Gold-filled & 25-year cases
Estimate gold content first. Refiner payout is a separate step. Nothing here changes saved catalog estimates or bids.
Check collector value before scrapping. A complete watch or original case can be worth more than its metal. A “25-year” warranty is not a measured gold percentage.
1. Case and method
Use eligible case metal only. Exclude movement, dial, crystal, loose springs, steel and other non-GF parts. Separate solid-gold crowns/bows should be weighed and valued separately, not counted twice.
2. Assumed recovered-gold yield
3.5% is an editable planning assumption, not a verified average for 25-year cases. Broader sorted-case reports span 1.5%-5%. A worn or misidentified case can fall outside that range.
Already a fine-gold yield: do not multiply it by layer karat or a GF fraction again.
2. Marked or assumed layer
Nominal fine gold = case grams × alloy fraction × karat / 24. A fraction describes the karat-alloy layer, not pure gold. Wear and polishing lower actual gold. No automatic wear deduction.
2. Plated / GEP evidence
Use a representative whole-material assay, not a surface XRF reading of the outer layer. Content is not recovery; refiner terms still matter.
Gross plated weight or a GEP stamp alone cannot determine gold content. Thickness mode requires actual remaining coating measurements, not a legal minimum or guessed thickness. Fine-gold-equivalent µm already includes alloy purity. Do not enter alloy-layer thickness directly.
3. Price and settlement
Checking fresh Elemetal displayed gold bid...
No Elemetal GF-specific payable rate is verified. Do not reuse the solid-gold payout %. Payable is the share paid on the estimated recovered/content gold; include applicable refining, assay, minimum-lot, shipping or payment fees. Assay/coating mode is content only unless recovery is included in your settlement assumptions.
Estimate
Research, assumptions and formulas
Sources checked November 15, 2026. Self-reported historical yields are examples, not an assay of your cases. The 1.5%-5% comparison is not a guaranteed low/high bound.
- Sorted case reports: 1.5%-5%
- Mixed watch cases: 5,500g to claimed 173.10g, final purity not established; solid-karat fittings in discussion.
- NAWCC: variable returns from sorted 25-year cases
- FTC marking guidance
- Elemetal accepts gold-filled watch parts, no published GF-specific payable factor verified.
Empirical gold = eligible g × yield / 100. Fraction nominal gold = eligible g × fraction × karat / 24. Optional combined remaining/recovered factor is applied once. Plated geometry gold = cm² × fine-gold-equivalent µm × 0.0001 × 19.32 g/cm³. Cash estimate = gold g / 31.1034768 × bid × payable / 100 − fees, floored at $0; any fee shortfall is shown. These calculations are not a locked quote, authentication or advice to refine at home.