Yesterday I met with a representative from Spink. Among other things, I took my gold cased IWC watch. He seemed interested in all that I brought, but showed the most interest in this watch. You may recall I bought it in the wholesale section of the Houston Gem and Jewelry show decades ago, when gold was still around $350 and ounce, if I recall correctly. I basically got it for melt price back then, paying $200 for the watch. For just $1000 more I could have bought a small gold cased Patek Phillippe as well... but I didn't.
Anyway, he opined that the IWC was was "very desirable" now and that it would likely fetch between $4000 and $5000, given it's condition. That's pretty consistent with what I saw on eBay recently.
Your watch is almost certainly worth more than you paid for it Greg. But it is not worth $xxxx.xx. It is worth what it would sell for. Until you sell is why even speculate? A gold IWC is an nice watch.
