Price used: pure gold around €120/g on 8 June 2026. The price moves every day — check it at the date you're reading.
The first time I really looked at the price per gram of a new gold chain, comparing it to the official spot price, I flinched. The piece cost almost three times the price of the gold it contained. I thought: where does the difference go? The answer isn't scandalous — it's a markup, and it makes sense. But when you buy to secure your money, you need to break it down.
The price of a new piece, in three parts
When you pay for a new 18-carat chain in a shop, your price roughly breaks down like this:
- The value of the gold: the piece's weight × the fineness (75% for 18-carat) × the day's spot price.
- The workmanship: the manufacturing work, the complexity of the design, sometimes the brand.
- The retailer's margin: what keeps the shop alive (rent, window, salespeople, stock).
The last two items, put end to end, are what make a new piece commonly cost two to three times the price of the real gold it contains. On very elaborate or branded designs, it can climb higher still.
New, premium second-hand, raw second-hand: three margin levels
It's not "jeweller = villain". It's just that depending on where you buy, the share of margin you pay changes enormously:
| Where you buy | Margin above real gold | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| New jewellery | High (often 100–300%) | Pleasure, love at first sight, brand |
| Premium second-hand | Medium (30–80%) | Fine pieces, vintage |
| Raw second-hand | Low (15–30%) | Investment, price per gram |
The logic is simple: on second-hand, the big workmanship markup has already been paid by the first buyer. When you buy the piece second-hand, you start from a price much closer to the value of the gold. That's the whole point of second-hand when the goal is financial — not pleasure.
It's not a trap, it's a reading grid
I'm not saying you should never pay a markup. For a love-at-first-sight piece, a vintage item, a gift that means something, the workmanship is worth what it's worth, and that's fine. I always separate pleasure-gold from investment-gold.
But for pure investment — securing money, passing it down, reselling in a few years — paying 2 to 3 times the real gold is starting with a ball and chain. My personal rule: if the markup exceeds ~60% above spot on a simple stone-free piece, I pass. And above all, I look at the price per gram, not the tag — exactly as you look at the price per kilo doing your shopping. (This is even truer against 9-carat, where the "cheaper" tag hides an absurd price per gram of real gold — I wrote an article about it.)
Eleven French second-hand 18-carat gold shops, normalised per gram and sorted by the best deal on the metal.
To wrap up
The jeweller's markup isn't a scam: it's the price of the work and the shop. But it's up to you to decide when you accept paying it (pleasure) and when you flee it (investment). The one reflex that protects you in both cases: bring the price back to per gram of real gold, and compare — on a second-hand piece, here's the method to check for yourself whether the asking price is fair.
I'm telling you what I understood buying for myself. Make your own choices — but now you know where the difference goes.
Sources / to go further:
- Pure gold price ~€120/g on 8 June 2026: veracash.com, accessed 8 June 2026
- The 9-carat scam (the worst markup case): OrOGramme article
- Why 18-carat: OrOGramme article