How much is yellow gold worth?

Maria, I consider to sell some yellow gold jewelry. I have some gold rings, a brooch and a necklace. How much is my yellow gold worth? Supposedly my gold is only scrap gold because of some damages and missing stones. I know about the problems of dealing with gold buyers and pawn shops and I do know that most of these guys will probably pay me a far lower figure than justified. I read some good recommendations about you and your expert team and hope that you can tell me how much yellow gold is worth. And Maria, please pay attention on the brooch with the red center stone, it was originally owned from my grandmother. She was married to a wealthy man from Italy for some years and probably it was a gift from him. I guess because there are some hallmarks on the brooch. An imprint says “ITALY 750”; and there are also other stampings I couldn’t identify.
JD from Houston in Texas

JD, it’s a pleasure for me to assist you today. It was very wise to consult me because I agree to your concerns about selling gold to a next-corner gold buyer or pawn shop. Yellow gold is valuable and I’ll tell you today, how much your items are worth. You are really good prepared for selling because your photos are from good quality and the weight specifications you have provided are very important for my evaluation.
reDollar.com expert, Maria Tait

How much is yellow gold worth?

JD: I hope you’ve got the photos of my yellow gold jewelry and the related weights and measurements?

Maria: I did, thanks a lot for that. Yellow gold is like all other gold alloys, very valuable. The value comes from the composition of pure gold, silver and copper. Depending on the exact mixture, the color can range from a deep, dark and strong yellow to a rich green-yellow. Most of your items are made of 18k yellow gold. Only your necklace is made of 14k gold. Let me explain to you the composition in detail to bring you closer to the important value facts. Your 18k yellow gold jewelry was made of 75% pure gold with an amount of 12.5% pure silver to 24.8% pure silver. The value comes almost solely from the gold because the contained amount of pure silver is insignificant for the evaluation of gold jewelry. Today’s gold price varied between $1,205 and $1,209 for an ounce of pure gold, thus an ounce of 18k yellow gold was worth between $903.75 and $906.75. I based my evaluation of your yellow gold jewelry on these stock market price facts, with exception of your brooch.

JD: I’ve already visited a pawn shop and two jewelers in uptown and never got a feedback or explanation like that from you.

Maria: It’s hardly surprising that they didn’t provide you this information. We know that many of our competitors prefer to deal non-transparent. Non-transparency allows them to buy your gold for a cheaper price and making more profit. That’s contrary to our company philosophy. We think that buying gold can be compared with buying foreign currencies or checks. Would you accept that a dealer makes a high profit if you change your vacation-currencies or when it comes to cash a check? Absolutely not! But Americans are faced with unreliable gold buying behavior. May I ask you how much they offered for your yellow gold?

JD: I’ll let you know, in the end. OK?

Maria: That’s fine for me. First, let’s talk about your 18k yellow gold rings. Totaled up, you have 8 rings weighing approx. 32 grams. I see some small stones, a pearl and some parts made of plastic. We have a weight deduction of circa 3.5 grams. To get sure, I assumed 4 grams. Our new total weight is 28 grams (32 grams minus 4 grams) and 28 grams equal 18.00 pennyweights. One gram of gold is worth $29.10 today. A reliable dealer like we would offer about $26.50 for a gram of 18k yellow gold, today what means that your rings reflect a total value of about $742.

JD: That’s more than I got offered for all items in my neighborhood and you didn’t have even calculated the value of the necklace and the brooch!

Maria: Unfortunately it’s a common practice in the US to underpay for individual’s gold. You really have to be aware where your gold goes to. Your 14k gold necklace is easy to calculate. It’s plain without stones, pearls or other base metals. I can see that it’s not filled with a wire to increase the weight, because it’s very thin made. Therefore it’s an easy calculation to find the value of your yellow gold necklace. A gram of 14k yellow gold is worth $17.02 what means that a reliable gold buyer should be willing to pay around $15.50 for a gram. The weight of your necklace is determined with 11.50 grams what means that it’s worth $178 today.

JD: I can’t believe it. The guys in downtown wanted to rip me off. Your offer is by far higher than I got offered and the yellow gold brooch is still missing in your calculation.

Maria: But your brooch is of special interest. First, I was not sure because the hallmark is rubbed heavily but I could see “L ❤ C”, what is an old Cartier mark. I did some research in our archive and could found some similar looking brooches. After all, I’m sure that you own a vintage Cartier brooch, likely with a nice center ruby. Sadly, the brooch is in bad condition what makes a repair necessary and reduces the value, even after a well-done repair. But nevertheless, it’s Cartier, it’s vintage and it comes with a nice ruby. I think $1,000 is a realistic market value for your brooch. We would offer you $800 for it.

JD: That’s absolutely awesome! Maria, are you sure?

Maria: Almost, it could be counterfeited and I have to check the brooch in person. But yes, I’m very sure. It shows all the specific characteristics I’d like to see when I look at an authentic Cartier brooch. It’s a very nice yellow gold brooch. Congrats!

JD: I don’t know what to say, Maria. The best offer in town was $560, for all items! Can you believe that? You’re going to offer me $1,720. That’s very hard to understand.

Maria: I don’t know how these guys can live whit it. To be honest, it needs special skills to spot a vintage Cartier brooch. You have to see a lot of jewelry and you have to need tons of experience. Many gold buying places popped up with the rising gold price starting 2009 and 2010. Till than the amount of gold buyers has almost doubled. We are very sure that most of the newbie’s aren’t familiar with gold based education, training or apprenticeship. But Americans are smart and know to find selling ways besides the neighborhood lures.

JD: Maria, I’ll sell my yellow gold with you!

Maria: Of course! Just click start now to make the first step.

JD: I will! Thank you so much!

Maria: My pleasure!