Can Gold Jewelry Build Your Wealth?

The pieces you love to wear might also add value to your financial life. Here’s what to know before you buy or sell gold jewelry or gold-related investments

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Published September 25, 2026
Gold jewelry, including rings, bracelets, necklaces and gold bars organized in a jewelry storage box.
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Jeaneen Cockrell of Los Angeles has loved gold since she was a child trying on her mother’s jewelry. Today she’s using gold to supplement her wardrobe and her portfolio.

“I love to be able to wear my assets,” Cockrell says. Not only are they fashionable, but if she has an emergency, “I can take off a necklace and sell it because the gold value is the same across the world.”

She finds the best deals on gold jewelry at estate sales because people often don’t know the value of what they’re selling, she says. Case in point: She recently purchased a ring for $300 and discovered it’s worth $2,100.

“I want to make sure that everything I buy I can sell for at least what I purchased it for or make a profit,” she adds. She also helps other sisters do the same by offering tips on stacking gold jewelry from her StaySparklyyy Instagram account.

Cockrell isn’t the only one cashing in on gold. Though the price of the precious metal has been falling in recent months, it reached a record high in January 2026, when it was valued at $5,608.35 per ounce. Increased political tensions around the world and economic uncertainty were factors in the historic rise in gold prices, analysts say. Investors were looking to diversify into assets outside of traditional stocks. Gold also may have become more accessible to the average consumer, as even Costco started selling it in 2023. As of June 11, the value was down to $4,083 per ounce.

Historically, stocks tend to outperform gold over longer periods of time — say 30 years or more. But there are shorter stretches of time over which gold has provided better returns.

Gold can be a good way to diversify your assets, says Dana S. Branham, a certified financial planner based in Charlotte, North Carolina. When you own different types of assets, such as stocks and gold, or real estate and bonds, chances are one of them will be increasing in value when another one is losing money, Branham says. “You know the old adage, ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’ — that’s what diversification is.”

Branham recommends that gold take up no more than 10 percent of your portfolio. If you choose to invest in it, here are some potential strategies.

Consider buying physical gold. Gold bullion is physical gold that comes in the form of bars, coins, and ingots — or blocks of metal. You can also accumulate physical gold through buying gold jewelry.

You can buy gold pieces from dealers, coin shops, pawn shops and jewelry stores. Keep in mind that it’s a good idea to have a safe place to store it, such as a safe deposit box or a safe inside of your home. When you want to sell it, look for a reputable dealer, such as a local coin or pawn shop, or do a search for gold dealers online.

The amount you can make is determined by the gold’s melt value — a calculation based on the weight, the current market, and the purity of the piece, such as the number of karats.

If you know the weight of your gold and how many karats it has, you can estimate the melt value using a calculator such as coinapps.com/gold/scrap/calculator/, goldcalc.com or meltvalue.com. Then you can use that number to negotiate with buyers to see who will give you the best deal.

Explore stocks of gold-mining companies. Just as you can invest in tech firms and retailers, you can buy stocks in companies that find and extract gold from the earth. When they’re doing well and increasing in value, you may be able to benefit from rising stock prices, Branham says. Some may even offer dividends, profits shared with investors on a regular basis. Among the largest gold producers are Denver, Colorado-based Newmont, global firm Barrick Mining and Canadian company Agnico Eagle Mines.

Look into gold exchange trading funds. When you invest in one company and their shares drop, you lose money. But an exchange trading fund (ETF) is a collection of stocks, bonds and other commodities that you invest in, so chances are some of those assets will be increasing in value when others aren’t doing so well, giving you instant diversification, Branham says.

Some gold ETFs invest in gold bars held in vaults. When the price of gold rises, the value of the ETF rises. Other gold ETFs invest in gold-mining companies, so their value reflects the performance of all the companies collectively.

If you decide to invest in gold, look for gold dealers who have a refund and return policy, clear pricing, and a physical headquarters (even if the transaction will take place online). You can also see if the dealer is listed on the U.S. Mint’s authorized purchaser list.

If you’re considering gold-related stocks or an ETF, know that the stock market can be volatile so figure out how much risk you can tolerate, Branham advises. “Do your research,” she says.

Tamara E. Holmes is a Washington, DC-based writer whose work centers on the intersection between health, wealth and happiness.