Rough estimates where possible; your final offer follows inspection.
No obligation. Free tracked return if you decline. We aim to pay within one working hour of acceptance.
Solid gold and silver pocket watches, hunters, half-hunters and open-face, valued for their metal, with Albert chains and fobs bought too. Ask first: send a photo of the case markings on WhatsApp before posting. GoldPaid buys watches by post across the UK, with a free prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label and a written offer before you decide anything.
Send a photo on WhatsApp for a rough estimate where possible, or arrange to post your items for assessment. We confirm our purchase offer after inspection, and you decide whether to accept. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
Free Special Delivery label, usually within 30 minutesPurity tested in-house by X-ray (XRF)
Where can I sell a gold pocket watch in the UK?GoldPaid buys gold and silver pocket watches by post anywhere in the UK. Check inside the case back first: 375, 585 or 750 means solid gold, while "RGP", "rolled gold" or "gold filled" means plated, with little metal value. Send a photo of that marking on WhatsApp, post with a free prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label, and you get a written, itemised offer with a free return if you decline.
Please send us photos on WhatsApp, and we will help you.
Send photos of your items and any hallmarks. We give a rough estimate where possible; your final offer follows inspection. You do not need to arrange postage to ask us a question.
We arrange postage with you after our conversation.
Before you post
The questions people ask before they send anything, answered here rather than at the end of the page.
Can I ask first?
Yes. WhatsApp a photo to 07944 014111, 8am to 9pm, every day, and we reply with an idea of what it is worth. Nothing is posted until you decide.
Is it safe to post?
Your parcel travels by Royal Mail Special Delivery, tracked and signed for. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post.
How is it tested?
Your parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where each item is weighed and tested with an XRF analyser, an X-ray test that reads the metal without marking it. Your written offer lists each piece with its weight, purity and figure.
What if I say no?
We return everything by Royal Mail Special Delivery at our cost. Saying no costs you nothing.
When am I paid?
Only if you accept the written offer. We aim for the money to reach your bank within 24 hours of posting. We use Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, test your items promptly on receipt, and aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance. The 24-hour target is an aim, not a guarantee: it depends on posting before the local cut-off, the applicable working-day delivery service, prompt acceptance, completed identity checks and bank processing.
How long does an offer last?
Each written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because metal prices move. If it lapses, we re-run it at that day’s rate.
Who am I dealing with?
GOLDPAID LTD, registered in England and Wales, run by founder Rocco Clayfield. Our office is at Unit 217, Bristol Business Centre, 179 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 2AG. We are postal only, so there is no counter to visit. Before we pay, we ask every seller for a photo of their passport or driving licence.
Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
No pressure to begin with
Asking commits you to nothing. A WhatsApp message with a couple of photos of your pocket watches gets you a rough estimate and a straight answer to any question. Whether you post anything is your call, made later.
GoldPaid has no high-street branches. It is postal-only and UK-wide, so you never have to travel.
What we buy, and what to photograph first
We buy pocket watches old and new. A solid gold or silver case is valued for its precious-metal content, and the gold Albert chains, T-bars and fobs that go with them are bought too. The single most useful thing you can send is a clear photo of the inside of the case back, where the hallmark usually sits, plus the dial and movement.
Gold Albert chains, double Alberts, T-bars and fobs
Broken and non-running pocket watches with solid precious-metal cases
Rolled-gold and gold-filled cases (marked "RGP", "rolled gold" or "gold filled"), note: little recoverable metal value
A case marked "RGP", "rolled gold" or "gold filled" is plated, not solid, and carries little metal value. A genuine collectable or a high-grade movement can be worth more to a specialist than the case is worth as metal. When that happens we will say so, rather than take the watch as scrap.
Solid gold, rolled gold or plated, and how to tell
Most disappointment with pocket watches traces back to one thing, a heavy, convincing yellow case that turns out to be rolled gold. Weight and colour will not tell you which you have. The marking inside the case back will.
Stamped inside the case
What it means
Metal value
375, 585, 750, or 9ct, 14ct, 18ct
Solid gold right through the case
Weighed and XRF-assayed
925, "sterling", or a lion passant
Solid sterling silver case
Weighed and XRF-assayed
"Gold filled", "GF", "rolled gold plate", "RGP"
A thin gold layer bonded to a base-metal core
Little recoverable value
"Guaranteed 10 years" or similar
A wear guarantee on the plating, not a gold standard
Little recoverable value
"Dennison", "Star", "Keystone"
A case maker, not a metal. Read the mark beside it
Depends what else is stamped
No marking at all
Often base metal, occasionally an unmarked import
Settled by XRF, not by guesswork
Dennison catches people most often. Dennison of Birmingham made cases in solid 9ct and 18ct as well as in rolled gold, so the name alone settles nothing; the fineness mark beside it does. Where a photo leaves it unclear, XRF settles it once the watch arrives.
Reading the hallmark inside the case back
British cases were assayed part by part, so look inside the back cover, inside the front bezel, and on the inner dust cover if the watch has one. The marks are not always identical on each. What you are reading:
Fineness, 375, 585, 750 or 916 on gold, 925 on sterling silver. This number drives the figure.
Assay office, a leopard head for London, an anchor for Birmingham, three wheatsheaves for Chester, a castle for Edinburgh. Chester marks are common on English watch cases.
The crown, the traditional British gold mark: struck on 18ct and 22ct cases throughout, on 9ct cases only from 1975, and optional on all gold since 1999.
Date letter, one letter in a shaped shield, dating the case to a year.
Case maker initials, such as ALD for Aaron Lufkin Dennison. Not a metal mark on their own.
Swiss, French and American cases, marked 0.585, 0.750, 14K or 18K rather than with a British hallmark. Fineness is confirmed by assay instead of by the punch.
When a watch is worth more whole than as metal
A plain 9ct open-face watch with an ordinary jewelled lever movement is usually worth its gold, and that metal figure is normally the strongest one available for it. Some watches are not like that. An English fusee movement, a chronometer, repeater or chronograph, a high-grade Swiss name such as Patek Philippe or IWC, or an American railroad-grade movement can be worth distinctly more complete than melted.
Where the movement outruns the case we say so and point you to a specialist or auction, even though it means we do not buy it. So send a photo of the movement as well as the case, and never break a watch up before posting. A complete watch keeps every option open, a stripped case has only one.
Gold wristwatches, the same reading applies
A solid gold wristwatch case is marked 375, 585 or 750 inside the back and is valued on weight and assay in exactly the same way, while "rolled gold" and "gold filled" wristwatch cases hold little recoverable metal. Wristwatch cases are lighter than pocket watch cases, so the fineness matters proportionally more. For modern and branded pieces, and for the case-back markings that separate a steel or gold-plated watch from a solid gold one, see sell watches. For older ones see sell vintage watches, and for Omega pocket and wristwatches specifically, sell an Omega watch.
The process, step by step
Get in touch and show us. A WhatsApp photo of your pocket watches is all we need to give you a rough estimate before anything is posted.
Get your free label. We send a prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label, fully tracked. If you have no printer, a QR code for the counter does the same job.
Send it at your own pace. Wrap it in any padded envelope and hand it in at a Post Office whenever it suits you.
See the written offer. Everything is weighed, metal is XRF-assayed and any stones are assessed separately, usually on the working day your parcel arrives. You then get an itemised breakdown showing exactly how the figure was reached.
Decide. Say yes and the money is sent by Faster Payments. Say no and your items come straight back, free and tracked.
Your parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where each item is weighed and XRF-tested before the written offer is prepared.
Where the figure comes from
GoldPaid buys watches as timepieces, not only for their metal, so the maker, model and condition count as well as any gold or silver in the case. Any precious-metal case is weighed and XRF-tested, and the written offer shows the figure for each watch before you decide anything.
A pocket watch sold as metal has its solid gold or silver case weighed and XRF-assayed, with the movement, glass, dial and any non-precious parts excluded from the figure. Rolled-gold and plated cases hold only a thin precious layer and little recoverable value. Where a watch carries value as a timepiece beyond its metal, that is flagged rather than absorbed.
Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
One parcel gets one written figure, itemised piece by piece. Any gold or silver jewellery in it is priced on the weight and purity we measure and the live precious-metal market, with our margin already inside the figure.
Cover in transit
The prepaid label is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: full tracking and a signature on delivery. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post. For higher-value items, please message us first so the parcel can be split across more than one prepaid label before it travels. Postage and cover explains it fully. If a parcel is lost on its way to us, the compensation claim goes to Royal Mail from you, the sender, using your Post Office receipt, and we give you our tracking records and help you make it. Lost parcels, step by step.
What to include when you post a pocket watch
The whole watch, movement, dial, hands, glass and both covers. Do not remove the movement.
The chain and fobs, Albert chains, double Alberts, T-bars, seals and medallions.
The winding key, if it is a key-wind watch. Small, and easily left behind.
A note with your name, address and phone number, plus a list of the contents, so the itemised offer stays matched to your items.
Sensible packing, the watch wrapped in soft cloth inside a small rigid box, padded inside the outer parcel. No need to wind or set it.
Photograph everything before you seal the parcel. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used, so tell us beforehand if you think the watch is worth more than that.
No obligation, ever
You are free to walk away at any point before you accept. Decline the offer and everything is repacked and returned to you free of charge, fully tracked and signed for. There is no assessment fee and no sales pressure afterwards. The detail is on what happens if I decline the offer.
The written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because metal prices move. If it lapses before you decide, we re-run it against the live precious-metal market on the day, at no charge. You can also accept part of a parcel and decline the rest, with no minimum and no penalty for splitting it.
Who this helps
This suits people with an inherited solid gold or silver pocket watch, a drawer of Albert chains and fobs, or a broken pocket watch with a precious-metal case that is not worth repairing. The photo-first check is there to point genuinely collectable pieces to the right buyer, even when that is not us.
Payment, once you accept
When you say yes to the written offer, GoldPaid aims to pay by Faster Payments bank transfer within one working hour of your acceptance, to your nominated account. You give those details only at the point you accept, never as a condition of getting an offer.
Why sell by post with GoldPaid
Three differences from a counter sale. You see a measured valuation in writing, not a verbal estimate. You decide at home, with nobody waiting. And if you decline, the return is free, tracked and signed for, so obtaining the valuation costs you nothing.
What decides your offer
Every parcel is opened at our Bristol office and each piece is handled on its own. Nothing is averaged across the parcel.
Weight. Each item is weighed on scales. Stones, steel springs, non-gold clasps and cores are not paid as gold. The written breakdown explains the payable metal weight for each item, rather than treating everything on the scales as precious metal.
Purity. Each item is tested with an XRF analyser, which reads the metals at the points tested without marking the item. A surface reading alone cannot establish the composition of a plated or filled piece. Hallmarks, construction and different components all need to be considered alongside the test.
The market on the day. Gold and silver are priced against the live precious-metal market at the time your parcel is assessed, not at the time you posted.
Condition and intact value. Broken is fine and does not reduce a metal offer. Where a piece is worth more intact (a named maker, a collectable coin, a locket with provenance) we tell you before testing, so you can choose.
Anything that is not gold or silver. Plated, rolled-gold and base-metal items are listed on the offer at nothing and returned to you free. We never quietly keep them.
Why we do not publish a per-gram price list. A single printed rate hides the things that change the figure: hollow versus solid, stones, mixed carats in one bag, a mark that does not match the metal. We would rather show you the weight, the tested purity and the figure for each item, in writing, and let you decide. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
What you see before you decide. A written, itemised offer by WhatsApp or email: every item, its weight, its tested purity, and its figure. Accept and we aim to pay by bank transfer within one working hour. Decline and the whole parcel comes back by Royal Mail Special Delivery at our cost. No fee, no deduction, no questions.
How do I tell if my pocket watch is solid gold or rolled gold?
Look inside the case back for a hallmark. Solid gold carries a fineness mark such as 375, 585 or 750. A case stamped "RGP", "rolled gold" or with a Dennison patent mark is plated and holds little metal value. Send a photo of the inside of the case back on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly which you have.
Do you buy non-running pocket watches?
Yes. A non-running pocket watch can still be worth buying for a solid gold or silver case, for parts, or as a collectable piece. Send a photo of the case markings and the movement and we will tell you what we can offer.
Do you buy the Albert chain as well as the watch?
Yes. Gold Albert chains, double Alberts, T-bars and fobs are bought and valued for their metal content alongside the watch. Include them in your photo.
How do I read the hallmark inside a pocket watch case?
Open the back cover and look at the inside surface. You want a fineness number, 375, 585 or 750 for gold and 925 for sterling silver, usually beside an assay office mark, a leopard head for London, an anchor for Birmingham, three wheatsheaves for Chester. British 18ct and 22ct gold cases carry a crown, and all gold cases do from 1975 until the mark became optional in 1999. A maker punch such as ALD for Dennison is not a metal mark on its own. Send a close photo of the inside of the case back and we will read it for you.
Is my pocket watch worth more than its gold?
Sometimes. A plain 9ct open-face watch with an ordinary movement is usually worth its metal. An English fusee movement, a chronometer, repeater or chronograph, a high-grade Swiss name or an American railroad-grade movement can be worth more complete than melted. Where that is the case we tell you and point you to a specialist rather than buying it as scrap, so send a photo of the movement as well as the case.
Do you buy gold wristwatches as well as pocket watches?
Yes. Solid gold wristwatch cases marked 375, 585 or 750 are weighed and XRF-assayed in the same way, while rolled-gold and gold-filled wristwatch cases hold little recoverable metal. For modern and branded pieces see sell watches, and for older ones see sell vintage watches. Either way, a photo of the case-back markings first is the quickest route to an honest steer.
What if I decline the offer?
Your pocket watch is returned to you free of charge by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail Special Delivery. There is no fee for declining and no follow-up pressure.
Not the question you had? The full GoldPaid FAQ covers the rest, from postal cover and ID checks to what happens if you decline the offer.
Speak to us before you post
Please send us photos on WhatsApp, and we will help you. We give a rough estimate where possible and arrange postage with you after our conversation. Your final offer follows inspection.
Send a photo of the case markings and the movement on WhatsApp and we will give you an honest steer and an indication of what we can offer. No obligation, free tracked return if you decline.
