The Real Value in Your Old Jewelry: Gold and Silver for Beginners

If you’ve got jewelry sitting unused in a drawer — chains tangled, earrings missing a pair, broken clasps — you’re not alone. What many don’t realise is: those pieces aren’t just sentimental, they also hold real value in today’s precious metals market.

Let’s break it down: how much are the key metals worth right now (April 2025)? Why that matters. And how you can shift the “junk drawer” into meaningful action.

A Snapshot of Precious-Metal Value

Here’s a rough picture of where things stand in 2025 and why that makes your old jewelry worth a second look.

Gold (Au)

Spot prices recently traded around US $3,300 per troy ounce for gold. To put that in perspective: if you have, say, one gram of pure gold (~0.03215 troy oz), that’s roughly $106 (3,300 × 0.03215). Of course jewelry is usually not pure gold (it’s alloyed, maybe 14k or 18k), but the base value is still meaningful.

Silver (Ag)

Silver is trading around US $33 per troy ounce in this period. Again: one gram of pure silver (~0.03215 oz) would equate to about $1.06 (33 × 0.03215). That might sound small, but once you add up dozens of grams lying dormant, it adds up.

Platinum (Pt) & Palladium (Pd)

While most everyday jewelry pieces in the US are gold or silver, it’s useful to know the other major precious metals too.

Platinum: trading in the ballpark of US $1,000+ per ounce based on recent data.

Palladium: similar magnitude, though slightly lower; again this is more rare in typical personal jewelry but shows the broader value set.

What That Means for Your Unused Jewelry

Here’s how you can interpret that value in practical terms:

If you have a gold ring that weighs 3 grams, and it’s 14k (58.5% pure), the gold-content is ~1.755 grams of pure gold. At ~US$106 per gram (using the pure gold estimate above) that gives about US$186 just in metal value (1.755 × 106).

If you have silver earrings totaling 10 grams of sterling silver (92.5% pure), the silver-content is ~9.25 g. At ~US$1.06 per gram, that’s about US$9.80 in raw material value — which may seem modest, but when multiplied across multiple pieces (and factoring that recycling often also recovers other metals/stones) the total adds up.

Even for platinum or palladium pieces, the scarcity and industrial demand mean that letting them sit unused misses opportunity. In short: That jewelry you’re not wearing isn’t just sentimental, it’s an asset you’re holding idle.

Why It’s Time to Shift Action

Holding onto unused jewelry might feel safe. But there are three reasons to push for action now.

1. Opportunity cost – The metals market is elevated right now, meaning the potential value of your jewelry is higher than if it were left further in the drawer.
2. Circular value – By recycling or repurposing your metal you reduce demand for fresh mining, minimize waste, and give your piece a second life. That aligns with your sustainable brand promise and the ethos of responsible use.
3. Emotional return – Letting go of inert pieces can free up space (literally and psychologically), enabling you to invest time, money or sentiment into something you’ll actually use, cherish, or benefit from.

What You Can Do Right Now

Here’s a simple step-by-step you can follow (and it ties directly into why we built Redyoos).

1. Gather your unused jewelry: rings, chains, earrings, loose pieces — anything you never wear.
2. Sort by metal type if you know: gold vs silver vs “others” (plat, palladium) — if you don’t know, that’s OK too.
3. Send it in via Redyoos’s free mail-in kit and let our certified partners evaluate and recycle or repurpose the metals.
4. Receive the peace of mind that your pieces are doing something valuable — not just gathering dust.
5. Re-invest (optional) the value: you might choose to design a new piece, donate the value, or keep the recycled credit for future use.

Final Thought

Unused jewelry is more than “something I’ll wear someday.” Right now, in April 2025, the market value of key precious metals is historically high, meaning your dormant pieces hold more potential than you might have realized.

By shifting from “store and forget” to “send and reuse,” you’re not only capturing material value — you’re participating in a smarter system of reuse. You’re making your jewelry count.

So go ahead: pull out that drawer, weigh the possibility, and take the step. Your jewelry can become something more than memory. It can become impact.

Request your free Redyoos Mail-In Kit