Sell gold necklaces by post — written XRF valuation

A gold chain by itself is a fixed-purity piece of metal you can value with two numbers (weight and carat). A necklace is usually a chain with a pendant, a setting, a clasp and frequently a stone or several stones; each of those elements is its own valuation. The XRF reading is taken on the chain and on every separable component of the necklace, and the written offer breaks the components out.

The pendant on a necklace is the part most likely to differ in metal from the chain. Inherited Victorian and Edwardian necklaces often have a higher-carat pendant on a lower-carat chain, because the chain was replaced at some point during the piece's life. Modern necklaces typically have matched pendant and chain. Either way, the assay sees both metals individually.

Stones in a necklace pendant fall into three rough categories at valuation: stones with separate market value (diamonds, fine sapphires, fine rubies, fine emeralds, certain pearls), decorative stones with little independent market value (most cubic zirconias, glass, paste, low-grade colour stones), and stones whose value depends heavily on the documentation (older stones with provenance, named cuts, certified diamonds).

The written offer treats every stone above a baseline threshold as a separate valuation line. Stones below the threshold are noted but not separately priced; the metal-and-setting weight is the basis. Where a stone is worth materially more than the metal it sits in, we say so on the offer and explain how to sell it separately if you prefer.

A meaningful share of UK households have one or two necklaces that have not been worn for a decade or more, sitting in a presentation case in a drawer. Those necklaces age neutrally in storage; gold does not tarnish, and the metal weight is what it was the day the necklace was first sold. The case adds no value but is often kept anyway.

If you are clearing inherited necklaces and you are not certain which is gold and which is gold-plated, post the whole lot. The XRF reading separates real gold from plated base metal definitively; plated pieces are returned at no cost alongside the offer for the precious-metal pieces.

The four UK assay offices each strike pieces that turn up on necklaces of various ages: the leopard's head (London), the anchor (Birmingham), the rose or pre-1975 crown (Sheffield), the three-towered castle (Edinburgh). Closed offices (Chester until 1962, Glasgow until 1964) appear on older pieces and are sometimes worth flagging for the antique market rather than scrap.

Pieces with maker marks of recognised British designers from the twentieth century — Mappin & Webb, Asprey, Garrard, Theo Fennell, and similar — are flagged separately on the written offer because the designed-piece market sometimes pays above scrap. We will tell you on the offer when that is likely to be the case.