TORONTO – This Valentine’s Day, everything old is new again for some shoppers.
Jewellers say customers are increasingly turning to pre-owned pieces because they want to buy something that isn’t widely available and doesn’t place a burden on the environment or miners.
That the items are often more affordable than buying something new is a bonus, especially while gold and silver costs are soaring to record highs, said Lindsay Appotive, co-owner of Ottawa jeweller True Bijoux.
“The customer’s fully aware that the price of gold is shocking,” she said. “I myself have sticker shock. I think we’re all trying to adapt to this crazy scenario.”
Pre-owned jewelry can range from pieces that are just a few years old to ones that have been around for decades or even centuries.
The jewelry industry doesn’t have standard definitions, but Appotive considers anything more than 20 years old to be “vintage” and anything more than 100 years old “antique.”
Vintage items are typically more affordable than the harder-to-find antique items, Appotive said. True Bijoux typically prices its vintage pieces around half of what they would be new, so a pre-owned 18-karat white gold, oval sapphire and diamond ring is now $7,995 instead of $16,000.
That’s a savings at any time of year, but especially now, when gold has been hovering around US$5,000 an ounce just in time for Valentine’s Day.
It sat between US$1,000 and US$2,000 for the 15 years or so leading up to 2024, when it began skyrocketing and increased even faster since U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in a year ago.
That strength has now spilled over silver. Its price recently surpassed the US$100 per ounce threshold for the first time, though it’s since pulled back to about US$82.
In response, many jewellers have raised prices.
Appotive has seen couples looking to lock in prices early because when they ask for a quote, True Bijoux can only guarantee it for about 10 days “because the market is so crazy.”
“We have a lot of couples who are getting married in 2027 and they’re just so scared of the price of gold that they’re giving us deposits and paying it over time,” she said.
With prices so high, some customers are also warming to cost-effective options like lab-grown diamonds, lower purity gold, thinner pieces or jewelry made with metal blends.
Others are going the vintage route because pre-owned pieces are not in every shop’s case and thus, have a uniqueness to them, said Emeline Calpetard, marketing and brand manager of Vancouver jeweller 100 Ways.
The lower price only heightens the appeal. Previously owned pieces the jeweller sells cost between 30 and 70 per cent less than they would be if bought new, she said. A vintage, three-stone, oval cut sapphire and diamond ring, for example, was priced at $595 on the company’s website, which estimated it would cost $1,950 new.
But the rise in the cost of gold is causing even pre-owned jewelry to get more costly though it’s still not as expensive as buying new, said Angie Gardner.
The Toronto woman has bought at least five rings, several pairs of earrings and a pendant from online vintage jewellers in the last six years.
Most of the pieces are 10-karat gold with large stones. Rings usually set her back $300. She’s seen similar items priced at more than $700 by Canadian jewelry chain Mejuri when new.
“The nice thing about vintage jewelry is this has lasted in some cases, a lifetime, and what you’re buying is a good bang for your buck,” she said.
While she’s been paring back on purchases lately because the value of gold is pushing up prices, she admits the savings are still sometimes so good it’s a challenge to resist the temptation to buy more.
“I just got to look away,” she said laughing.
Though jewellers say most buyers of vintage pieces are purchasing for themselves, it’s not unheard of for gift givers to pick up antique items, especially when they know the history or style is something the recipient enjoys.
Customers at 100 Ways are also opting to purchase previously owned jewelry because they don’t want to contribute to the environmental and labour costs that can come with mining for the diamonds or metals that go into new pieces.
“So there is that circular economy aspect of it and also just the beauty of having something that has been worn by someone else,” Calpetard said. “There is a story behind it.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2026.
