When you’re looking to pawn jewelry, what types pawn the best?

In general, avoid pawning anything you bought for twenty dollars at Target, as the resale value isn’t worth much to the pawnshop. Because of this, you won’t receive a great loan.

While you can still try to sell that cheaply-made, costume jewelry necklace, you might also want to dig to the back of your jewelry drawer. These five types of jewelry will receive much better loans:

Gold Jewelry

Gold is valuable even when it isn’t made into jewelry. As such, it’s usually a safe bet for pawnshops to take on as collateral for loans. If they can’t sell it directly, gold is still lucrative to sell for cash to a gold company or other precious-metal-recycling companies.

For you, pawning gold jewelry means you can get a better loan or sale, and you can walk into the pawn shop knowing they’re unlikely to turn you down.

While silver is also a precious metal, it’s not worth quite as much on its own. So, if sold for parts, it isn’t likely to recuperate its losses well. This means the worth of the piece is in the design, not in the metal.

Diamond Jewelry

Diamonds are very sought-after and can be sold at a high price.

You might get a better deal at a jewelry specialty pawnshop, where they can confirm the worth of the diamond setting in the jewelry and give you an appropriate deal or loan.

Without someone to confirm the karat, you might not get the best deal. If the diamond turns out to be a fake, the pawn shop will have to factor that into the possible loss.

Watches

A good watch can still fetch a good price at the right pawnshop. Depending on the metals it’s made with, how good the machinery is, and the design or brand name, you can get a good pawnshop loan with a watch.

This, however, really only applies to jewelry-type watches, not to purely functional and reliable plastic or polymer watches. Depending on how good it is and how much you originally paid for it, you might still be able to get a good price, but you shouldn’t expect too much.

Wedding Rings

Pawnshops can always go for a good wedding ring, since many people these days turn to secondhand rings to save on the cost of a wedding or engagement. A well-styled ring (nothing too gaudy) is going to be more attractive, and if you have the engagement ring and wedding band set, you’ll have a great deal on your hands.

Earrings

A well-made pair of earrings, especially those with precious metals or gems, can be worth a lot. Perhaps not as much as wedding rings or bands, but you can still get a good deal or loan from a pawnshop for the right pair of earrings. This is especially true during peak jewelry seasons – like Valentine’s Day or Christmas.