The direct answer
Scrap value is the metal floor. Antique jewellery value can be higher when age, maker, design, gemstones, condition or demand make the piece saleable as jewellery rather than recoverable metal. Gold prices change daily. Fair Vintage uses current market references when preparing a written offer rather than hard-coding a fixed gold price into evergreen content.
When scrap is the right lens
Broken modern chains, single lightweight earrings and heavily damaged generic pieces may be mainly metal value.
When antique value matters
Period rings, lockets, brooches, old-cut diamonds, enamel, maker marks and original boxes deserve separate review.
The safest first step
Photograph before cleaning, melting or removing stones. Once altered, antique value can be lost permanently.
How Fair Vintage assesses this page topic
We separate the metal floor from the jewellery value. That means checking gold fineness and tested metal content, weight and construction, hallmarks, sponsor marks, assay office marks and maker signatures, age, period style and originality, gemstones, pearls, enamel and condition, designer, antique or collector demand beyond melt value, boxes, receipts, certificates and family notes. If a piece is mainly scrap, we say so; if it deserves antique, designer, gemstone or collector review, the written offer explains why.
Photographs to send
- whole piece before cleaning
- hallmarks and maker marks
- stones and setting
- damage
- box or paperwork
What jewellery owners ask on Reddit
Reddit is not used as valuation evidence. It is useful because public conversations reveal recurring seller worries: missing marks, changed fittings, whether to clean pieces, how to compare scrap and antique value, and whether a postal buyer can be trusted.
Official references used
These sources support hallmarking, gold-fineness and market-reference statements. They do not set the final Fair Vintage offer for an individual item.