What does solid gold mean in these titles?

It means the case is gold all the way through, not base metal with a gold layer bonded to it. Dealers use the word to separate bullion cases from filled, rolled, plated and capped ones. It earns its place. A steady minority of titles here describe a filled, rolled or plated case, so the distinction is a real one and gets stated up front.

Why are so many of these from the 1960s?

The 1960s account for 507 listings, more than the 1950s, 1940s, 1930s and 1920s put together. The gold dress watch was the ordinary formal watch of the mid-twentieth century, and a great many survive. Earlier decades thin out steadily. The 1930s carry 151, the 1920s 120, and anything before 1900 is a handful.

Are pocket watches or wristwatches more common?

Across the archive, wristwatches. "Wrist" and "wristwatch" together outnumber "pocket" comfortably, and the gents' 9ct dress wristwatch is the single most repeated form. Current stock reads differently. Pocket watches make up a much bigger share of what's listed on Sellingantiques at any one time than of everything sold.

How reliable is the date given on a gold watch?

More reliable than in most antique categories. Gold cases are hallmarked in Britain, so the letter date is there to be read, and 1,209 of the 1,272 listings carry a clean year. The year in the title is usually the more precise figure. The separate dated field is often rounded to the decade, and the archive's stated range of 1800 to 1960 leaves a few older and later pieces sitting outside it.

What makes ladies' watches here different?

They run smaller and dressier. Cocktail watches account for 139 titles, and 18ct white gold paired with diamonds is a recurring combination. Diamond setting is largely their territory. Of the 73 titles mentioning diamonds, nearly all are ladies' cocktail or bracelet watches, some quoting weights above two carats.

Which unusual forms turn up in this category?

Enough to keep it interesting. Fusee, quarter-repeating and minute-repeating pocket watches appear a handful of times each, always near the top of the range, and Masonic pocket watches surface with their Albert chains. Others are one-offs: a travel fob purse watch, a convertible fob-to-wrist watch with a diamond bezel, a moonphase triple-date chronograph, a 22k repoussé pair-case.

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Antique Gold Watches

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Gold and gold-cased watches from the late 19th century to the mid-20th, most of them small dress watches made to be worn with a suit or an evening frock.