How a gold chain is priced at TraxNYC, and why the price moved since last week or a video

From the jewelry store at TraxNYC, 47th Street.

Gold on the store's own metal rates feed was 4,267.39 US dollars a troy ounce, updated September 25, 2026 at 1:01 AM ET (05:01 UTC); today's number is on our gold price page.

Every row below is a chain in our listings at that read, solid by its own title, with the weight, width and length its listing prints. Type the item number into the site's search box and the listing opens with its price.

Six of the chains in the table, each on its own listing with its grams and its price today:

The chain you saw in a video

A chain priced in a video, and the listing reads a different number today. You want the reason, and whether somebody is playing you.

A price in a video is the price the day it was shot. The listing is the price today. Between the two days the gold price moved, and the metal part of that chain moved with it: the same grams, the same karat, the same making, priced at a different day's gold.

From the feed's own history, read September 25, 2026: gold is up about thirteen percent on twelve months ago. It ran highest in late January, and today is about a fifth below that high. A video from a year ago was shot at lower gold than today; a video from January at higher gold.

Whether the making on that one chain changed since the video, I cannot tell you from this page. Text or call 212-872-9692 with the link you saw.

Why did the price move since last week?

Gold moved. It ran higher in late August, stepped down through September, and sits lower this week than last: down about two percent on the week and about eight percent over thirty days, the feed's own figures at the read at the top.

A chain's metal part is worth less in a week gold fell and more in a week it rose. The days behind today's number are on our gold price page.

How I price a chain at the store

I start with what is in my hand. I weigh it. Grams first, always.

Then the karat. A karat mark is a share of gold within the legal tolerance:

Grams, times that share, at the day's gold price. That is the metal in the chain, the only part of the price that moves on its own, with gold, every day.

Then the making. Somebody made that link; the link, the finish and the clasp are hours too. That is the work, and it does not move with the gold price day to day.

Inside a gold chain factory. Our full tour of one in Italy, a business four generations in the making. 656,000 views on YouTube, read September 26, 2026.

Then the margin. It is not a figure on this page. What you can work out yourself is the metal part, from the listing's grams, its karat and the number on our gold price page; the making and the margin are the rest, and a jeweler quotes the whole thing.

I do not print that sum for any row of the table: it is not a secret, it is a number that is wrong by tomorrow.

From the store

“With gold, you are always dealing with money. So the first question is how much of your money you want to put into the gold. Everything else follows from that.”

Same width, not the same grams

Two chains can look the same on a phone and weigh nothing alike. The grams and shares in this section come from our own makes and listings, counted September 25, 2026.

Grams per inch by width, our 14K solid Miami Cuban

2 mm

0.35

2.5 mm

0.50

3 mm

0.83

4 mm

1.25

5 mm

1.92

6 mm

2.76

7 mm

3.65

8 mm

5.37

9 mm

6.64

10 mm

8.36

12 mm

10.86

Pick a width, multiply by the inches you want, and you have the grams before you look at a single price. The ladder climbs faster than the width: from 4 mm to 8 mm the width doubles and the grams go up about four times. The rest is in how much a gold chain weighs.

For the Miami Cuban at every width, solid or hollow, its lock, and how to tell a real one, read our Miami Cuban chain guide.

Near the same width, three links: grams per inch, our 14K solid chains

Franco, 4 mm

2.14

Miami Cuban, 4 mm

1.25

Curb, 4.5 mm

0.58

The Franco's four-sided weave packs more metal at the same stated width; the curb is a flat, open link, lighter even half a millimeter wider. Near the same millimeters on the tag, three different chains on the scale, three different prices.

A hollow link is a tube, a wall of gold around air, and a hollow chain photographs the same as a solid one. In our experience at the store, at the same width and length a hollow link can weigh half or less than the solid one.

View counts on YouTube, read September 26, 2026.

Semi-solid is the trade's word for a hollow-core link. Our gold chains are solid gold, and their links are solid unless the listing says hollow or lightweight. The two are side by side in hollow vs solid gold chains.

Karat moves the grams too. At the same width and link, solid, 14K runs 7 to 15 percent heavier per inch than 10K. That is the alloy's density, not the size of the link.

18K per inch we have not measured on enough of our makes yet; the 18K chain in the table at the top carries its own grams.

Two in three of our gold chain listings are 14K, one in five 10K, about one in eight 18K. The three karats side by side are in 10K vs 14K vs 18K gold chains.

A few of the five-star reviews buyers left on our listings, chosen by us, quoted as written and trimmed only for length.

The same scale buys it back

In our experience the same karat test and the same scale price a chain going out and a chain coming in. When a chain comes back, and "it doesn't have to be ours", the gold trade-in page says it plainly: "We test the karat and weigh it in grams while you watch, then quote you a number."

"Trade-ins happen in person only." What to bring, in the showroom page's words: "To trade in gold: the gold itself and a valid photo ID."

"Every TraxNYC piece can come back to the counter and go toward your next one, whenever you're ready." "Say yes and the value becomes store credit, applied to whatever you're picking up or having made or cash out."

"Every chain is weighed, stamp-checked and appraised in the store." "Every purchase comes with an official appraisal: carat and gram weights, diamond grade and color, current market value, and our corporate seal. Silver jewelry does not come with an appraisal." That is on our showroom page.

From the store

“When you bring a chain in to sell, you are offered the scrap price, less the labor and the costs. We are upfront about our prices. We sell chains for a profit, not for scrap, because handling your purchase properly, securing it and supporting you as a client afterward, is part of what you are buying. If a price does not sit right with you, call and talk it over with one of our salespeople.”

What buyers ask at the store

How much does a normal gold chain cost?

Its grams, times the karat's gold share, at the day's gold price, plus the making and the margin. The table at the top runs from 5.5 grams, a 2 mm 14K Miami Cuban at 16 inches, to 323.9 grams, a 12 mm at 30 inches; the price follows that spread.

How much is a 14K gold chain worth?

As metal, its grams times 58.3 percent, the gold share of 14K, at the day's gold price; the making is not part of that number. That is what a karat test and a scale give, the way our gold trade-in page describes it.

Is a 14K gold chain worth it?

14K buys more gold: 58.3 percent against 41.7 for 10K, and 7 to 15 percent more grams per inch at the same width in our makes, counted September 25, 2026, the alloy's density.

More than half of the chains we sold in the last twelve months, read the same day, were 14K; 10K and silver split most of the rest; 18K is a few in a hundred. Start in our 14K gold chains.

How much should you spend on a gold chain?

Decide the piece first, then read the grams. Pick the width and the length, the karat, and solid or hollow; the grams follow, and the price follows the grams.

Of the chains we sold in the last twelve months, read September 25, 2026, 24 and 22 inches, nearly tied, took more than half; 20 was next; 18 was one in nine.

How Much Is a Real Gold Chain?

A real gold chain is karat gold, 10K, 14K, 18K or higher; its mark, 417, 585, 750 or the karat itself, means that fineness within the legal tolerance. We do not sell gold-plated chains as gold. At every karat the price is set the same way: grams, gold share, the day's gold price, the making and the margin.

Keep reading

More answers from the store: all TraxNYC buyer's guides.

Ask the desk

With a chain in the cart and a number in your head, text or call 212-872-9692 with the item number, or open the live chat. For an order already placed, text or call with your order number.

For a custom chain, write to custom@traxnyc.com; the showroom page's own words: "Custom work takes weeks, not days." We are at 64 W 47th St, Booth F-1, the Diamond District, on 47th Street since 2004.