Pricing out the gold inlay scene & additional gold work,,and adding in the value of the ivorys would nearly make the asking price of the gun should you ask most engravers today to do such a job.
I'm assuming 24k & relief figures.

Add to that the labor cost of the scroll engraving
..and perhaps the revolver itself if the job was done on 'spec'(ulation).


You may not like the looks of it, quality or style, choice of subject,,but just in terms of labor and materials, somewhere betw 3 & 4K would cover the gold work & grips.

You can undoubtedly find an engraver to do the whole job for less, there are many looking for work right now as things have slowed down some.
You can cut your labor charges to the bone,,but the hard facts of the price of gold and ivory won't change.

Worth it?,,as they say if someone buys it,,it is to them.
I don't think that necessarily establishes a market value though. People pay more for a non-eccential they like personally than perhaps others would.
Most art work falls into that catagory.
They like it and spend thousands,,you look at the same gun (painting, carving, jewelry, ect) and wouldn't spend a dime on it.

Add in some historical connection, name recognition to the gun/owner/engraver that people would pay for and values are easier to establish. Then you are getting a closer look at market value because the collectors/investors are in the buying pool.

When he did this job, gold was somewhere just under $400/oz.
(It actually fell quite a lot from there in the years afterwards,,just under $300 in the late 90's and early 2k)
That's not the price you buy your wire and plate for.
You pay the metalman/refiner a profit for the materials of course above the listed price of gold that day.
(When I started it had just topped $50/oz and because of that the switch was made to 14k from 24k to save money at a company I worked for.)

Some engravers make an additional profit for themselves on the cost of the gold/silver when they charge the customer. Then the labor cost (hours) for the gold inlay work is figured on top of that.

Gold is fluttering around the $1600/oz and up mark, world price.
You order some wire and/or plate from a refiner or supplier and it'll cost you $1800/oz and up if not more.

The signiture isn't much bigger than alot of those I've seen, though the trend is to make them smaller and more stylish.
Hiding them in the scroll work or game scene used to be the thing till you figured out no one could find them and you weren't getting credit for the work.
Many factory jobs have hidden signitures or marks only because the engravers were not supposed to mark them in the first place.

I know of at least one engraver that used to cut his signiture in script along with 'Engraved By' and then inlay it in gold on the customer's gun. Talk about garish.,,and this w/o asking the customer's permission.
Most want the work signed,,but they don't want it to light up in the dark or be able to be seen by passing motorists..

just some thoughts...