18-carat gold has no fixed price: it has a gold content. An 18-carat jewel contains 750 thousandths of fine gold, exactly three quarters of its weight; the rest is an alloy that gives it its colour and its strength. Its buyback price is therefore calculated on the day of the sale, from the gold price, and can be read on the grid published by Gold & Silver Company, a Fonderie-Raffinerie approved by the Royal Mint of Belgium, which pays for the measured content, not the promise of a hallmark.
750 thousandths: the standard that built fine jewellery
The 18-carat standard is the historic standard of French jewellery, very widespread in Belgium: wedding rings, chains, signet rings, family rings. Out of one thousand parts of metal, 750 are fine gold; the remaining 250 form the alloy, most often copper or silver, which hardens the jewel and decides its colour. It is this figure, and this figure alone, that founds the value: an 18-carat jewel is worth three quarters of its weight in fine gold, whatever its condition, its fashion or its century.
The price is calculated on the day of the sale, never before
The gold price changes every trading day. Any price for 18-carat gold written permanently into a web page is therefore, by construction, already out of date. For this reason Gold & Silver Company publishes a daily buyback grid, with the price per gram for each standard. On the quotation, each standard has its own line: jewels of the same gold are grouped into one lot and weighed together, as at the branch.
The measured content, not the announced hallmark
The hallmark announces the standard; the laboratory verifies it. The lot is weighed, analysed on the touchstone, a prior obligation of the trade, then melted and assayed by spectrometry. If the measurement comes out above the hallmark, the price follows the measurement. The complete journey of a jewel, from the front desk to the crucible, is described on the jewellery and diamonds page.
Selling direct to the producer
Most gold buying businesses are intermediaries: the collected jewel leaves for a smelting and refining plant, and every link in the chain keeps its share. At Gold & Silver Company, the furnace is on site, at the Fonderie-Raffinerie of Dottignies (Mouscron): no intermediary, no brokerage fees, a direct sale to the producer. To decide between two offers, only the net offer counts.
Settlement and taxation
Settlement follows the house's general terms: up to 500 euros in cash at the branch and the balance by bank transfer within 5 business days, as detailed on the page devoted to the legal cash ceiling. A valid identity card is enough. As for the Belgian 10 % capital gains tax that came into force in 2026, it targets investment bars and coins: jewellery is excluded from it.
Coming in with your jewellery
The appraisal is free, without obligation and without appointment, at the Dottignies (Mouscron) branch, rue Arthur Roelandt 22, on the French border; sellers from Lille and its metropolitan area are received there every day. From one kilo of gold, the sale takes place by appointment, with a personalised file.
- 18 carats = 750 thousandths = three quarters fine gold.
- The price is calculated at the day's rate; the grid is published every day.
- One line per standard on the quotation, jewels of the same gold weighed as a single lot.
- The content is measured after melting; the price follows the measurement.
- Up to 500 euros in cash at the branch, the balance by bank transfer within 5 business days.
- Jewellery is excluded from the 2026 Belgian capital gains tax.
Frequently asked questions
How does the buyback price of 18-carat gold follow the gold price?
18-carat gold contains 750 thousandths of fine gold: its price per gram therefore moves in the same proportion as the gold price, published every trading day. When the price rises, the buyback grid rises; when it falls, the grid falls. That is why no serious professional engraves a permanent price into a web page: Gold & Silver Company publishes a daily grid, and the offer made at the branch is based on the price of the day of the sale, verifiable by the seller at that very moment.
Why is a gram of 18-carat gold not worth a gram of gold bar?
Because they do not contain the same quantity of gold. A bar is assayed at 999.9 thousandths: one gram of bar is one gram of fine gold. An 18-carat jewel is assayed at 750 thousandths: one gram of jewel contains 0.75 gram of fine gold, the rest being the alloy. The bar is moreover a finished product, with its own quotation, while the jewel destined for buyback is worth the fine gold it will yield at melting. Comparing the two at the same price per gram would make no sense.
Do yellow, rose and white 18-carat gold have the same buyback value?
Yes, exactly the same. The colour comes from the alloy: more copper gives rose gold, silver or palladium give white or grey gold. In all three cases the fine gold content is identical, 750 thousandths, and it alone is paid for. The rhodium plating that makes white gold shine changes nothing in the value: it is a surface deposit that disappears at melting. A rose bracelet and a yellow chain of the same weight and the same standard receive the same offer.
Is a jewel with a worn or illegible hallmark still bought back?
Yes. The standard is not read, it is measured. A hallmark worn by decades of wear, a foreign jewel with unknown marks or a piece that was never hallmarked all take the same path as the others: touchstone at the front desk, then melting and assay by spectrometry at the laboratory. The seller is paid on the actually measured content of his lot, no more, no less. The absence of a hallmark, like the absence of an invoice, is never a ground for refusal or for a discount.
Is an appointment needed to sell 18-carat gold?
No. The appraisal and the sale take place without appointment, during the opening hours of the Dottignies (Mouscron) branch. An appointment is neither required nor necessary for jewellery, whatever its ordinary quantity: you come in with your pieces and your identity card, the weighing and the analysis take place before you, and you remain free to accept or to leave. Only lots of one kilo of gold and more are handled by appointment, with a personalised file, as the Gold Guide explains.
Is there a minimum quantity for selling 18-carat gold?
No. A single wedding ring, an orphaned earring, a broken clasp, a christening medal or dental gold is enough: each object is weighed and paid for the fine gold it contains, at the content measured by the laboratory. Retail buyback is part of the trade of the Fonderie-Raffinerie, just like large lots; no lot is too small to be analysed, and the appraisal remains free and without obligation whatever the size of the lot presented.
Updated on 24 August 2026. General information, this does not constitute individualised tax advice.