Selling old gold jewellery: how it is valued and what to expect

How gold jewellery is valued: purity times weight

Two numbers matter on any gold piece: its weight and its purity. Multiply them and you get the weight of pure gold inside. A 10 g chain at 916 holds 9.16 g of pure gold. The remaining 0.84 g is mostly silver and copper, added to harden the metal and set the colour.

That pure gold figure is then priced against the gold price at the moment you sell, less the dealer's spread. Prices move through the day, so we don't put figures in our guides. See live prices on our site for the current numbers.

Most jewellery in Singapore falls into a handful of purities. Look for the stamp on the clasp, inside a ring band or on a small tag near the fastening:

• 999 or 999.9: 24 karat, common in traditional Chinese wedding gold and some pendants
• 916: 22 karat, the usual purity for much of the gold sold in Singapore and across South Asia
• 750: 18 karat, typical for gem-set rings and European-style pieces
• 585: 14 karat
• 375: 9 karat, often seen on older British jewellery

Why the stamp isn't the final word

A stamp tells you what the maker claimed. It doesn't prove it. Stamps wear away, get punched in by careless workshops, or only describe the part they sit on. A 916 clasp can be attached to a chain of lower purity, and plenty of older pieces carry no mark at all.

So we test every item, with a PMV (Precious Metal Verifier) and with XRF. XRF reads the composition of the alloy at the surface, which means heavy plating on its own can mislead it. The PMV reads further into the metal. Put the two together and we get a much clearer picture than either gives alone.

Both tests are non-destructive, so your piece leaves the counter as it arrived. If the readings disagree with the stamp, we'll show you the results and explain what they mean.

Why making charges are not paid back

The price you paid for a piece covered the gold plus a making or workmanship charge. That charge paid for the goldsmith's time, the design, the shop's running costs and its margin. It was a real cost. But it bought labour, not extra gold.

When you sell, the buyer is paying for gold content. A worn bangle or broken chain usually ends up at a refinery, and a refinery pays for the metal it recovers and nothing more. So a piece that cost you well above its gold value years ago comes back at a figure based on weight and purity alone.

People who bought heavily worked pieces, like filigree necklaces or elaborate wedding sets, tend to feel this most. The bigger the share of the original price that went on workmanship, the wider the gap. Bullion bars and coins carry much less workmanship in their price, which is why they are priced so differently from jewellery.

Stones, settings and the parts that aren't gold

Diamonds, jade, pearls, rubies and coloured glass all add weight, and none of it is gold. A gold buyer can only pay for the gold, so anything else has to come out of the calculation. If a stone can't be removed easily, its weight has to be estimated, which is never as exact as weighing bare metal.

If you think a stone could be worth something, have a jeweller or gemmologist look at it first. Many jewellers can take stones out for you, and then you can keep, reset or sell them separately. At a gold counter, a diamond in a ring is just weight to be deducted.

Other hidden parts add weight too. Steel springs sit inside many clasps, and some hollow bangles and pendants are filled to make them feel solid. That is why a piece can feel heavy in the hand yet hold less gold than you'd expect. If we suspect a filler or a non-gold part, we'll tell you and explain how it affects the figure.

What happens at the counter

No appointment needed. Walk in to our shop at Centrium Square, 320 Serangoon Road, Monday to Saturday 12pm to 8pm or Sunday 2pm to 8pm. Bring the jewellery, plus any receipts or certificates you still have. They won't change the gold value, but they can help us identify a piece.

Our staff sort your pieces, check the marks, then test and weigh each one. The final amount is set at the counter after testing, at that moment's price. We'll go through how it is made up: weight, tested purity and the price applied. If you'd rather not go ahead, you take everything home.

For transactions above S$20,000, the PSPM Act requires registered dealers to carry out customer due diligence, so we'll ask for your NRIC or passport details. Bullion King is registered with the Ministry of Law under registration No. PS20260001016, which you'll find on our About page and in the website footer.

Getting your jewellery ready before you come in

A bit of sorting at home saves time at the counter. Years in a cupboard tend to mix gold with costume pieces and silver, so separate them if you can. Put earrings, broken links and other small bits in a labelled bag so nothing goes astray.

Don't bother polishing. Dirt and tarnish don't change the gold content, and harsh cleaning can damage stones you may want to keep. If the pieces belong to several family members, agree who owns what before you come. Inherited gold often carries more than its weight.

Some customers photograph family pieces before selling, especially wedding gold handed down from grandparents. It costs nothing, and you keep the memory after the metal has gone.