New life for old loves

Yes, all gold jewellery is recyclable. Even broken pieces. Give your broken jewellery new life by sending it in for recycling, and we’ll give you a Michael Hill Gift Card loaded with its true gold monetary value.

Unfortunately, we don’t recycle gemstones or diamonds right now. If you still want to recycle your gold with us, we recommend having the gemstones professionally removed before you send your pieces in.

We don't physically recycle the gold, we work closely with a local refiner to melt down the gold and refine it until it reaches its purest form, ready to be transformed into something new.

Not at this stage, unfortunately, but you can collect a secured recycling pack from any of our Michael Hill stores here in Australia. From there, simply package up your old jewellery, and head to your nearest Australian Post Office to send it off. The recycling pack will then securely make its way to our Head Office to be professionally assessed.

There are two easy ways to find out – either head into your local Michael Hill store or check ‘unsure’ when filling out the online form and send your pieces in for us to check for you.

When you head into a Michael Hill store, our jeweller will see if there are any small markings or codes on your piece(s) using a ‘loupe’ (jewellery microscope). If it’s easier for you to send the piece in, our team will use X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis (XRF machine) to scan the jewellery and determine its metal composition.

We accept all gold as part of our recycling program. We’ll happily recycle any yellow, white or rose gold that’s 9-carats or over.

We determine the true gold value using a method called X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis. It's a specialised x-ray that can determine the gold percentage of your jewellery pieces. We then use the gold percentage and the weight of the jewellery to calculate the amount of “pure gold” in your piece.

Once we have all the information, we apply the current market rate for gold to the resulting pure gold weight to provide your quote.

There are many reasons why recycling gold is good for our earth. Gold is immortal, it can be reused and recycled multiple times over without ever tarnishing or decaying. So, when you hand in your gold - you're giving it the opportunity to transform into something new, rather than ending up in landfill.

Research also suggest that, for every gram of pure recycled gold, you can save up to three tonnes of mining waste and 16kg of carbon emissions. If you want to learn more, you can read the research on our Re:cycle website.