No pressure to begin with
There is genuinely nothing to commit to up front. A WhatsApp message with a couple of photos of your vintage and antique watches 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, which is what keeps it lean and means you never have to travel.
What we buy, and why ask first
We buy vintage and antique watches, running or not. A solid gold or silver case is valued for its precious-metal content; a watch with value as a timepiece is assessed individually and we make a no-obligation offer. Vintage watches are the clearest case for asking first, because a desirable maker, model or dial can lift a watch well above its metal value.
So send a clear photo of the watch, the dial and any case-back or movement markings on WhatsApp before posting. We will tell you what we think you have and what we could offer for it.
- Vintage and antique wristwatches, working or not
- Art Deco, mid-century and dress watches
- Solid gold watch cases, 9ct, 14ct, 18ct
- Solid silver and gold-cased ladies’ and gents’ watches
- Broken and non-running vintage watches
- Gold-filled and plated watches, note: little recoverable metal value
We are straight about this. A sought-after vintage brand or a rare dial can do better with a watch specialist or at auction than it would here. When yours looks like one of those, we will tell you rather than take it as scrap. The honesty runs the other way too: a steel or gold-plated vintage watch, an old Seiko included, has no metal value at all, and the case-back markings that prove it are set out on sell watches, old and new.
Four moving parts, all visible
- You ask, we steer. WhatsApp us photos of your vintage and antique watches; you get an indicative figure and no pressure to go further.
- 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.
- You post when ready. No countdown. Use whatever padded packaging you already have.
- 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.
When your parcel reaches us it is signed for, opened on camera and photographed exactly as it arrives, before anything is weighed or tested. The contents are logged against the description you gave when you asked for the label, so what we record and what you sent are checked against each other on day one. Those arrival photographs exist for every parcel and you can ask for them at any point.
What the offer is built on
Three measured things set every offer: confirmed purity from an XRF assay, accurate weight on calibrated scales, and the live precious-metal rate on the day. You read each figure in a written, itemised breakdown before you decide anything. To see the rates that move the figure, check the gold price today and the silver price today.
A vintage watch sold as metal has its solid gold or silver case weighed and XRF-assayed, with the movement, glass and non-precious parts excluded. A watch with standalone value as a timepiece is assessed individually and offered against that. Where a maker, model or dial carries a premium beyond what we would offer, that is flagged honestly rather than absorbed.
One parcel gets one written figure, itemised piece by piece. The rates published on this site are a rough guide to what your weight comes to at the last published rates, with our margin already inside the figure. Your written offer follows an XRF assay of your specific items, and shows the confirmed purity, the payable weight and the rate used. Collectables, sovereigns, watches and signed pieces are valued individually by hand.
Postage and cover
Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery, and Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. The label we send is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: tracked end to end and signed for on delivery. Cover level is confirmed with you (WhatsApp, email or the form’s description) before the label is issued. If you believe your items are worth more, message us before posting. £2,500 is the highest cover level Royal Mail sells on Special Delivery Guaranteed, so we split the items across more than one prepaid label, each with its own tracking number and its own cover, at no charge to you. Full detail is on postage and cover, and is it safe to post gold? walks through posting valuables safely.
If you decide not to sell
There is never any obligation to accept. If the offer is not for you, simply decline, and we return everything free of charge by tracked, signed-for post, with no fee and no follow-up pressure. The full return process is on what happens if I decline the offer.
Two things worth knowing before you post. There is no countdown on the offer and no expiry date attached to it, so you can take the time you need and forward the written valuation to anyone else who has to see it. And you may accept part of a parcel and decline the rest: there is no minimum acceptance and no penalty for splitting it.
Who this helps
This page is for inherited wristwatches, for dress and art-deco pieces that stopped being worn decades ago, and for broken watches with a solid precious-metal case. Each is looked at twice: once as a watch and once as metal. GoldPaid pays metal value. Where a watch looks worth more to a collector than its case is worth as metal, we say so in writing and you are free to take it elsewhere, with no obligation to us. Asking for a photo first is how a genuinely collectable watch ends up with the right buyer, and sometimes that buyer is not us.
The payment step
Acceptance triggers payment: a direct bank transfer by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance, to the account you give us. Nothing to bank and nothing to chase.
Built to be trusted, not just believed
- 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 is genuinely 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
Is my vintage watch worth more than its gold?
Sometimes. A plain solid-gold vintage watch is usually valued for its case metal, while a desirable maker, model or original dial can lift the figure above metal value. That is exactly why we ask for a photo first, so the right pieces are recognised before anything is posted.
Do you buy broken vintage watches?
Yes. A non-running vintage watch can still be worth buying, for a solid gold or silver case, for parts, or as a collectable piece. Send a photo and we will tell you what we can offer.
What if I decline the offer?
Your 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.
Request a free prepaid Royal Mail label
Two quick steps. The label arrives by email, usually within about 30 minutes during working hours. Requesting one commits you to nothing: you get a written offer after the XRF assay, and if you decline, your items come back to you free.
Two things worth knowing before you start, rather than after. Everyone sends a photo of a UK passport or driving licence, whatever the parcel is worth — it applies to every seller, so it is never a comment on you. And the parcel is handed in at a Post Office counter rather than dropped in a postbox: the receipt they give you is the proof of postage any compensation claim depends on.
Would you rather ask a question first, or send a photo? Message us on WhatsApp. It is the fastest way to get a sense of what something is worth before you post anything.
Related pages
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- Sell a TAG Heuer or Heuer watch
- Sell a Rolex or Tudor
- Watches, coins, medals & stamps (hub)
- Sell antique gold
- Sell gold by post UK
- What we buy
- Gold price today, UK rates
- Silver price today, UK rates
- UK gold hallmark guide
- How we value gold
- Sell bullion
- Sell engagement rings
- Sell gold rings
- Charity gold buying, by UK town