What we buy · Luxury Watches
Selling a Gold Watch
A gold watch is two things at once: a quantity of metal and a brand. Which one is worth more depends entirely on the brand.
No appointment needed. No obligation to sell.
Live metal market
This is the market your offer is calculated against — not a chart printed last week. Your items are tested and weighed at the counter, and the arithmetic is done in front of you.
Fort Lauderdale
3562 N Ocean Blvd, Suite B
Galt Ocean Mile
Walk in
Mon–Fri 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
No appointment needed
2004
Buying gold in Broward County since
1983
Family owned and buying in Broward since
87,000+
Items sold on eBay at a 100% rating
Live
Spot pricing, tested and weighed in front of you
Before you sell
What to watch out for
This is the category where selling to a metals buyer can genuinely cost you. A gold Rolex, Patek or Cartier is almost always worth far more as a watch than as metal. A no-name gold case usually is not. Selling the first to a scrap buyer is an expensive mistake.
At the counter
How this one is valued
A watch is identified before it is weighed. Reference number between the lugs or on the caseback, then the movement, then originality, because a refinished dial, replaced hands or an aftermarket bezel all change what a watch buyer pays and none of it changes the metal. Only when the brand adds nothing does the case go on the scale, and then the question is solid gold or gold-filled. Vintage American cases marked gold shell or 14k gold filled look identical to solid and are not. Movement, crystal and dial are never metal weight.
How we handle it
- We will tell you plainly if the watch is worth more than its metal.
- Cases and bracelets weighed and tested properly, movement excluded.
- Boxes and papers matter for a brand sale — bring them if you have them.
- No pressure to sell it here if it belongs somewhere else.
Said plainly
When it is worth more than the metal
This is the category where the metal is often the least valuable part. Brand and reference decide it. Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron, Cartier, and particular Omega and Jaeger-LeCoultre references all trade as watches rather than as gold. Complications, an original dial and an unpolished case push it further, and so do the box and papers. Plenty of steel watches with no gold in them are worth more than a heavy gold case from a name nobody knows. When we see one, we point you to a watch specialist or an auction.
What not to do
Before you bring it in
Bring the box, the papers, the service records and the spare links. On some references the paperwork moves the number more than the condition does. Do not have the case polished. A polish rounds the lugs and softens the bevels, a collector reads it in a second, and it cannot be undone, which is the same mistake as cleaning a coin for the same reason. Do not have it serviced first either, because the buyer will service it their own way. Leave the original bracelet on, worn or not.
Bringing it in
Bring the box and papers if you have them. If the watch is worth more to a watch buyer than to us, we will say so — we would rather tell you than take the margin.
The market right now
These are live spot prices per troy ounce. They are the starting point for the arithmetic, not the offer — see what your gold is worthfor how a counter price is actually built.
A watch is not priced by weight. There is no per-gram figure for a Rolex and asking for one is the wrong question. Weight only enters once it is agreed that the watch is worth no more than its metal, and even then only the case and bracelet go on the scale. A buyer who reaches for the scale before asking what the reference is has told you what they are pricing.
FAQ
Common questions
- Should I sell a Rolex for its gold?
- Almost certainly not. It is worth more as a watch, and we will tell you so.
- What about a broken watch?
- Depends on the brand. Some are worth repairing, some are worth their metal. We will be straight with you.
- Is the movement worth anything?
- To a watch buyer, sometimes considerably. Not as metal.
- Do you buy the watch or just the gold?
- It depends on the piece. We will explain which we are offering on.
- Do you buy steel watches?
- We buy precious metal, so a steel case has nothing for us to weigh. Bring it if it is part of a lot and we will tell you what we think it is. A watch specialist or an auction is the right home.
Areas served
Where our sellers come from
Our counter
Galt Ocean Mile
Our Fort Lauderdale counter is on this stretch of North Ocean Boulevard. For the oceanfront towers here it is a walk, and estate jewelry from these buildings is a large part of what crosses the counter.
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5 min
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Minutes north on A1A. A older, settled population means estate lots rather than one-off pieces — often a full box after a house is cleared.
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6 min
Coral Ridge
Six minutes south along Federal or Bayview. Many Coral Ridge sellers are downsizing rather than liquidating, which usually means sorted, well-kept pieces.
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9 min
Oakland Park
Straight west on Oakland Park Boulevard, and the easiest approach during season when A1A backs up.
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12 min
Wilton Manors
A short run inland. We see a lot of watch and designer-piece questions from here, where the brand often matters more than the metal.
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13 min
Downtown Fort Lauderdale
The Las Olas and downtown corridor. Convenient at lunchtime, and the reason we hold weekday hours rather than weekend-only.
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We also buy
Gold Jewelry
Chains, rings and odd earrings tested for karat at the counter, weighed in front of you, priced on the live market.
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Gold Coins & Bullion
Eagles, Maples, Krugerrands and refiner bars verified while you wait, with anything worth more than melt flagged first.
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Silver
Bars, rounds, junk coin and sterling flatware tested piece by piece, so a genuine set never leaves valued as plate.
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Get a number
Find out what it is actually worth.
Bring it in, or email a few photos first. Either way you get a real figure and no pressure to take it.
Bring valid government-issued photo ID. Florida law requires it for every purchase.