Yes. Broken gold is worth exactly as much, gram for gram, as gold in perfect condition, because a gold buyer is paying for the metal and the metal does not change when a chain snaps or a ring bends. A broken 14K chain still contains 58.5 percent gold. A single earring whose partner went down a drain weighs what it weighs and holds the same karat it always did. When jewelry is sold as scrap, it is going to be melted anyway, so condition is irrelevant to the price.
Buyers of New York says this plainly on its own pages: broken gold has the same metal content as intact gold, and the payment is for the metal, not the condition. The real questions with broken jewelry are different ones: which parts of the piece are gold and which are not, whether any of the pieces are worth more than their metal and should not be scrapped at all, and how to keep the fragments together so nothing is left behind. Those are covered below.
Why condition does not matter for scrap gold
Scrap gold is valued on two things: how much it weighs and what karat it is. Both are physical properties of the metal. A ring that has been crushed in a car door still has the same mass and the same alloy. A chain that has broken in three places still adds up to the same weight on the scale, as long as all three pieces are there.
The buyer’s next step is to send the gold to a refiner, where it is melted, assayed and separated into pure gold and other metals. The refiner does not care whether the jewelry arrived beautiful or bent. That is why a buyer pricing for melt makes no deduction for damage, and why one who tries to should be challenged. How the weight and karat turn into a dollar figure is laid out in the arithmetic behind a gold offer.
The kinds of broken gold that people forget they have
Most homes have more scrap gold than their owners realize, scattered across jewelry boxes, junk drawers and old purses. Buyers of New York’s scrap page lists the categories it buys, and the list is a useful checklist:
- Broken chains, including snapped links and chains with missing clasps
- Bent, cracked or out of round rings
- Single earrings and mismatched pairs
- Broken bracelets and bangles with failed hinges
- Empty settings where the stone fell out
- Charms that came off bracelets
- Findings: clasps, jump rings, earring backs and posts
- Gold wire and small offcuts
- Old class rings and outdated jewelry
- Dental gold: crowns, bridges and inlays
- Mixed lots from an estate
Individually, a single earring post or a jump ring is tiny. Together, a jar of odds and ends can weigh more than people expect. A small dish of broken pieces weighing 30 grams in mixed 14K and 18K is a common sight at a gold buyer’s counter.
A worked example: one bag of broken jewelry
Here is a typical bag, priced with a hypothetical spot of $3,000 per troy ounce, which makes one gram of pure gold worth about $96.45. These are melt values, not an offer, and the numbers are for illustration only.
| Item | Karat | Weight | Pure gold | Melt value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three broken chains | 14K | 18.0 g | 10.53 g | $1,015.64 |
| Bracelet with broken clasp (steel clasp coil removed) | 14K | 2.6 g | 1.52 g | $146.70 |
| Single hoop earring | 18K | 1.5 g | 1.12 g | $108.51 |
| Ring with missing stone | 10K | 4.0 g | 1.67 g | $160.88 |
| Crushed signet ring | 18K | 3.4 g | 2.55 g | $245.95 |
| Total | 29.5 g | 17.39 g | $1,677.69 |
Not one of those items would sell as jewelry. As metal, the bag holds over $1,600 of gold at that hypothetical price. A buyer’s offer would be a percentage of that melt figure, and that percentage is the number to ask about.
What does reduce the number: parts that are not gold
Damage does not lower value, but non gold parts do, because they add weight without adding gold. This is the area where sellers sometimes feel shortchanged, so it is worth knowing in advance what a buyer will remove or deduct.
- Steel coils in clasps. Round bolt ring clasps and some box clasps contain a tiny steel coil. On a heavy chain it is negligible; on a fine chain it is a measurable share.
- Pin stems and catches on brooches. Often steel or base metal, especially on older or repaired pieces.
- Stones. Diamonds and gemstones are evaluated separately. Small stones may be removed and returned or valued; large stones are valued on their own.
- Pearls, beads, cord and enamel. Not gold. Enamel is fused to the surface and comes off at refining.
- Fillers inside hollow pieces. Some hollow bangles and lockets are filled with resin, wax or cement to resist denting.
- Base metal or gold filled replacement parts. A plated clasp added during a cheap repair, or a gold filled jump ring linking a solid charm to a bracelet.
- Old lead or tin solder. A soft solder repair done with a hobby iron instead of gold solder. It is not gold, and refiners dislike it.
A good buyer explains each deduction. If a bracelet weighs 12 grams and the offer is calculated on 10, ask what the other 2 grams were.
Mixed karats inside one piece
Some pieces combine karats: an 18K pendant on a 14K chain, a 14K ring with an 18K head, a charm bracelet with charms bought over decades in different grades. Damage often separates these parts anyway. A buyer tests each part and prices it at its own karat, which is better for the seller than averaging the whole piece at the lowest grade.
Solder joints and repairs
Every jewelry joint is made with solder, which for gold work is a gold alloy with a slightly lower melting point. In a 14K piece the solder is usually close to 14K but not quite. American law, through the National Gold and Silver Stamping Act, allows a small tolerance for exactly this reason: gold articles may test up to 3 parts per thousand below the mark, or 7 parts per thousand when solder is included. A ring repaired several times may have more solder than average, but the effect on value is tiny. It is not a reason for a large deduction.
When broken jewelry is worth more than its gold
Before anything is scrapped, check whether any piece in the pile has value beyond its metal. Melting is permanent, and some broken pieces are worth repairing or selling as they are.
Signed designer pieces
A broken bracelet from a major jewelry house still carries the signature. Look for a maker’s name next to the karat stamp, often with a serial number. Even damaged, a signed piece may sell to a specialist for more than melt, and a repair by the original maker can restore its full resale value. Our post on signed designer jewelry covers which names carry a premium.
Antique and period jewelry
Victorian, Edwardian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces are valued for their workmanship and age. A broken Victorian locket or an Art Deco bracelet with a missing link may be repairable by a restorer and worth considerably more as jewelry. A specialist in period jewelry can tell you whether a restoration makes sense.
Watches
A gold watch with a broken movement is still a watch to a buyer, especially from a major Swiss brand. Never send a gold watch case for scrap without having the watch evaluated as a whole.
Coins in bezels
A gold coin mounted as a pendant may be a collectible coin. Removing it carefully from a broken bezel can preserve its value.
The broken versus valuable question is straightforward at the counter: a buyer looks at signatures, period and make before weighing anything. Buyers of New York notes that designer pieces are assessed for a premium above melt, and that diamonds are evaluated separately from the gold.
Repair or sell as scrap?
For plain, unsigned gold jewelry, the decision is usually arithmetic. Get a repair quote. If you would wear the piece again after repair, the cost may be worth it. If you would not, the repair adds nothing to its scrap value: a repaired 14K chain and a broken 14K chain of the same weight are worth the same as metal. Never repair something only in order to sell it as gold.
The exceptions are the categories above. A signed or antique piece can be worth more repaired, but have it valued before spending money, because some collectors prefer original condition to a visible repair.
How to bring broken gold so nothing is lost
- Keep every fragment. Put each broken chain with its clasp and every piece of it in a small bag. A missing 0.3 gram clasp tongue is gold left at home.
- Do not untangle chains by force. Tangled chains are weighed as they are. Yanking a knot can lose a fragment on the floor.
- Do not try to remove stones yourself. Prying stones out can chip them and lose small ones. A buyer has the tools to do this cleanly, and diamonds are valued separately.
- Do not melt anything at home. A home melt makes testing harder, can trap impurities, and destroys any value the pieces had as jewelry.
- Separate what you know. If you know a piece is 18K, keep it apart from the 10K. Testing confirms everything anyway, but grouping speeds the visit.
- Set aside anything signed, antique or with a large stone so it is looked at as jewelry before it is weighed.
Unstamped and unidentified pieces
Broken pieces are often missing their stamp, because the stamp was on a clasp tag that is now lost or on a shank that was cut. That does not affect value, only identification. Every piece at Buyers of New York is tested by acid or XRF analysis regardless of stamps, so an unmarked fragment is priced at its actual karat. If you want to check stamps yourself first, look inside shanks, on clasp tags and on earring posts with a magnifier.
What to bring, and how it is weighed
Bring every broken piece, in bags if you can, and a valid government issued photo ID. There is no need to clean, untangle or repair anything. At Buyers of New York, the pieces are tested and weighed on DCA certified scales in front of you, the live gold price is shown, and the offer is calculated from what is actually there. There is no charge to test and no obligation to sell. A typical visit takes 20 to 30 minutes.
We are at 30 W. 47th Street, Suite 8006, New York, NY 10036, open Monday through Friday from 10am to 6pm, and walk-ins are welcome. For a large estate lot, call (212) 642-4345 so time can be set aside. You can see the per karat payout table and estimate a lot on our scrap gold page, which also lists everything from broken chains to empty settings that we buy.
More questions sellers ask
Should I repair a broken chain before selling it for gold?
No. A repaired chain and a broken chain of the same weight hold the same gold. Repair only makes sense if you will wear the piece or if it is signed or antique.
Is a ring with a missing stone worth less?
Not as gold. The stone was never part of the gold weight. The ring is tested and weighed and paid on its metal.
What about tangled chains?
Bring them as they are. Tangled chains are weighed together if they are the same karat, and tested separately if they are not.
Can I sell just one earring?
Yes. Single earrings are among the most common scrap items. They are tested and weighed like any other piece, and posts and backs are checked separately because backs are sometimes a different metal.