AK-47 | Gold Arabesque (Well-Worn)

Well-Worn (WW) takes up about a tenth of the AK-47 | Gold Arabesque scale: its band is 0.38 to 0.45. The rifle is a Covert AK-47 from The 2021 Dust 2 Collection, and among the five wears it is third by price.

What the AK-47 | Gold Arabesque looks like in Well-Worn

Gold is what the eye takes in first: the metal from barrel to magazine is polished and filigreed. The wood stays light and is covered in dense, dark arabesque work. The grip is pale lilac, and the engraving on the magazine repeats the wood motif.

In Well-Worn, wear collects on the high points. The magazine ribs and the top-cover edge turn matte, and the gold slides into brass. On the wood the arabesque lightens at the corners of the stock and the edge of the handguard. The 0.38 to 0.45 band is short, so differences between listings vanish into the margin.

Where the AK-47 | Gold Arabesque came from

The AK-47 | Gold Arabesque was not dreamed up in the Steam Workshop but at Valve itself. It entered the game in September 2021 with The 2021 Dust 2 Collection, and Valve's finish catalog lists it as number 921.

What to check before buying

When choosing an AK-47 | Gold Arabesque listing, this is what counts:

• the float: between 0.38 and 0.45 copies barely differ, and the number only refines the wear label;


• the condition of the gold on the magazine ribs;


• stickers on the body, and a rename if there is one.

The artwork is identical on every copy, so pattern is not a factor here.

What the AK-47 | Gold Arabesque costs in Well-Worn

Well-Worn sits in the middle of the skin: two wears cost more, two cost less.

• Factory New costs 1.34 times more;


• Minimal Wear costs 1.12 times more;


• Field-Tested costs 1.18 times less;


• Battle-Scarred costs 1.31 times less.

Well-Worn costs more than Field-Tested while covering about a third of its share of the scale: 0.07 of 0.70 against 0.23.

Counting the twenty-four Covert AK-47 skins, this wear comes second, behind only the AK-47 | Wild Lotus, which costs about four times as much. The AK-47 | Fire Serpent costs a little over half as much as this rifle. The AK-47 | X-Ray costs about a third, and the AK-47 | Vulcan and AK-47 | Bloodsport about a tenth.

Getting the AK-47 | Gold Arabesque

No case holds it. The skin comes from the Dust II souvenir packages, and regular copies are made by trade-up.

The trade-up route to the AK-47 | Gold Arabesque is ten skins from the rank below within the collection. There is only one possible result, because a single skin occupies the collection's Covert rank.

StatTrak and Souvenir

The AK-47 | Gold Arabesque has no StatTrak version, but it does have a Souvenir edition.

Stickers and craft on the AK-47 | Gold Arabesque

On scuffed gold a sticker is more noticeable than on fresh gold: it does not hide the brass but adds a third color. A dark sticker on the smooth part of the receiver sits most calmly. The wood with its arabesque is better left alone.

Who this wear suits

Buying the AK-47 | Gold Arabesque in this wear makes sense if:

• you want a gold AK-47, and Minimal Wear costs 1.12 times more without changing the look;


• you do not want to overpay for the top of the scale, yet do not want the most worn option either;


• you choose by the wear label, since within 0.38 to 0.45 the listings are nearly identical.

In CS2 the brass on the magazine ribs shows only on close inspection. In a match it is an ordinary gold AK-47.