Old friends get jewels (5)
I believe the answer is:
opals
'jewels' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'old friends' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (abbreviation).
'friends' becomes 'pals' (pal is a kind of friend).
'o'+'pals'='OPALS'
'get' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for opals that I've seen before include "Milky-white stones" , "jewellery" , "Iridescent gems" , "jewels" , "Milky sparkling gemstones" .)