Donation value guide, edition 2026.1

Jewelry donation values: costume, gold, and fine pieces

Costume jewelry is generally worth about $9 to $18 per piece in good condition, $18 to $25 like new. Gold and silver jewelry is never worth less than its metal, so start from the melt-value calculator below. Fine jewelry and luxury watches are valued from comparable sales, and over $5,000 for the year's jewelry you generally need a qualified appraisal.

Most thrift valuation guides skip jewelry entirely, and the few that price it print one band for every costume piece. So this page splits the category the way the rules do: costume pieces from the published ranges, precious metal from its melt value as a floor, and fine jewelry and watches from comparable sales or a qualified appraisal.

Chart of every item in this category, with all three tiers side by side, or total up your jewelry donation. Look up one item in jewelry.

Ian MacCallumAugust 5, 2026Updated October 21, 2026

Common jewelry donations at a glance

Jewelry: Good condition band and full range, edition 2026.1
Item	Good condition	Fair to Like new
Costume jewelry, per piece (necklace, bracelet, earrings, ring, brooch)	$9 to $18	$1 to $25
Fashion watch	$9 to $18	$1 to $25

Per item, from the full tables below, where every row cites its published source. Checked for edition 2026.1.

Items listed: 19
With published ranges: 7
You value yourself: 12
Range: $1 to $25

Fine jewelry is one of the categories where a qualified appraisal is most likely to be required, and where an inflated number is most likely to be examined. Everything on that side of this page is custom valuation on purpose.

Like new: Unworn or barely worn, clasps and stones intact, with box or card. The top of the published range.
Good: Worn but clean, every stone and clasp present and working. The middle of the range.
Fair: Visible wear, tarnish or a loose setting. The bottom of the range; condition lowers the value rather than ruling it out.

Ranges are per piece, in US dollars. The household-goods rule that requires items to be in good used condition or better generally does not apply to jewelry and gems, which the statutory definition of household items leaves out (see Publication 526). For jewelry, condition lowers the value; it does not wipe out the deduction. Broken gold or silver still has metal value.

Count your jewelry donation

Costume jewelry, per piece (necklace, bracelet, earrings, ring, brooch)$14 each
Fashion watch$14 each

$0suggested, 0 items ($0 to $0)

Under $250, a receipt or reliable written record is generally enough. Nothing you enter leaves this browser.

Something not in this list? Total it in the full donation calculator.

Gold and silver melt-value calculator

Weight times purity times today’s spot price. Enter the spot price yourself from a current quote: it moves daily, so this page does not print one.

MetalPurityWeightSpot price per troy ounce (USD)

Enter a weight and a spot price.

Costume Jewelry

Costume Jewelry: fair market value ranges by condition
Item	Like new	Good	Fair	Source
Necklace, Bracelet, Earrings, Ring, Brooch / Pin	$18 to $25	$9 to $18	$1 to $9	Source 5 for Necklace, Bracelet, Earrings, Ring, Brooch / Pin

This range is the guide’s general range for the class of item, not a figure printed for this item specifically. Derived from a single published range or one too narrow to split confidently. Treat it as a starting point and adjust for what you actually gave.

Not listed? Use the closest item above, which carries the same published range, or value it from comparable sales.

You value these yourself: Matching Set

A mixed lot has no published price because it is not a published item: what it is worth depends entirely on what is in it. List the contents, value each piece the way you would value it on its own, and add them up. IRS Pub 561's standard applies to a lot exactly as it does to a single item, and a lot entered as one round number with no itemization is the hardest kind of claim to defend.

Fine Jewelry

You value these yourself: Ring, Necklace / Pendant, Bracelet, Earrings, Brooch / Pin, Loose Gemstone, Other Fine Jewelry

No thrift guide prices fine jewelry, and DeductiBee will not estimate it. IRS Pub 561 states that jewelry and gems are of such a specialized nature that it is almost always necessary to get an appraisal by a specialized jewelry appraiser, and that the appraisal should describe the style of the piece and the cut and setting of any stones. Get that appraisal, or value the piece from documented sales of a genuinely comparable one. If your claim for this item, or for the whole group of similar items you gave this year, comes to more than $5,000, the IRS requires a qualified written appraisal and Form 8283 Section B; DeductiBee records the value but does not produce Section B.

Watches

Watches: fair market value ranges by condition
Item	Like new	Good	Fair	Source
Fashion Watch	$18 to $25	$9 to $18	$1 to $9	Source 5 for Fashion Watch

You value these yourself: Fine or Luxury Watch, Pocket Watch, Other Watch

No thrift guide prices fine or luxury watches, and DeductiBee will not estimate one. Value it from documented sales of the same reference in the same condition, with the box and papers noted if you have them, per IRS Pub 561's willing-buyer/willing-seller standard. Pub 561 treats jewelry and gems as specialized enough that an appraisal is usually necessary, and the same logic applies here. If your claim for this item, or for the whole group of similar items you gave this year, comes to more than $5,000, the IRS requires a qualified written appraisal and Form 8283 Section B; DeductiBee records the value but does not produce Section B.

Other Jewelry

You value these yourself: Other Jewelry

What the thrift guides publish

We checked the established donation value guides in October 2026. Most have no jewelry row at all:

Guide	What it prints for jewelry
Salvation Army	No jewelry row
Goodwill NNE	No jewelry row
Goodwill Central and Northern Arizona	Accessories, $2 to $6
Kokomo Rescue Mission	Jewelry items, $1 to $25

That single published band is why every costume row on this page carries the same range and a low-confidence mark. It is the honest state of the evidence.

Fine jewelry and watches: three routes to a value

Scrap or broken precious metal: start from the melt value above, and keep a written quote from a buyer. A buyer's offer is usually below melt, and it is the closest thing to a sale price for scrap.
A finished piece under $5,000: use three or more comparable sold listings or auction results for similar pieces. Keep screenshots, a photo, and a photo of any hallmark or karat stamp.
Over $5,000 for an item, or for the year's jewelry as a group: get a qualified appraisal and file Form 8283 Section B. Publication 561 says gems and jewelry generally need a specialized appraiser, and lists what the appraisal should describe, from the cut and setting to the stones' weight, color and flaws.

Watches: a fashion watch uses the table row. A luxury watch is valued from comparable sales, where the box, papers and service history all move the price. A pocket watch is often a collectible and follows route 2 or 3.

Numbers that are not fair market value

An insurance appraisal states replacement cost, not what the piece would sell for used.
Sentimental value has no effect on the deduction.
Custom labor usually adds little or nothing to resale value.
What you paid is not the value, and for most used jewelry it is far above it.

Overstating a value carries penalties, which is one reason jewelry is examined closely.

Every piece adds up: the similar-items rule

The Form 8283 instructions treat jewelry as one class of similar items, so every piece you give in a year counts together for the $5,000 line, even across different charities. An illustrative year: a $2,000 ring to one charity, then a $1,800 necklace and a $1,500 watch to another, is $5,300 of jewelry, so an appraisal is generally required even though no single piece came close. The Form 8283 checker applies the lines.

Keep going

Most donation bags cross categories. These are the ones that usually travel with this page.

Or start from the full donation value guide, which explains how every range on this page was derived.

Then what

What the total obliges you to do

Once you have a figure, the rules decide the paperwork. These are the three pages that answer that, in the order the questions arrive.

Donation valuesHow the IRS says to value donations: a plain reading of Publication 561Publication 561 is the IRS rulebook for valuing donated property. Here is what it actually says about fair market value, the four factors, and used goods.

FAQ

Questions about jewelry donations

Do I need an appraisal to donate jewelry?

Generally, a claimed deduction of more than $5,000 for an item or a group of similar items requires a qualified written appraisal and Form 8283 Section B. Below that, evidence of comparable sales is normally what supports the value. See the Instructions for Form 8283.

How is costume jewelry valued?

By the published thrift ranges on this page, which price it as an accessory rather than by material. Condition lowers the value within the range; a broken piece of costume jewelry with no resale value is generally worth nothing, while a broken gold or silver piece is still worth at least what a buyer would pay for its metal.

Can I use my insurance appraisal?

Generally not as the deduction figure. An insurance appraisal states replacement cost, which is usually well above what the piece would sell for used. A qualified appraisal for a donation values it at fair market value.

Is broken jewelry deductible?

It can be. The good used condition rule for household items generally does not apply to jewelry, so a broken gold or silver piece is still worth its metal value, generally what a buyer would pay for it as scrap.

Can I deduct gold at melt value?

Melt value is a floor, not automatically the deduction. For scrap, a buyer's offer is the closest evidence of a sale price, and it is usually a little below melt. A finished piece with design value is valued from comparable sales.

Do all my jewelry donations add up for the $5,000 test?

Yes. Jewelry is one class of similar items, so every piece you give in the year counts together, across every charity.

Which charities accept jewelry?

Most thrift charities accept costume jewelry. For fine jewelry and watches, ask first: some sell it through auctions, and a few do not take it at all.

Sources for the values on this page

Every range on this page traces to one of these. Values are derived from the published ranges, never copied from another product’s valuation database, and never invented where no source covers an item.

Publication 561 (12/2025), Determining the Value of Donated Property
Internal Revenue Service (U.S. Department of the Treasury)
Methodology. Sets the standard the values have to meet. Never a source of dollar figures. Fetched and read 2026-08-04.
Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions
Internal Revenue Service (U.S. Department of the Treasury)
Methodology. Sets the standard the values have to meet. Never a source of dollar figures. Fetched and read 2026-08-04.
Instructions for Form 8283 (12/2025), Noncash Charitable Contributions
Internal Revenue Service (U.S. Department of the Treasury)
Methodology. Sets the standard the values have to meet. Never a source of dollar figures. Fetched and read 2026-08-04.
Fair Market Value Sheet (Revised 3/1/2023)
Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries (Cincinnati, OH)
Corroborating check. Used to sanity-check a band. Never moves a figure on its own. Fetched and read 2026-08-04.
Estimated Valuation Guide & Receipt for Items Donated to the Kokomo Rescue Mission
Kokomo Rescue Mission (Kokomo, Indiana; Federal I.D. No. 351104430)
Corroborating check. Used to sanity-check a band. Never moves a figure on its own. Fetched and read 2026-08-04.
Donation Value Guide - What is my donation worth?
Goodwill Greater Milwaukee & Chicago (Goodwill Retail Services, Inc., Tax ID# 39-2040239)
Corroborating check. Used to sanity-check a band. Never moves a figure on its own. Fetched and read 2026-08-04.

The rules these values have to satisfy

Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated PropertyIRS, IRS publication
Publication 526, Charitable ContributionsIRS, IRS publication
Instructions for Form 8283IRS, IRS form

One jewelry group, all year

Photograph each piece once

DeductiBee adds every piece of jewelry into one group across drop-offs and charities, keeps a photo of each, and warns you before you cross the $5,000 appraisal line.

Free to start. Import and raw export are never paywalled. Donations count in the year you give them.