Identifying if Gold Filled or Gold Plated

baobaocat · Jun 10, 2022

Hi vintage Omega community, I have a hard time discerning the difference between watches that are gold filled or gold plated, would appreciate some of your thoughts and expertise. I included two of my Seamaster Cosmic and a De Ville. Thanks in advance!

JimInOz · Jun 10, 2022

One simple indicator is that if the caseback is stainless steel, the case is plated/capped.

However! With the Cosmic, as it's a uni shell case this isn't the case 😉.
The whole case is gold plated and will be stated as such inside the case.
You can also see where the plating has worn off on one of your Cosmics.

Apply this rule to the De Ville and we can assume that the watch is solid gold. Adding to that is the fact that it's a presentation watch and these were usually all gold during that era before companies got to be tightwads.

Definite confirmation will be hallmarks on the case parts, or markings between the lugs of the De Ville. The Markings inside the caseback of the De Ville will also tell you what you have.

baobaocat · Jun 10, 2022

Thanks so much for the detailed response, it's extremely helpful!

gerdson · Jun 10, 2022

I always thought Omega are either solid, or capped/filled, but never plated. But I need to admit I have mostly been looking at Constellations.

SkunkPrince · Jun 10, 2022

G gerdson
I always thought Omega are either solid, or capped/filled, but never plated. But I need to admit I have mostly been looking at Constellations.

Geneve, as an example, can be plated.

Engee · Jun 11, 2022

I think the op is asking how to distinguish between gp and gf. Gold-filled has a thicker/heavier gold content (more microns) than gold plate. Typically the standard is that the gold-filled coating represents 5% of the weight of the item.

Gold-plate flakes and wears relatively quickly whereas gold-filled maintains its integrity for decades. You do see gold-filled watches lose their gold - usually on the lugs.

I don’t know if there’s a way of telling if a watch is gold filled or plated just by looking at it if the coverage is complete. Sometimes the item will be marked as gold-filled.

ConElPueblo · Jun 11, 2022

JimInOz
One simple indicator is that if the caseback is stainless steel, the case is plated/capped.

However! With the Cosmic, as it's a uni shell case this isn't the case 😉.
The whole case is gold plated and will be stated as such inside the case.
You can also see where the plating has worn off on one of your Cosmics.

Apply this rule to the De Ville and we can assume that the watch is solid gold. Adding to that is the fact that it's a presentation watch and these were usually all gold during that era before companies got to be tightwads.

Remember that gold filled watches will often have gold casebacks as well. On most watches the "10K (or 14K) Gold Filled" denotation is on the caseback...

G gerdson
I always thought Omega are either solid, or capped/filled, but never plated. But I need to admit I have mostly been looking at Constellations.

Swiss made Omegas can be either plated, solid or capped, whilst mainly US cases can be solid, plated or gold filled (I know of no other countries using gold fill on watches) .

In the case of gold filled, the carat is often 10K og 14K, whilst capped are (always?) 14K and gold plated I assume is 18K, but isn't marked as such.

Solid gold, Swiss made Omegas are 14K or 18K, UK made ones are 9K, 14K or 18K. US made ones are 14K or 18K and I guess could be 10K as well even though I haven't seen any.

Never any rules without exceptions though 😀

Identifying if Gold Filled or Gold Plated

baobaocat

JimInOz

baobaocat

gerdson

SkunkPrince

Engee

ConElPueblo

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