Most fine jewelry brands sell you something new. Kinn also accepts something old. KinnCycle is the studio's gold recycling program, and it does something straightforward: you send in solid 14k gold jewelry from any brand, Kinn melts it down, and you receive $60 per gram of recovered gold as a Kinn gift card.
The program has been part of Kinn since the brand launched. Founder Jennie Yoon built it in from the start, the idea being that fine jewelry should circulate rather than accumulate in a drawer, and that recycled gold is equivalent in quality to newly mined gold once it goes through the refinery process.
The process is straightforward:
The gift card applies toward any Kinn purchase. There's no minimum, no expiration policy noted, and no requirement to use it all at once.
KinnCycle accepts solid 14k gold jewelry from any brand. The key requirement is that the pieces are genuinely solid gold, not gold plated, gold filled, or gold vermeil. Those coatings are too thin to yield meaningful gold content after melting.
If you're unsure whether a piece qualifies, include it in your initial email with photos. Kinn's team reviews submissions before asking you to ship, so you won't send something only to find it doesn't meet the threshold.
The $60 per gram rate is the current KinnCycle figure. Gold prices move daily, and Kinn notes that its pricing reflects the real cost of materials, so the credit rate may shift over time in response to gold price changes.
To put the rate in context: a typical 14k gold chain necklace weighs between 3g and 10g depending on construction and length. A 6g piece at $60/gram would yield $360 in store credit, enough to cover just over half the cost of the Rope Chain Bracelet ($680) or the Valentino Tri-Color Chain ($680).
Gold prices have climbed significantly in recent years. As of early 2026, gold was trading above $4,000 per ounce. That makes the current moment a reasonable time to assess whether older gold jewelry you're not wearing is better converted into something you will.
KinnCycle credit works toward any Kinn purchase. A few Italian Sun entry points worth considering:
For higher-value pieces, KinnCycle credit can offset a meaningful portion of the cost. The Kennedy Herringbone ($2,980) or Celina Flat Tubogas Bracelet ($2,880) are both pieces where recycling older gold makes the purchase feel more considered rather than purely additive.
Kinn uses recycled gold throughout its production, not just gold recovered through KinnCycle. Recycled gold goes through the same refinery process regardless of source, recovered from existing jewelry, industrial metals, or electronics, and the output is identical in quality to newly mined gold.
The brand's position is that gold is a material worth keeping in circulation. KinnCycle is the customer-facing version of that commitment: a mechanism for old jewelry to re-enter the supply chain and return as something you'll actually wear.
How much does KinnCycle pay per gram of gold? KinnCycle currently pays $60 per gram of recovered gold as Kinn store credit. This rate can shift over time based on gold market prices.
Does KinnCycle accept jewelry from other brands? Yes. KinnCycle accepts solid 14k gold jewelry from any brand, not just Kinn pieces, as long as the gold content is genuine solid gold rather than plated or filled.
How much gold is lost in the KinnCycle melting process? Up to 25% of gold weight can be lost during melting, as impurities and other metals are separated out during refining. This is normal for the process, and the credit is calculated on the recovered gold weight.
Is there a minimum amount of gold required for KinnCycle? Kinn does not specify a stated minimum. The process starts with an email to hello@kinnstudio.com including photos of the pieces you want to send in, and Kinn's team will confirm whether they can be accepted.
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