How can I sell these vintage gold watches?

July 11, 2008 6:36 PM

What's the best way to sell vintage gold watches?

I have a 10k gold-filled Omega watch appraised at $900 and a 14k white gold Omega watch with 8 small diamonds appraised at $2800. Both are vintage ladies watches. I am looking for the best way to sell them that will bring in the most value and not result in me getting scammed. I have looked through previous threads, but they are either New York-specific or simply advise selling them for scrap. Since they are very small watches, I don't think selling them for scrap based on weight would bring anywhere near their value. Are there other options to sell these watches? Is eBay a good idea or a bad idea? What can I realistically hope to get for these watches? I'm in Arizona if it matters.

posted by twiggy32 to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

I went to a trusted local jeweler, who does not sell watches, to ask who they might recommend to buy my vintage Rolex. They hooked me up with a guy (an antique watch repair expert) who gave me a very fair price in cash. Sorry, this was a few years ago and I can't find his name now.

So, I suggest you get referrals from a good jeweler.
posted by artdrectr at 9:56 PM on July 11, 2008

artdrectr's advice is good, I think. If for some reason you don't want to do that, or it's not possible, maybe ask around some watch forums?
posted by box at 3:46 PM on July 12, 2008

My father in law and his brother repaired and sold antique pocket watches for several years. They used ebay quite a bit. If you know what they're worth and set an appropriate reserve you won't get scammed. I think it's going to take some research. Start with looking through ebay for what similar things have sold for. And box's idea to look at watch forums is great.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:12 PM on July 12, 2008