What to do with ladies cocktail watch?

I think there is not much debate that the monetary value of the watch is not high, so if you feel that using pieces of it to make something that will give you more enjoyment and use than the watch does, go for it. My brothers and sisters many years ago made a piece of jewelry out of a couple of items my mom didn't ever wear. Granted, it wasn't a watch, but it was unused items. She cherishes that piece we made, to this day. She is now 95

It's your watch, as others have said it's not particularly valuable as a watch, so if you want to make ear rings out of the stones and a portion of the bracelet, then by all means don't let people here convince you otherwise. I have a good friend who is a goldsmith and he does this kind of "conversion" work all the time. What you are suggesting is not anything unusual.

Getting the watch serviced by a proper watchmaker will likely cost more than the watch is worth, and more than doing the conversion you are considering.

Cheers, Al

Hi again everyone - it took a while but I've had new earrings made from the watch (the jeweler confirmed that the gold and diamonds were real). I realized afterward that I have a necklace with a single stone which echoes the earrings' diamond setting quite nicely, so I'm attaching a photo that shows both the earrings and the necklace. I'm quite pleased with the result (if not my elderly skin that you can see all too clearly in the photo 😀

Oops, forgot to add - I had 2 pairs of the square studs made, so if I want something more understated, I can just wear the gold studs instead of the diamonds. Also, the jeweler suggested taking the casing for the watch (sorry, those of you with technical knowledge of the terms are probably wincing), removing the watch mechanism and replacing it with a jewel of some sort and turning it into a pendant. I may do that in the future. So the watch may end up producing quite a bit of other jewelry.

I appreciate that you followed up and let us know the end of the story! I think that's a charming thing to do with the watch. I tend to agree that if there's no one to appreciate it as a watch, splitting it up into jewelry that would be worn often is a great way to remember your mom.

I have a ladies' heirloom watch that a couple of watchmakers have already told me is hopeless and the only female descendent of the last person who wore it swears she'd never wear it anyway. I already have a safe deposit box full of other jewelry to remember ancestors by, so I'm pretty close to just selling it for parts or the case to a scrap gold dealer. It's a hard thing to do, even so, at least for me.

I think that recycling the parts of the watch for other jewelry you would be wearing is the best idea. That way you still have something that reminds you of your mother, but you didn't totally ruin the family jewelry

Hi Hawai,
Those earrings are really nice and classy, even the ones with diamonds are quite understanded. It's a good thing you now have something you will wear and cherish and which will bear good memories.
Thanks a lot for sharing those photos and keeping us posted.
Best regards,
S

Looks great!