Broken chains, bent rings, single earrings, old dental gold, damaged brooches and mixed bags of unwanted gold. Every piece assessed individually — because some "scrap" is worth considerably more than its weight in gold.
High-street gold buyers melt everything. We check first. An Art Deco brooch with a broken clasp, a signed designer ring with a bent shank, an antique setting missing its stone — these can be worth far more repaired than scrapped. Free insured postage. Written valuation per piece. Paid in 72 hours.
This is the single most important thing to understand before you sell broken jewellery: not everything that looks like scrap should be treated as scrap.
A high-street "we buy gold" shop puts your broken pieces on a scale, tests the carat, and offers a percentage of the melt value. That's the entire assessment. They do not check whether your broken brooch is a signed piece by a collectible maker. They do not notice that a bent ring is an Art Deco design with original old-cut diamonds. They do not recognise that a single earring from a Georg Jensen set has collector value many times its weight in gold.
At Fair Vintage, every item is checked by a specialist before any melt calculation is applied. If your piece has collector, antique, or designer value above its scrap weight, we tell you — and offer accordingly.
A broken Art Deco platinum-set diamond brooch weighing 8g might be worth £350 as scrap gold. Repaired and sold as a collectible, the same piece might be worth £1,200–£2,000. A high-street gold shop will offer you £350 and melt it. We check first.
The melt value of gold is determined by three factors: the weight of the piece, the purity (carat), and the current market price for gold. The formula is straightforward:
Weight (grams) × purity fraction × current gold spot price per gram = melt value
We weigh every item to 0.01g on calibrated scales and use the published LBMA daily gold fix as our reference price — you can verify it independently at lbma.org.uk. The purity is determined by hallmark reading or, for unhallmarked pieces, by non-invasive XRF testing. No acid tests. No filing. The method used is recorded in your written valuation.
Indicative mid-2026 rates based on a gold spot price of approximately £68 per gram (fine gold). Actual rates fluctuate daily. Your written valuation uses the live price on the day of assessment.
| Carat | Purity | Hallmark stamp | Approx. per gram |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9ct | 37.5% | 375 | ~£25.50 |
| 14ct | 58.5% | 585 | ~£39.80 |
| 18ct | 75.0% | 750 | ~£51.00 |
| 22ct | 91.6% | 916 | ~£62.30 |
These are approximate buy rates for scrap gold with no collector premium. Pieces with antique, designer, or collector value will be offered above these rates. The difference can be substantial.
Not sure what you have? Send everything. We sort, test, and assess each piece. Items that aren't gold or have no material value are returned free — you won't be charged postage either way.
Tell us roughly what you have — a couple of sentences is enough. We email you a free prepaid, tracked and insured shipping label the same working day.
Pack everything into any secure box or padded envelope, attach the label, and drop it at any Royal Mail or DPD point. Your parcel is insured to £5,000 from the moment the courier scans it.
We email you a unique parcel code and your broadcast time. Your parcel is opened on camera, publicly, in real time — every item visible before a specialist touches it.
Every piece weighed, tested, and checked for collector value. Accept what you want to sell — return the rest free. Payment within 72 hours of broadcast. If we miss it, we add 3%.
If your question isn't here, call us on 01234 815116 or email support@fairvintage.co.uk. We respond within one working day.
Get your free pack →Yes — and often more than you think. A broken gold chain still has its full gold weight value, but some broken pieces (Art Deco brooches, signed designer pieces, antique settings) can be worth far more repaired than melted. We assess every piece individually.
By weight and purity (carat). 9ct, 14ct, 18ct, and 22ct gold all have different per-gram values based on the current gold price. We weigh accurately to 0.01g and price at current market rates.
Not necessarily. A specialist buyer will check whether the piece has collector, antique, or designer value above its scrap weight. High-street gold buyers and pawnbrokers won't make that distinction.
Yes, send everything. We sort, test, and assess each piece. Items that aren't gold or aren't valuable are returned free.
Request your free pack today. Every piece weighed, tested, and checked for collector value. Written valuation per item. Paid within 72 hours — or we add 3%.
Also see: Sell gold jewellery UK