Gold price, South Africa · LBMA-benchmarked
What is your gold actually worth per gram?
The honest answer is arithmetic, not a mystery. The world sets one gold price per gram; your piece is worth that number times its purity times its weight. Below is the purity of every karat, a calculator you can run on the day’s spot, and the reason a transparent buyer shows you that number where others hide it. Selling gold jewellery? The calculator below shows approximately what we pay on the day: the live price, less our published 10%.
The short version
Gold trades per troy ounce (31.1035 g) in US dollars. Convert to rand at the day’s rate, divide by 31.1035, and you have the value of one gram of fine, 24 ct gold. Everything else is a percentage of that:
what we pay = fine-gold price per gram × purity of your karat × weight in grams × 0.90
That last figure is our published rate: the live gold price less 10%, on gold jewellery. Signed and designer pieces are quoted individually and beat it. Diamonds and gemstones in the piece are valued separately and paid on top.
The purity numbers below never change. Only the fine-gold price moves, and it moves every day, which is why we quote against the live LBMA spot rather than a fixed in-house figure.
Purity by karat
Every karat, and what fraction of the gold price it earns.
| Karat | Purity (fineness) | Metal value per gram* | We pay per gram* | Typically found in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 ct | 99.9% | R2 370 / g | R2 132,62 | Pure / fine gold. Rare in wearable jewellery; too soft for most settings. |
| 22 ct | 91.6% | R2 174 / g | R1 956,93 | High-purity jewellery and coin gold. |
| 18 ct | 75.0% | R1 779 / g | R1 601,07 | The fine-jewellery standard. Most quality rings and bracelets. |
| 14 ct | 58.3% | R1 384 / g | R1 245,20 | Common in imported and older jewellery. |
| 9 ct | 37.5% | R889 / g | R800,53 | The most common karat in South African jewellery. |
*Both columns are worked from the live fine-gold price, which loads on this page and refreshes daily from the market feed. If the feed is unreachable you are seeing a reference figure of R2 372/g checked on 26 August 2026, and the maths still holds. The “we pay” column is the published rate for gold jewellery: the fine-gold price, times your purity, less 10%. Signed and designer pieces are quoted individually and beat that figure, and any diamonds are valued separately and paid on top. Or ask us for today’s exact rate.
Gold value calculator
Run the numbers yourself.
Enter the weight, choose the karat, and set the day’s fine-gold price. The maths is exact; the fine-gold figure is the only thing you need to check on the day. No email, no catch, it never leaves your browser.
What Prodiam pays you for it
R16 011
10 g of 18 ct at R2 372/g fine, less our published 10%
Approximately what you would walk out with today for gold jewellery. The gold price moves daily; the 10% never does.
That payout figure is the metal only, at our published rate for gold jewellery: the fine-gold price, times your purity, less 10%. Signed and designer pieces are quoted individually and always beat it. If your piece also holds natural diamonds or gemstones, those are valued separately against the Rapaport sheet and paid on top. A kitchen scale gets you the ballpark; the firm figure is confirmed on our calibrated scale with the karat read by XRF, and given to you in writing before anything is agreed. We buy outright: this is a sale, not a loan.
WhatsApp Prodiam this estimate Fill in an enquiry and send pictures →
The published rate
We pay the live gold price, less 10%. Published, not negotiated.
your payout = grams× karat purity× live fine-gold price× 0.90
- Gold jewellery. The live gold price less 10%. That is the published floor, and it is the same for everyone.
- Signed, designer and finished pieces. A signed or wearable piece is usually worth more intact than it is as metal, so it is valued case by case on its own merits and generally beats the published floor. Ask for a quote; there is no obligation either way.
- Diamonds and gemstones set in the piece. Valued separately against the Rapaport sheet and paid on top of the metal. Most gold buyers hand your stones back or ignore them. We are a diamond house, so we can price them and buy them.
Check us before you arrive. Weigh the piece at home and run the number yourself. A kitchen scale gets you the ballpark, not the last decimal, so on the desk our XRF analyser confirms the karat and our calibrated scale confirms the weight, in front of you. You get the figure in writing before anything is agreed. We buy outright: this is a sale, not a loan.
It is safe to bring it in
Carrying gold to an unfamiliar address is the real hesitation, so here is the honest answer. The Paragon is a secured diamond-industry building: armed security, access control at entry, and secure underground parking, so you walk from your car to the desk without stepping onto the street. The South African offices of GIA and EGL operate under the same roof. Viewings are private and by appointment, one client at a time. See how visiting works.
What we do with what we buy
We buy the metal outright and pay you the published rate on the spot. What we make at our own SADPMR-inspected bench is new jewellery, and any stones in a piece we buy are re-set into new work rather than discarded. Gold that is already above ground and back in circulation carries a fraction of the footprint of newly mined metal, which is a better outcome than a drawer.
WhatsApp a photo and the weight Submit it for a written valuation → Book a Bedfordview viewing →
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Twenty-five years in the trade
Director Darren Etkind on the desk since 1995. Rough bought at De Beers DBCM viewings under the Emerging Beneficiation Customer programme since 2019.
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Same-address GIA verify
GIA South Africa office is in our building. On-the-spot re-grading on request before settlement.
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Insured delivery, SA & worldwide
Overnight across South Africa via Brink’s, G4S or our nominated jewellery courier. Insured worldwide dispatch via Ferrari Group and FedEx Custom Critical.
Why the number is better here
A diamond house, not a cash-for-gold counter.
The working is shown
You see the live LBMA spot we used, the karat we confirmed on our scale, the weight and the margin, rather than one blind number. Bring another written offer and we will price it like-for-like and tell you bluntly if we cannot beat it.
The working is shown
You see the LBMA spot we used, the karat we confirmed, the weight on our scale, and the margin. No single blind number. If the maths does not convince you, you keep your gold and owe us nothing.
Diamonds valued separately
A gold ring with a natural diamond is two assets. We price the metal against spot and the stone against Rapaport, and pay on each. A gold buyer who ignores the stone is quietly keeping it.
FICA-compliant, cleared fast
Verified bank transfer with full FICA paperwork, typically cleared within 72 hours for South African sellers. No envelope cash, no later trouble with your bank or SARS.
Gold pricing, plainly
Frequently asked questions.
How is the gold price per gram worked out in South Africa?
The international gold price is quoted per troy ounce (31.1035 grams) in US dollars. To get a rand price per gram you convert to ZAR at the day’s exchange rate and divide by 31.1035. That gives you the value of one gram of pure, 24 ct gold. Your piece is then valued at that figure multiplied by its purity (75% for 18 ct, 37.5% for 9 ct, and so on) and by its weight. It is arithmetic, not opinion, which is exactly why a transparent buyer will show you the working.
What is 9 ct and 18 ct gold worth per gram?
Because 9 ct gold is 37.5% pure and 18 ct is 75% pure, a gram of 9 ct is worth 37.5% of the fine-gold price and a gram of 18 ct is worth exactly twice that, 75%. So 18 ct is always worth double 9 ct, gram for gram. Plug the day’s fine-gold price into the calculator on this page and it will show you both. The rand figure moves with the market every day; the ratio between the karats never moves.
Why does a gold buyer pay less than the spot price?
Second-hand gold has to be assayed and processed back to fine before it can be re-used, and that carries a real cost that sits somewhere in the chain. Prodiam publishes exactly what that costs: we pay the live fine-gold price times your purity, less 10%, on gold jewellery, and that rate is the same for everyone with no negotiation. Signed and designer pieces are quoted individually and always beat that floor. Some buyers instead quote one blind number well below spot and hope you do not know the maths. Ask more than one buyer, bring us the figure, and we will price it against the same live spot and show you the working.
What is old gold jewellery actually worth?
Old gold jewellery is worth its metal content: fine-gold price times purity times weight. There is no “worn discount” on the gold itself once it is weighed and its karat confirmed. What changes is only whether a buyer prices it honestly against spot or lowballs it. Ours is published: the fine-gold price times purity, less 10%. If a piece also holds natural diamonds, those are valued separately against the Rapaport sheet and paid on top, not ignored.
How do I get today’s exact figure for my gold?
Send us a photo and the weight, or bring the piece to the Bedfordview viewing room, and we will price it against the LBMA gold-spot rate on the day, in rand, with the karat read by XRF and the weight confirmed on our calibrated scale, at our published rate of spot less 10% for gold jewellery. The calculator here gives you an honest ballpark before you lift a finger; the firm number is set on the day you sell, because the market sets it, not us.
Ready to turn the number into rand?
The calculator gives you the honest ballpark. When you want the firm figure, the desk prices your gold against the LBMA spot on the day and settles in about 72 hours.
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