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Gold Watches up to $3,000
Gold Watches $6,000 - $10,000
Gold Watches starting at $10,000
Audemars Piguet 44MM Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph 18K Rose...
$35,495
Seller
Kara's Watches
US
Rolex 116519LN Daytona 18K White Gold Ceramic Oysterflex...
$30,900
Seller
European Watch Company
US
Gold Watches: Elegant and Valuable
A gold watch is the epitome of luxury. For thousands of years, this precious metal has been a symbol of permanence and wealth. Most gold watches are elegant dress watches, though some have a sportier design.
Features
- 18-karat or 750 gold indicates it's 75% gold
- 14-karat gold or 585 gold is less common
- Many gold-electroplated vintage watches
- Watches with modern PVD coating are in the lower price range
- Some manufacturers offer their own alloys such as Everose or Sedna gold
Gold Cases: The Mixture Makes the Difference
When gold comes to mind, people most often think of yellow gold. However, many types of gold are used in the watch industry, such as white, pink, and red gold . There are also in-house alloys made by manufacturers like Omega's Sedna gold and Rolex's Everose, both red gold alloys. A unique alloy is Hublot's Magic Gold, which combines yellow gold and ceramic, making it extremely scratch resistant.
Technically, a timepiece can only be considered a gold watch if the case is made of solid gold . However, you can count watches in a lower price range as well, as their cases are made of stainless steel which is then coated in gold.
A gold watch is almost always produced from an metal alloy. Pure gold, which you find in the form of coins or bars available for purchase, is used to plate the surfaces of cases made of a different material. As it's relatively soft, some manufacturers mix it with other metals in-house in order to make it harder and more scratch resistant or to give it another hue.
A value of one karat means that the material is composed of 1/24th gold. Pure gold is thus 24 karat. Watch cases with the highest percentage of gold are 18-karat cases , a value equal to 750 gold. The 750 represents the percentage of pure gold out of 1,000. In a 750 alloy, 75% of the material is pure gold, while the rest consists of other metals. Silver and copper are mixed together with yellow gold. The amount varies, however, in order to slightly change the tone of the yellow gold.
Red and pink gold have a much larger percentage of copper than silver, which gives the gold its reddish-pinkish hue. White gold, on the other hand, has more silver than copper. Particularly valuable 18-karat white gold watches are made with an alloy containing platinum or palladium.
Cases made of 14-karat gold (585 gold) can also be found, although most manufacturers offer 18-karat gold watches today. This applies to watches in both mid and upper price ranges, such as t