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Keeping an eye on financial news for my money beat had me watching the roller-coaster stock market action the past couple of weeks more closely than usual.

Climbing gold prices also caught my attention. The price of gold hit a record $1,818.90 an ounce, almost double its value two years ago.

That got me doing a mental inventory of my jewelry box.

We’ve all seen the TV commercials or have wrestled with the (often annoying) ads that wrap around the front page of the newspaper advertising “the best price” for selling your rings and bracelets from old boyfriends or broken chains and earrings missing their matching pair.

Digging to the bottom of my jewelry box, I found some old pieces of gold jewelry I hadn’t worn in at least four years — and some since high school. I figured if they’re just sitting hidden away on my dresser, it couldn’t hurt to see how much I could get for them.

The Gold Guys

This past Saturday, my boyfriend Gavin and I headed into town to check out at Ward Center. I can’t pinpoint why I selected them out of the various buyers who advertise just as aggressively. I guess their marketing got to me. And Ward Center isn’t in some alley or seedy neighborhood.

We got there around 1:30 in the afternoon, and found an overflowing storefront next door to Brookstone and the University of Hawaii’s Rainbowtique. There were at least a dozen people seated either on folding chairs outside the store or animal-printed lounge chairs inside.

About six or so desks with two chairs apiece form a U around the perimeter of the store. Each desk has a scale, a box of Kleenex and cotton rounds. In one corner, a man with a hammer and safety glasses pounds away at his work station.

No sign of the two “Gold Guys” themselves in the store.

Customers were a mix of men and women of all ages: an older Asian man sat outside; a young couple waited inside, a pair of middle-age men in what looked like their work clothes were being assisted at a desk.

Cookies and Peanuts

Computer-printed signs taped to a countertop instructed us to sign in. Other signs encouraged customers to help themselves to complimentary chocolate-chip cookies, roasted peanuts and candies.

There was a quite a wait. We signed in and decided to browse around Brookstone to kill some time. As other people were called, I overheard each being asked if this was their first time. Almost everyone replied, no.

When it was our turn, we took a seat at one of the desks. The employee, a friendly guy with white hair, asked how he could help us. I handed over my jewelry: a Hawaiian bracelet and two gold rings.

Using a magnifier, he searched each piece for their claimed gold properties. Then he took out what he said was a polishing stone — a small, rectangular piece the color of charcoal.

As he vigorously rubbed each piece across the stone, leaving a streak of shimmery gold behind, he explained that he would be applying a liquid that would confirm whether the pieces were in fact 14K gold.

All clear.

$32 per Carat

He placed them on the scale, noting that it would weigh the pieces in diamond carats. He said the price of gold had recently gone up. He said the store that day was paying $32 per carat for gold.

He took out a calculator.

I started thinking I’d be stoked to get a couple hundred bucks for these pieces.

He jotted down on a Post-It note that my jewelry weighed 26.5 carats. He punched keys on his calculator and jotted down: $848.

Wow! I couldn’t help but smile.

“Did you want to sell?” he asked.

“Yes!” I replied.

I had to fill out a form with my name and address and he photocopied my driver’s license onto the top of the form. I had to print my thumbprint on the form as well.

I walked out with a Bank of Hawaii check for $848.

Later in the week, when I deposited the check, the bank teller laughed aloud and said she’s been seeing more and more of these checks.

“It’s funny,” she said, “so many people are selling their jewelry.”