money out of your pocket. Signed work from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., David Yurman, Chopard, Buccellati and comparable houses is worth a multiple of its gold content in the secondary market. Same for period pieces — Victorian, Art Deco and mid-century work with real craftsmanship behind it.
We identify those before quoting and price them as jewelry, not as metal. If you would rather take the melt number anyway, that is your call, but you should know both figures before you decide.
Marks like GP (gold plated), GF or 1/20 12K GF (gold filled), HGE (hydrostatic gold electroplate), RGP (rolled gold plate) and vermeil (gold over sterling) all describe a microscopically thin layer of gold over another metal. There is no economically recoverable gold in them at consumer quantities.
We test those for free and hand them back. Vermeil is worth checking twice, though, since the sterling silver underneath does have real value.
Send photos and a rough weight.
Purity is a fraction of 24. Everything else in the offer follows from it.
| Stamp | European mark | Pure gold | Gold in 10 grams | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24K | 999 / 9999 | 99.9% | 9.99 g | Bullion, bars, Asian jewelry |
| 22K | 916 | 91.6% | 9.16 g | Indian and Middle Eastern jewelry |
| 18K | 750 | 75.0% | 7.50 g | Designer and European jewelry |
| 14K | 585 | 58.5% | 5.85 g | The American default |
| 10K | 417 | 41.7% | 4.17 g | Class rings, budget chains |
| 9K | 375 | 37.5% | 3.75 g | British and Australian pieces |
One troy ounce = 31.103 grams = 20 pennyweight (dwt). Jewelry is commonly quoted in pennyweight in the New York trade; we will quote in whichever unit you prefer.
Ninth floor at 30 West 47th. No appointment, no sign-in sheet, no pressure. Bring whatever you have, sorted or not.
Acid and electronic testing at the counter, plus XRF for anything unmarked. You watch every step. Nothing leaves your sight.
Live spot price × purity × weight, then our payout rate. We show you the calculation, not just a number on a slip.
Cash on the spot for most transactions, check or wire for larger lots. Say no and you walk out with your gold — that's it.
It comes down to purity times weight times the live spot price, minus anything that is not gold. A 20-gram 14K chain contains about 11.7 grams of pure gold. Use the calculator on this page for a live estimate, then bring the piece in for an exact number after testing.
Usually, on plain karat gold. A pawn shop prices around resale risk and loan interest; a gold buyer prices around melt value and refinery throughput. Where a pawn shop can beat us is on a piece whose brand or condition makes it worth far more intact than melted — and in that case we will tell you.
Signed pieces from houses like Cartier, Van Cleef, Bulgari, Tiffany and David Yurman are valued for the brand first. Melting a real Cartier Love bracelet destroys most of its value, which is bad for you and short-sighted for us. We quote those as jewelry.
Yes. Stones are removed or estimated and deducted before weighing, and the gold is paid on net weight. Diamonds above roughly half a carat and quality colored stones are appraised and quoted separately, so you are paid for both parts.
Unmarked does not mean worthless. Plenty of older, imported and handmade pieces were never stamped. We XRF-test unmarked items to read the actual metal content, then price off that.
Yes. New York State and New York City require licensed dealers to record a government-issued photo ID for every precious metal purchase. Bring a driver license, state ID or passport.
Most jewelry transactions run fifteen to twenty minutes from walking in to cash in hand. Larger estate lots take longer because sorting and itemizing take longer.
Photos and a rough weight get you a ballpark.
30 West 47th St, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10036 · Walk-ins welcome, no appointment needed.