Sell a Rolex, with a free valuation before anything is melted

No pressure to begin with

Asking commits you to nothing. A WhatsApp message with a couple of photos of your Rolex gets you a quick indicative figure 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 happens to a Rolex here, and what does not

GoldPaid is a postal precious-metal buyer. We are not a Rolex dealer and we have no connection to Rolex SA. That distinction matters on this page, because a postal gold buyer will often price a branded watch the same way it prices a broken chain: by the weight of the case. On a Rolex that is usually the wrong answer, and it is an answer nobody can undo once a case has gone into the melt.

So the rule here is simple. We identify the reference and the case metal first. You receive a written valuation that separates what the watch is worth as a complete timepiece from what the case metal alone is worth. Nothing is melted without your written instruction, and where the intact figure is the higher one we say so, including when that means we buy nothing.

• Solid gold Rolex cases in 9ct, 14ct and 18ct, including Day-Date, Datejust and Cellini models
• Steel and two-tone Rolex watches, assessed as complete watches rather than by weight
• Vintage Rolex from the 1950s onwards, running or not
• Rolex watches with no box and no papers
• Damaged, water-affected and non-running Rolex watches
• Rolex bracelets on their own, Jubilee, Oyster and President, gold or steel
• Tudor watches, covered in their own section below

How to work out what you actually have

Asking what a Rolex is worth in the UK is really two separate questions: is it genuine, and is it solid gold. Both can usually be narrowed down at your kitchen table before anything is posted.

The reference and serial numbers

On almost every Rolex the model reference is engraved between the lugs at the 12 side, hidden under the bracelet, and the serial number is engraved between the lugs at the 6 side. On watches made from roughly 2005 onwards the serial is also laser-etched on the rehaut, the inner ring between the dial and the crystal. Those two numbers give us the model, the approximate year and the case metal, which is why we ask for them before anything else. Lifting a bracelet off a spring bar is fiddly, so if you would rather not attempt it, send what you can see and we will work from that.

Solid gold, two-tone or steel

Rolex does not gold-plate. Where a Rolex case is gold it is solid, normally 18ct, and carries a fineness mark such as 750 alongside the maker marks inside the case back or between the lugs. Two-tone models pair a steel case with a gold bezel, crown and bracelet centre links. A gold-coloured Rolex with plating worn through to a base metal underneath is a strong indication that the watch is not genuine. A steel Rolex contains no precious metal at all, which does not make it low in value; it makes it a resale item rather than a metal item.

Signs a watch may not be genuine

• A second hand that ticks once a second on a model that should sweep
• Plating wearing through on a case presented as gold
• A cyclops lens over the date that fails to magnify the date properly
• Uneven or misaligned dial text, or a serial that looks stamped rather than cleanly engraved
• A watch noticeably light in the hand for the size of its case and bracelet

We raise this without any drama. Replica watches are common and are usually inherited or bought in good faith by someone who had no reason to doubt them. If yours turns out to be a replica we tell you plainly and return it free of charge. There is no penalty and no lecture.

What honestly moves the figure

• Reference and model. A Submariner, a GMT-Master or an early Daytona sits in a different market from a plain gold dress model.
• Case metal. An 18ct case gives the watch a measurable metal value underneath it. Steel gives none, so a steel watch is valued purely on what it is worth intact.
• Originality. Original dial, hands and bezel insert usually count for more than replaced service parts, even when the replacements look tidier.
• Condition and polishing. A case with its factory edges still crisp is generally preferred to one polished thin, so a tidy-up before sale works against the figure rather than for it.
• Box, papers and service records. They help and they can lift a figure, but they are not a requirement.
• The market on the day. Both the gold rate and the second-hand watch market move, and any offer reflects the day it is made.

Four moving parts, all visible

1. You ask, we steer. WhatsApp us photos of your Rolex or Tudor watch; you get an indicative figure and no pressure to go further.
2. We send the label. A free Royal Mail Special Delivery label arrives, tracked and signed for, with a QR-code option if you cannot print.
3. You post when ready. No countdown. Use whatever padded packaging you already have.
4. We test, you decide. We weigh and XRF-assay every item, then send you the written offer, usually on the working day your parcel arrives. Accept it for a Faster Payments transfer, or decline it for a free tracked return.

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.

How the offer is worked out

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 watch sold as metal has its solid gold case weighed and XRF-assayed, with the movement, crystal, steel parts and any non-precious fittings excluded from the figure. A watch with standalone value as a timepiece is valued against that instead, and the written offer shows both numbers so you can see the gap for yourself.

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.

When you should sell somewhere else

This is the part most buyers leave out. A postal buyer working from a metal value and a resale margin will rarely beat a dedicated watch specialist or a good auction house on a mint, recent, in-demand reference with its full set. If you have a five-year-old Submariner in excellent condition with box and papers, a watch specialist or an auction is the better route, and you should expect to wait longer in exchange for a stronger number. We will tell you that on WhatsApp before you post anything, because the alternative is you finding out afterwards.

Where a postal sale genuinely suits: a solid gold dress model whose value is mostly in the metal, a broken or non-running watch, a watch without papers that dealers tend to be cautious about, an executor who needs a written valuation and one traceable transaction for the estate file, or anyone who would rather deal with this from home than sit through meetings and haggling.

Tudor watches

Tudor sits under the same ownership as Rolex, and older Tudor models frequently share Rolex cases, crowns and bracelets. That is why Tudor is handled here rather than on a thin page of its own. A vintage Tudor Oyster Prince or Submariner in a Rolex-signed case is a genuine collector piece and is assessed as a complete watch. Later quartz-era Tudors and gold-capped or gold-plated Tudor dress watches are a different proposition, and the plated ones hold very little recoverable metal. Send the reference and a case-back photo and we will tell you which of the two you have before you post it.

Identification and ownership checks

Watches are the one category where stolen goods are a real risk, so the checks here are firmer than on a gold chain. Before payment we ask for photographic ID and proof of address, and we ask you to confirm in writing that the watch is yours to sell. The serial number of every branded watch we receive is recorded. Where a watch has been inherited we ask how it came to you, and if you are acting for an estate we may ask to see the grant of probate or a letter from the executor.

If ownership cannot be established, we cannot buy the watch, and it goes back to you rather than being held. None of this is aimed at you personally. It is what keeps the category clean for the people selling honestly, which is very nearly everybody.

Posting a watch that is worth more than the cover

Every parcel travels by Royal Mail Special Delivery, with cover that may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. A Rolex can be worth well above that figure. Message us before you pack anything rather than afterwards, and we will talk the options through with you instead of assuming a standard label is the right answer for your watch.

Postage and cover

Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: tracked end to end and signed for 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. If your items may be worth more, message us first and we can split them across more than one prepaid label, each with its own tracking number, at no charge. Full detail is on postage and cover, and is it safe to post gold? walks through posting valuables safely. 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.

Declining, made simple

A quick message is all it takes to decline, and you do not need to give a reason. Your items are then returned free of charge on a tracked, signed-for service, with no fee and no pressure to reconsider. What happens if I decline the offer covers it fully.

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.

The payment step

Acceptance starts payment: we aim to send a Faster Payments bank transfer within one working hour of your acceptance, to the account you give us. Nothing to bank and nothing to chase.

Who stands behind the offer

• Owner-run, with founder Rocco Clayfield personally accountable for the service
• Every item XRF-assayed, the result shown to you in writing
• Free tracked postage both ways, so a valuation carries no obligation
• Honest about its limits, including when a specialist would suit you better
• No fabricated reviews and no invented numbers, anywhere on the site

Common questions