I just thought I would put this up for a discussion topic, as I was talking to Lindell the other day and he said would be interesting to raise the awareness of a the value of these cases now have.
I would like to say firstly I have no intention of melting this case just using it for a example.

The picture below is a lighter Keystone 14K case, no crystal and a broken front lift spring as you see weighs in at 24 Dwt if we say just for example 22 dwt with two light springs, crown stem sleeve removed. That means according to one online sight this case as is, stands at approximately $511 ($23.23 per Dwt). They advertise they pick up form your house in 2 hours and cash next day!.
The case need a spring & crystal maybe a nicer crown, if I sent it away for repair with postage we would expect to see about $85-$100 additional cost do you think I can break even at $611 for a empty case alone?
Your thoughts?

Hey Chris good subject it is sad that many of these cases even today are being scrapped. I have several buyers that I know do this and they are constantly buying from me. Once these are gone they are gone so it is a sad situation. I have a 18K Meylan the buyer backed out of and it sold for a little over $900 and just for fun I removed the stem crown and movement and the empty case weighed in at 44 grams which at todays price is $880. The price of gold seems to be on a rise and it makes me question whether I should wait to sell some of these gold watches I bought today. Sadly I am thinking price of gold going up the scrap buyers will pay more instead of collectors who enjoy watches buying them. I think this is a good subject and is another sore subject with a lot of us like the parting out of watches.

Hi Chris, no you will not come out, better to scrap it at these levels and then take the money and buy a nice watch that you like. Geno

Scrapping that case would cause me to cry - gorgeous watch Lindell One that was obviously put away and not carried.

NO I wouldn't scrap it either, that is way too nice and mint, but if it had broken hinges and excessive wear I would. I have scrapped thousands of cases over 35 years and will continue to do so, when the value of the gold exceeds what I could sell it for. Geno

I remember someone on this board telling me about the 1930's when watchmakers would service your nasty old hunter case watch and give you a nice shiny new open face case for just a small fee. Plus the old case. Occures to me nothing has changed and just like anything else if the metal is worth more than the item then it will be scrapped. A lot of steam locomotives that would be worth a fortune today if they still existed were cut up for scrap in days gone by. Ditto many fine pieces of antique jewellery and silver plate. What is so special about watches that they should be exempted from this commercial world we live in.
As with most things it is only the enthuiast who looks at these things with different eyes and manages to save a few for future generations to enjoy. Then when he is long gone someone will have a very valuable item on their hands simply because there are not many left.
That's another way to look at it I suppose. Every watch that is scrapped makes those that remain just a bit more desirable. Just goes to prove that some good can come from every action if you look hard enough.

While looking for information to answer another post I came accross a solid gold Australian coin. Face value is $10,000 and it weighs 1 Kilogram. It was minted in 1991 from gold bullion but I am not sure the gold content. High I suspect. Suppose you had one. A Kilo is 2.2 lb. That's about 35 oz but your measures may be a bit different. Let's say 30 oz to make life easy. If it is 100% gold that's $25,500. Do you keep the coin or melt it down ? If you were a coin collector would this test your resolve......

I can't even think of anyone melting down these pieces of art, and to think that many of them are over a hundred years old, gives me the shakes.

I sometimes value a case as much as the watch that's in it, and when I read in an auction that if someone doesn't win it, that it goes to the scrap pile, I get mad and wouldn't bid if they paid me. Yes, that may guarantee the melting, but I also try to remember them, and not support them anymore after that.

I'm not too fussy about much, but this is one topic I feel very committed about.

Now, before anyone gets mad, if it's your decision to melt, fine, it's your choice, but I have mine too, and that's what I'm sharing here.

We all have to do what we think is the right thing for ourselves.

There would be several scenarios here. First can I afford to pay for and keep a $25000 coin and do I like it. If the answer is yes I do not melt it. If it is bought for profit and I paid $10,000 or $25000 and the numismatic value does not exceed the gold value, I would melt it. There is no right or wromg answer, as you may be a dealer or a collector. I bought my first pocket watch in 1967 and was a collector who morphed over time into a dealer. I still like pocket watches and still buy them, but do not collect any more. There is nothing wrong with being a collector or dealer, and as I have worn both hats your perspective does change. When I was still a collector I still scrapped watches in order to be able to afford better ones, kind of like Darwin's Theory. As a dealer, still doing the same thing, except not holding on to any of them. Regards Geno

Good point Stephan but what I do not understand is why the price of the item does not go up if the value of the gold content is there. I just sold several gold watches and all went below scrap value except for one fancy gold hunting case with a fancy dial. Sad as I know many are going to the melting pot. But as Geno mentioned if he can get more by scrapping the case than he paid for the watch and still have the movement for a gold filled case or for parts then it is hard to argue there point.

Robert, as you know I was underbidder on some of your gold watches. First let me explain why some woulkd go below actual gold value. If you have a 14k case that weighs 20 dwt. or 1 ounce at $800 gold there would be $466.40 in gold. I can't get that if I scrap it. The most I could get is $432 and that would be no profit to me, so I would bid around $400-$410 to make profit, plus the movement. Now with golds volatility, you could lose that profit in a couple of days, that's why you won't get full gold value on anything of a common scrap nature. Again I am not defending scrapping, nor am I condemning it, just trying to show the rationale from a dealers perspective. There are of course many gold watches that have value far above what the actual gold content is and it would be foolish to scrap them, the trick is knowing when and when not to. Regards Geno

I would also like to add, that I believe that many more CAN'T afford the cases, than those that CAN.

I can only bid on gold cases when they are attached to my size 0s Pansy's, and am still limited to what I can pay. I only wish I could bid on the ones I would love to own. (18s)

At the current rate, I see me having no chance of ever being able to own a gorgeous 18s, perfectly engraved pocket watch case, but they sure make me drool.

I hope they won't all be gone when I can afford one.