I believe it is real gold, maybe not as high quality as real gold. It is from South Dakota in the black hills. I googled "what is black hills gold and it does give a lot of info on it as well as a website called blackhills.com i think. Black hills gold is usually yellow gold and a rose gold color. the leaves on the watch are black hills gold and the face of the watch is quartz. I used to like it a lot but I am not a fan of the yellow gold color anymore and all my jewelry is "white gold" now so I dont feel that it matches anything. The interent will truly give you a better explanation. I got is as a gift years ago from SD. Hope that helps. I have never got it appraised so I dont know what it is worth. It is just something I dont wear anymore and some people really like the colors of black hills gold, I have a ring I may put up for auction too but I wear it on once in a great while.