5 rare and expensive wristwatches from the USSR, which now cost from 50,000 rubles

“Rocket” of the Petrodvorets Watch Factory

I consider the Raketa watch to be a true work of art. Their gold models now cost about 150,000 rubles.

“Polar” is a rare series. They were manufactured in 1970 specifically for polar explorers, taking into account the specifics of their work. For example, their body is resistant to strong temperature changes.

In addition, the dial is equipped with 24 hours instead of 12. That is, the needle makes a full revolution per day. This helped researchers accurately determine day and night.

Polar watches rarely found their way onto the wrists of ordinary Soviet workers. They were produced in very small batches.

Types of gilding in watchmaking and their features

Gilding of watches can be complete or partial. Both options have certain implementation features.

Full

Swiss watches with gold plated
In this case, all parts of the watch case are covered with gold – the bracelet, the dial, all the clasps. Spraying is applied in a layer of 3-20 microns.

Partial

Watches with partial gilding
In partial gilding, plating is applied only to the most significant part of the watch case. Usually - only on the outside of the bracelet. In this case, the inner side remains a different color.

Partial gilding is carried out due to the fact that the parts are subject to rapid abrasion. Approximately 1 micron of gold is erased per year, which causes the appearance of the product to deteriorate. Therefore, only visible parts are covered.

"Flight" USSR 3133

The watch “Poljot” USSR 3133 is a dream of mine for several years. Today their cost is 55,000 rubles.

My father told me about the history of their creation. The watches have been produced since 1940. They were created by the First Moscow Watch Factory. In those days, every respected officer wore them.

It is interesting to note that the model received its current name only after a significant event for the whole world: Gagarin’s flight into outer space. Personally, I am attracted by their original design with precious stones.

Extraction of precious metals from watches

The most common technology for removing gilding from a watch case is based on the use of aqua regia - a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids with subsequent separation of gold.

The technology scheme is as follows:

1. The gold-plated case is immersed in aqua regia.
2. After the gold plating has left the body, nitric acid is removed from the mixture by careful evaporation.
3. A solution of ferrous sulfide is added to the resulting mixture residue (it should be red), as a result of which gold precipitates in the form of flakes.
4. The resulting suspension is filtered and the precipitated gold can be melted down.

This technology has many variations , the essence of which boils down to:

• acid ratios in aqua regia;
• iron sulfide concentrations;
• subtleties of heating and evaporation;
• washing and processing of flakes of precipitated gold.

The master brings the basic technological scheme in line with the capabilities of the workshop.

In this video you can see the whole process in one of the technological versions:

Gold watch “Luch” ChN-4M from Minsk plant

Today this model is a real find for any collector. Its cost exceeds 70,000 rubles. For me personally, it is a favorite due to its stylish design.

The first batch was released in 1956 and immediately sold out. It is interesting to note that in 1980 some of the products were exported to 13 countries, including the UK, Panama, Syria, and Germany.

The “Luch” model owns the most expensive lots at auctions. Collectors are willing to pay twice as much for them as their true value just to have them in their collection.

And I understand them perfectly. In a few decades, this watch will be worth incredible money!

Requirements

Minimum specifications are required for home recyclables cleaning jobs .

The easiest way to fulfill these conditions for organizing home cleaning of precious metals is in an individual household, where the necessary workshop can be equipped.

You can set up a mini-laboratory in a garage, shed or any other utility room.

Some work can be performed even in a city apartment.

Here are some basic conditions for refining precious metals from recycled materials:

1. Possibility of storing raw materials and reagents.
2. A room for work with an equipped water supply system, an isolated sewer system with wastewater accumulation and exhaust ventilation.
3. A muffle furnace or a powerful burner that allows you to work with melts and cast ingots.

Most refining techniques at home require adaptation of the technology to existing conditions. The experience of such domestic work shaped the typical types of operations.

"Zarya" 2006 with disc display

I got this watch from my grandmother, who, in turn, received it as a gift from a high-ranking suitor. Their history begins in 1935. It was then that the country's leadership decided to produce women's wristwatches.

To be honest, for many years I did not even suspect the cost of this accessory. The fact that I am the owner of a watch worth 150,000 rubles only became clear a few years ago.

Their circulation is as follows:

• 1000 units were produced in 1975;
• in 1976 - 500 pcs.

In total, only 1,500 products for more than 200 million of the population of the USSR. You can’t find these on Avito now, but I found another Zarya gold watch for 50,000.

How much gold is in a wristwatch case?

In this article, we asked the master to answer the question: “How much gold is in a wristwatch case?”, and also give useful recommendations for our readers. Read on to find out what came of it.

40mm gold plated watch Au20. Really in ounces (or whatever they think it is), and how much it costs for scrap. Because sellers always have a reason to raise prices for used gold-plated watches, I want to know the real picture. Thank you.

40mm gold plated watch Au20. Really in ounces (or whatever they think they are), and how much does it cost for scrap?

Here, at the Forum, there are other life values. To the steelworkers. )

Here, at the Forum, there are other life values. To the steelworkers. )

The fact of the matter is that I don’t aspire to become a steelmaker :). It’s just that when sellers motivate the price by the cost of gold applied to the case (and not by other life values ​​:)), you want to talk to such people in their language. So I didn’t find out, how could I? :(.

when sellers justify the price by the cost of gold applied to the case

. drive these sellers away, actively.

. drive these sellers away, actively.

Have to. only sometimes they have cool watches :(. Thanks everyone.

I heard (that is, from the rumor area) that from 3 male-size Au20 cases the yield is approximately 1 gram of pure Au.

That's right (I also asked), 3-4 Au20 cases - 1 gram. Accordingly, 1 building

1600 rub. by scrap). I am writing only to make it clear that if the difference between identical watches in steel and in gold is an amount different from the above, then when buying them you can be guided by any considerations (everyone has their own), but not the cost of the case itself, as often with us Sellers like to explain this. I wrote this for those who, like me, have recently become interested in the topic; I think the rest already know everything.

Some brands of watches produced during the Soviet era were plated with high-grade gold and marked with the “AU” mark. This marking can be found on the end of the case or in the place where the bracelet is attached. Today, very few of these watches remain in perfect working condition; they are rarely used for their intended purpose and are more often of collector's interest.

The thin gold plating wears out over time, becomes scratched, and the watch loses its shine and presentable appearance. At the same time, the mechanism of older models increasingly breaks down, and repairs are quite expensive. Therefore, many owners decide to sell their gold watch at a profit and use the proceeds to purchase a more modern and stylish model.

If you have a watch with a yellow shiny case, then check for the AU marking. If there is one, you can make good money by contacting us. Buying gold in Yekaterinburg at an expensive price and with guarantees is one of the key specializations of our company. We accept scrap jewelry in unlimited quantities and will be happy to buy watch cases from you at the highest prices on the market. We buy these products for subsequent processing and extraction of gold for technical and jewelry purposes.

Many people mistakenly believe that they can sell expensive gold watches in pawn shops. However, only gold bracelets are bought here, and prices are set by each pawnshop according to internal policy, which is clearly disadvantageous to the owner of an expensive item. Our company offers fair prices, which are formed taking into account quotes from the London Precious Metals Exchange.

If you are interested in how to donate gold (Ekaterinburg), price per gram and other organizational issues, just contact us and we will offer the most favorable terms of cooperation. We try to keep the price bar high, so our price is always higher than that of our competitors.

Not all that glitters is gold, so you should immediately decide on the value of the watch. Let’s immediately put aside the models that were produced after the 90s and in China - there is no gold here. It is also worth distinguishing gold watches from gilded ones:

1. The gold plated ones have the Au sign and no hallmark. A layer of gold plating on them in microns. You should look for the mark behind the ear or near the winding wheel. The numbers next to Au indicate the deposition thickness. For example, Au 20 has the maximum content of precious metals from the gold-plated series. Soviet models have a passport, in which you can find information about the proportion of gold in the case, bracelet, and even in the mechanism. Therefore, gold-plated watches are accepted both with and without a mechanism.
2. A gold watch must have a gold standard, usually 585. They are accepted without a mechanism: only the watch case, without glass or other elements.

The most valuable are the Soviet stamps Zarya, Raketa, Mechta, Vympel, Slava, Luch. Some models were produced for export with the brand indicated in English.

If you have jewelry and watches and want to sell them, then you can find the prices for the corresponding gold standard in the Catalog.

Watch cases are taken by weight, and the cost is calculated in rubles for each gram of goods. Therefore, the greater the weight, the higher the reward amount. We do not recommend contacting buyers at markets and dubious collection points without experience and reputation - this could leave you without goods and money. We purchase scrap gold in Yekaterinburg in an expensive and safe manner, with the obligatory issuance of a receipt.

Purchasing radio components, scrap jewelry, and watch cases from our company is as fast as possible. You bring your product, our specialists evaluate it, weigh it and offer a decent reward. The entire amount is paid immediately and in full, in any convenient way - cash or to a card/account. In this case, you will be provided with financial reporting documentation.

Since we are interested in increasing the volume of supplies of radio scrap, wholesale suppliers receive the most favorable prices from us. We look forward to long and fruitful cooperation with individuals and legal entities.

Gold at home is real

If you don’t believe in mining gold at home, then I hasten to disappoint the skeptics - it’s real, and I’ll tell you how to do it. The easiest way to get gold at home is with a gold-plated watch. In the past, gold-plated watches were quite common. And now many people have them lying around in old trash. So, my business idea is the technology of obtaining gold from gilded watches and organizing their collection from the population.

During the USSR, watches with yellow cases were produced in huge quantities, but few people know that gold was responsible for the yellow color; the case of these watches, of course, is not completely gold, it has a thin layer of gold plated on it. The mechanism of these watches was not durable, they are far from the famous Swiss watches  But our thrifty population is accustomed to not throwing away anything, these broken watches lie in large numbers as unnecessary burden in our apartments. This means that we potentially have a lot of unnecessary gold-plated watches, which, in essence, are not needed by the owners and they do not know that they contain gold, and even if they do know, then what’s the point, you won’t get much gold from a few watches.

How to collect gold-plated watches

Now let's move on to the practical side. First, we need to organize the collection of old unnecessary wristwatches with yellow cases, they are the ones that contain gold.

The first option is to advertise on a local forum, setting a certain fee for such a watch; I think there will be people interested.

The second way in the markets is to negotiate with sellers so that they place a sign at their trading place about the purchase of such watches.

You can not only buy back the watch, but also exchange it for a new one that works. Some people will find it more convenient to get a new, working watch instead of money for an old broken gold-plated watch.

Now let's talk about how to determine that a watch contains gold. There are different ways to distinguish gold from other metals. But it is not always possible to apply these methods at a retail outlet, so we look at the watch case. Gold-plated watches are usually marked “AU 10” or “AU 20”, where AU is the gold itself, and the numbers are the thickness of the coating in microns. Also pay attention to the country of production, everything made in China does not contain gold, they saved on the precious metal. In rare cases, nothing is written; in such cases, the methods described in the article on how to test gold at home are suitable for determining.

How much gold can you mine at home from one gold-plated watch? Not so little. Two men's watches with 20 micron gold plating will yield 1 gram of 850 gold, which can then be sold to a jeweler. Women's watches are smaller and don't yield as much gold, but they are still profitable to deal with.

Gold extraction technology at home

4. heat-resistant glass saucepan;

5. filter fabric (you can use ordinary cotton fabric thicker than gauze);

6. sprinkler (from a plastic bottle);

10. laboratory scales (preferably).

There is nothing expensive or complicated. Simple equipment and the technology itself were taught to us in chemistry lessons at school. It is better to process watch cases in bulk, 200-300 pieces at a time. This amount requires three to four liters of nitric acid. As I already said, the gold comes out to a fairly high standard of 850!

Advantages and disadvantages of this small business

— this income requires little time, it can be easily combined with your main job; — high profitability, with low costs a good profit is obtained; — the technology for extracting gold from watches is very simple and accessible; - Selling gold is not a problem either.

Among the shortcomings, I found only one - you have to be careful with acid, but if you follow safety precautions, there will be no problems.

This is my idea of ​​making money from gold at home. If you know other ways to mine gold at home, write, everyone will be interested.

Prices for gold and other precious metals on the world market.

Perhaps you have your own opinions on the topic “How much gold is in a wristwatch case”? Write about it in the comments.

"Slava" electric 1st issue

This is a very rare model! At auction their price reaches 100,000 rubles. A collector friend of mine sold his car to purchase this example.

Having assessed them in person, I can conclude that they are an exact copy of similar Hamilton electric watches.

The watch was produced in the early 60s. I note that this is a very durable model. She's still working. A true legend of the USSR!

I shared with you the most luxurious, in my opinion, and rare models. Many people do not even suspect that they have very expensive antiques at home.

Do you have something similar in your collection? Or maybe you have come across rarer watches from the times of the USSR?

Service life

Gold plated items can last quite a long time if used correctly. The gilding does not peel off, but gradually wears off on clothes, skin, and bed linen. Therefore, over time, the appearance of the product will simply deteriorate. The more often you wear such jewelry, the faster it will fade.

On average, 1 micron of gold is abraded per year. But this is only subject to the following recommendations:

• It is better to wear gold-plated items only when it is necessary to use them - for a meeting, an important event. And at home it is better to remove it and store it in a box.
• When visiting the gym, it is better to take off your jewelry. After all, gold plating can come into contact with sweat.
• Remove the product before performing dirty work. After all, dust and dirt are the main enemies of gold-plated jewelry.
• Do not sleep in gold-plated jewelry. Otherwise, their service life will be reduced by half - the gold will wear off on the bed linen.
• It is not recommended to clean or polish gold-plated jewelry yourself. This may result in damage to the coating. If cleaning is still necessary, non-aggressive agents should be used. For example, you can treat the product with wine or apple cider vinegar, and after 5 minutes, rinse thoroughly under running water. To restore shine, the watch can be rubbed with egg white, then wiped thoroughly with a flannel cloth.

On average, the service life of gold-plated jewelry with prolonged wear is 1-2 years. If you care for it properly, this period can increase to 3 years. Even if the gilding layer is damaged, it can be restored.

Processing of connectors, transistors and microcircuits

From various connectors it is possible to obtain silver and gold .

Here is a simple and safe technological scheme for obtaining silver:

1. Silver-plated parts are poured with dilute nitric acid, resulting in a mixture containing silver nitrate .
2. Adding ordinary table salt will cause the transition of silver nitrate into the chloride of this metal and precipitate .
3. Zinc powder is added to the resulting suspension , which will ensure the release of pure silver. This operation must be completed by adding hydrochloric acid, which will eliminate the remaining zinc.
4. The processed suspension must be filtered and the silver obtained on filter paper must be melted .
5. To melt silver, it is necessary to use flux - borax, which will prevent oxidation of the precious metal. The casting is cleaned of borax by washing and mechanical means.

Improvement of this scheme consists in clarifying the concentrations of reagents and temperature conditions, as well as in the operations of intermediate filtration and suspension purification.

To obtain gold from connectors, transistors and microcircuits, you can use a very simple technology. The meaning of this technology is to dissolve non-ferrous metals, as a result of which the gilding, which is not affected by the reaction, is removed from the solution by filtration :

1. Gold-plated connector parts are loaded into a mixture of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide solution in a 1:2 ratio.
2. With daily stirring of the solution, the parts are left in it for 7 days .
3. Darkening of the solution and gold settling at the bottom in the form of remnants of a gilding film means the completion of the process.
4. The filtered and washed sediment is melted using flux - sodium tetracarbonate.

This technology can be applied to any radio components that contain gold. This technology requires the removal of plastic and metal casings and uncoated parts.

The whole process can be seen in more detail in the video:

The effectiveness of home cleaning from impurities

The effectiveness of refining at home will be lower than laboratory or industrial work of this type.

However, this activity is profitable , since raw materials unsuitable for industrial processing are cheaper than waste processed industrially.

The table contains some data on obtaining pure metal from recycled materials.