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Watches at a coin shop
A coin shop is not a watch store. Some still buy watches. They look at the gold first, then decide if the watch itself is a watch. Most pocket watches are gold filled.
A coin shop is not a watch store. Some of them still buy watches.
They buy them the same way they buy jewelry. They look at the metal first. Then they decide if the watch itself is a watch.
Gold cases
A gold watch case is gold. The shop weighs it, tests it, and pays a jewelry number. 10k / 14k / 18k. Weigh and test in front of you.
The movement inside may add a little, a lot, or nothing. A worn 14k dress watch with no papers is often a gold bid plus a shrug.
Pocket watches are usually filled
Most old American pocket watches are gold filled, not solid. A 25 year (or 10 / 20 / 30 year) guarantee on the case is the filled mark. Some shops will not buy filled. Pocket watches. 1/20 12K GF.
Steel sports watches
Some steel watches are worth more as watches than as scrap. The shop has to know that market. Many coin shops do not want to be in it. That is not a slight. It is them staying in their lane. Diamonds at a coin shop is the same conversation.
If they say “I am not the right buyer for this one,” believe them. Take it to a watch person.
What helps
- Papers and the original box, if you have them
- A story that matches the object
- Leaving it alone — do not polish, service, or “fix the crystal” first
What does not help
A screenshot of an auction that sold a different year, a different condition, and a different set of papers. Worth searches lie.
Bring it. Watch them look at the case and the movement. If the bid is only gold, that is often the honest bid.
More on the coin and money library.