Gold is translated from stardust. Unlike iron or carbon used to make steel, Earth is unable to produce gold. All the gold in the world comes from collisions between neutron stars billions of years ago, which fell onto our planet during meteorite bombardments when it was still molten. In other words, this metal we wear on our wrist has a cosmic history. But between carats, the secret alloys of Rolex and Omega, white gold that yellows over time, and the question of whether a gold watch is truly an investment, there's a lot to unpack.
Why gold is yellow and not grey like other metals
The yellow color of gold is not its natural color in the ordinary sense of the term. It's a physical anomaly. Most metals like steel or silver act as perfect mirrors: they reflect all the light they receive without discrimination. As a result, they appear grey or silver.
The gold atom is different. Its nucleus is so massive that it attracts its electrons at more than half the speed of light. At this speed, we enter Einstein's domain; this is called a relativistic effect. Electrons become heavier, their orbits tighten, and this completely changes how the atom interacts with light. Instead of reflecting everything, gold absorbs blue and violet rays. Remove blue from the white light spectrum and what remains is yellow. If gold did not obey the laws of relativity, it would be grey like all other metals.
Carats: what it really means
The word carat comes from the Greek "kération" which refers to the carob seed. In antiquity, it was noticed that these seeds had an almost identical weight from one to another, about 0.20 g. They became the unit of measurement on scales for weighing gold. In Roman times, a pure gold coin called the Solidus weighed exactly 24 carob seeds. Since then, 24 carats is equivalent to 100% purity.
Pure 24-carat gold is fascinating: unalterable, conductive, so inert that it is used as a food additive under code E175. It passes through your body undigested and comes out exactly as it entered. But it's a mechanical disaster for watchmaking. It's so soft you could deform a watch case with your hands. That's why athletes bit their medals on the podium when they were still pure gold, to check the purity by leaving marks.
To make gold usable in watchmaking, an alloy must be created. The global standard for high-end watchmaking is 18-carat gold, denoted as 750 thousandths or 75%. This means that in 1000 g of alloy there must legally and obligatorily be 750 g of pure gold. If you have 749 g, it is no longer 18-carat. The remaining 250 g, or 25% of the weight, is where everything comes into play. This is the secret sauce that will determine the color, hardness, corrosion resistance, and final price of the alloy.
Yellow, rose, red gold: the recipes
For 18-carat yellow gold, the classic recipe is a perfect balance: 75% pure gold, 12.5% silver, and 12.5% copper. Copper hardens the alloy and gives it a red tint, while silver also hardens but gives a green-white tint. In equal proportions, the two tints cancel each other out and result in yellow. A hardness of approximately 150 to 160 HV is obtained. For comparison, 316L steel is around 190 HV. Even in an alloy, yellow gold remains softer than steel, and a gold watch will always scratch faster than a steel watch.
For rose gold, much less or no silver is used, and copper is increased. The classic recipe is 75% gold, 20% copper, and 5% silver. For red gold, it's 75% gold and 25% copper without silver. The more copper there is, the redder it is.
The problem with copper is that it is a living and unstable metal. It reacts with oxygen, with chlorine from the pool, with seawater, with the acidity of sweat. Your rose gold eventually loses its shine and turns a dull yellow over the years. That's why major brands have developed their own patented alloys.
Rolex created its Everose Gold alloy in 2005. As Rolex has its own foundry, they found a solution by adding a small dose of platinum to the alloy. Platinum traps the copper and prevents it from oxidizing. The watch will remain rose even after decades of use. Omega followed the same logic with its Sedna Gold: a mixture of gold, copper, and palladium. Palladium plays the same role as platinum at Rolex; it acts as a shield to ensure that the red hue will never change.
White gold: the rhodium plating trap
White gold is the most complex to formulate, and this is where there is the most confusion in the industry. To whiten yellow gold, it must be diluted with powerful white metals. Historically, nickel was used, an excellent and inexpensive whitening agent. The problem: it is the number one contact allergen in the world. Without nickel, silver or manganese are used, but these metals whiten poorly. The final alloy often comes out with a straw-yellow tint, an unflattering yellowish-grey.
The solution adopted by most brands, including very prestigious houses like Cartier, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, and Omega, is rhodium plating. The watch is immersed in an electrolytic bath to deposit a thin layer of rhodium, an extremely hard and shiny metal. The result is superb. But it's a surface coating. Over the years, friction wears away the rhodium layer, and the yellowish hue of the alloy underneath becomes visible. This is why a white gold wedding band can yellow and why some old white gold watches have yellow reflections at the angles.
There is a real solution: palladium white gold. Rolex and Patek Philippe use an alloy with 12 to 15% palladium. What you get is not mirror white like rhodium, it's more steel grey. But if you scratch the watch, the color underneath is the same and it will never yellow. This is technically far superior, but also significantly more expensive.
Solid, hollow, and plated gold: three very different realities
This distinction is fundamental and a source of much misunderstanding, particularly concerning vintage pieces. Until the late 1990s, Rolex manufactured its bracelets with hollow or folded links. If you take an 1803 Day-Date from the 1980s, the bracelet is very light and makes a slight rattling sound when shaken. Some believe it's gold plated. That's incorrect. It is indeed solid 18-carat gold, but instead of machining a solid block, a thick gold sheet was taken and folded to form the link. The inside is hollow. If you cut the link in half, it's gold all the way through. This was a choice for comfort and reduced manufacturing costs.
Since the 2000s and six-digit references, Rolex has switched to solid links machined from a solid block of gold. A vintage Day-Date weighs 120 to 130 g. A modern Day-Date is closer to 210 to 220 g, almost double. The feel on the wrist is immediately different.
In the long term, there is a phenomenon that vintage collectors dread: stretch. Gold is softer than the steel pins that hold the links together. Over the years, friction and dust acting as an abrasive paste cause the holes in the bracelet to widen. The bracelet becomes looser. It is not the gold that stretches; it is mechanical wear of the pins that hollow out the links. This is why old gold bracelets are often very worn out.
Read the hallmarks to avoid being fooled
To ensure that a seller isn't talking nonsense, you need to look at the hallmarks. With a loupe, look on coins, the back of the case, or the clasp. In Switzerland, since 1995, the official hallmark is a St. Bernard's head. Before 1995, it was the head of Helvetia. In France, it's an eagle's head. Next to it, you should find the inscription 750, often placed in a small balance scale symbol. This confirms that you indeed have 75% pure gold in the alloy.
If these markings are absent or illegible, be wary. Either the case has undergone excessive polishing that has erased the material, or it is a counterfeit. For palladium white gold, some brands add the mention Pd for palladium next to the hallmark. This is not mandatory, but if it is present, it is a guarantee that you have real palladium white gold and not just rhodium plating.
A gold watch as an investment: the concrete calculation
This is the least discussed aspect, yet with the historical growth of gold prices, it has become a serious argument. Gold in watchmaking radically distinguishes itself from all other materials on one point: even if the watch no longer works, even if the model is no longer fashionable, even if it is in poor condition, it is still worth its weight in precious metal. An irreparable steel watch is worth almost nothing. A gold watch crushed by a truck is still worth several thousand euros.
Let's take a concrete example. A modern Rolex Day-Date or 40 mm costs around 50,000 euros in store. It weighs approximately 210 g. Once everything that isn't gold is removed—the movement, sapphire, and dial—about 150 g of 18-carat alloy remains. With the price of 24-carat pure gold at approximately 125 euros per gram in March 2026, the melting value of this 18-carat alloy (75% pure gold) is 93.75 euros per gram. Pour 150 g, you get approximately 14,000 euros. The moment you leave the store with your 50,000-euro watch, approximately 28% of the value you just paid is covered by the intrinsic value of the metal. With a steel watch, this figure is close to 0.01%.
For historical reference, in 2001 a Rolex Datejust in gold sold for approximately 13,000 euros. At the time, 18-carat gold was 10 euros per gram. The metal value of the watch was only 1125 euros. Today, with the current price, that same 2001 watch has a melt value of approximately 14,000 euros, which is more than its new purchase price 25 years ago. And the watch still works, which positions it between 15,000 and 20,000 euros on the used market.
This phenomenon also has a dark side. With the current price of gold, thousands of old gold watches from the 1950s to 1980s—forgotten small brands, quartz watches of no interest to collectors—are now worth more for their melt value than on the second-hand market. Buyers acquire these pieces, remove everything that isn't gold, and melt the rest down into ingots. It's a massacre for horological heritage, but it's also proof that gold is the ultimate safe investment: it always ends up catching up with the depreciation of the object.
What to remember
Gold is technically inferior to steel on almost all mechanical criteria. It is softer, it scratches more easily, it is heavier, and gold bracelets suffer from stretch in the long term. These are facts.
But gold stands out radically on two points that no other watchmaking material can offer. First, emotional longevity: a gold watch leaves the world of consumable objects to enter that of heritage. It is passed down and has a presence on the wrist that steel cannot replicate. Second, financial security: even in the worst-case scenario, it is still worth its weight in precious metal.
For those who see watches purely as a pleasure purchase, stick with steel. For those who want an object that will last generations and retain its value no matter what, gold is probably the wisest choice despite its entry price.
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