It’s the question we get most, and the only one that can’t be answered over the phone without seeing the piece. What can be explained is the method, which is the part actually worth understanding.
Three things decide the number
Not one more: the karat, the weight and the market that day. Everything else is conversation.
One. The karat: how much gold is in there
Pure gold is soft, so almost no piece of jewelry is pure. It gets mixed with other metals, and the karat tells you how much of that mix is gold.
- 24 karat: pure gold.
- 18 karat: eighteen parts gold out of twenty-four.
- 14 karat: fourteen out of twenty-four. It’s the most common in New York.
- 10 karat: ten out of twenty-four.
Two chains the same size can be worth very different money over this alone. Which is why the stamp isn’t enough: it gets tested.
At the counter we run an acid test, in front of you. If the piece has no stamp, or the stamp doesn’t match what the test says, the test wins.
Two. The weight: how much metal there is
It goes on a calibrated scale, in grams or in troy ounces. Here the display faces you, not the counter.
You get paid for the metal, not for the whole piece. A stone, a magnetic clasp or a section of another material isn’t paid as gold and comes off the calculation.
That’s why a hollow chain and a solid one of the same length come out very differently.
Three. The market that day
The metal trades on international markets and moves every day, sometimes more than once in the same day. That’s why you won’t see a figure published on this site: by the time you read it, it would already be stale.
You get the day’s price at the counter, on the spot, with the scale still on.
Three beliefs worth letting go of
They go around the neighborhood a lot, and none of them is true.
- That broken gold is worth less. It isn’t: it weighs the same. A snapped link doesn’t take karats off the piece.
- That you have to clean it before bringing it in. You don’t. Cleaning adds no weight and no karats.
- That the price can be settled over the phone. Not by anyone serious. Without testing and weighing, any number is a story.
How to find out what yours is worth today
Bring the piece to 88 Nagle Avenue, in Inwood. It gets looked at, tested and weighed, and you get the full number explained, with the karat and the weight in plain sight.
The appraisal is free and you decide afterward. We’re open every day from 9:00 AM to 7:30 PM.
