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daleds4

Longevity Of Gold Plating

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daleds4

I'm interested in buying a gold plated watch. Does anyone here own a watch with some gold plating for some years? How much has it faded. If possible can you provide pics?

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splke

I got one its a Seiko its over 50 yrs old and generally its ok

reps ... now that's a different story, if you want to wear it everyday I would say it is not a great idea they are fine for occasional use though

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gi0ag

As above, I’ve got a gold plated Frederique Constant which has been fine for years with no sign of wear but wouldn’t be as confident with a plated or wrapped rep. 

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d4v3

It depends on how many times per week you used the watch, how much you sweat, the weather of your city, worst casenario: 1 week for a daily beater, regular sweat guy, best: using the watch 3 times per year for very special times only, in general they are a no no in the rep world, a steel submariner will look also very well and will last way way longer.

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Mod1217

"Gold Plating" is the Achilles Heels of the REP world. Not only that GEN manufacturers put special alloys in there gold plating (ex. Rolex Everose has platinum in it), they also have an ability to pass on the cost to the consumer, something the REP word is trying to avoid to be able to make a profit. Unless as others have already stated here that you are going to use it very sparingly and only in a controlled environment, it is not a good idea investing in a gold-plated replica. One more thing to consider no matter how good a copy your REP is if you happen to come across somebody who has a GEN in let's say a party and you compare it side by side, the REP color would not match the GEN color, and if you are the kind of person who is trying to pass it as a GEN, you have some explaining to do. 

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CHILL_TX
1 hour ago, Mod1217 said:

"Gold Plating" is the Achilles Heels of the REP world. Not only that GEN manufacturers put special alloys in there gold plating (ex. Rolex Everose has platinum in it), they also have an ability to pass on the cost to the consumer, something the REP word is trying to avoid to be able to make a profit. Unless as others have already stated here that you are going to use it very sparingly and only in a controlled environment, it is not a good idea investing in a gold-plated replica. One more thing to consider no matter how good a copy your REP is if you happen to come across somebody who has a GEN in let's say a party and you compare it side by side, the REP color would not match the GEN color, and if you are the kind of person who is trying to pass it as a GEN, you have some explaining to do. 

As we've seen in some of the recent gold plating threads, the color on some of the reps is spot on.  This is especially true with the wrapped models.  However, those have proven to contain zero gold whatsoever.  If you're dead set on gold, your best best would be to have it plated very thick by someone trustworthy.  The plating solution used by the factories starts out low quality, then gets used far beyond when it should be.  It's a very very low quality plate.

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Ak0312

what about pvd?

would pvd be better then gold plating?

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britain4

I’ve said this a few times - could we not just get a cheap electroplating kit and touch up the worn bits as needed or am I just talking out my arse?

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Mr_B
14 minutes ago, britain4 said:

I’ve said this a few times - could we not just get a cheap electroplating kit and touch up the worn bits as needed or am I just talking out my arse?

Wouldn't work. The proper process is long winded and very expensive. 

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mrflowers

.

Edited by mrflowers

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Muskandar

It depends on a few things

Watches have a number of different “plating” process, and depending on the process will determine its longevity. Some of these methods are older.

Gold Filled is generally recognized as the thickest form of gold plating. Old standards dictated that the plated object be 1/20th (5%) it’s total weight in 12kt gold or higher. A layer of base metal was sandwiched between two layers of karat grade gold and heated and pressed out. The layer of gold can be up to 80 microns thick, about the thickness of a standard piece of copier paper. The highest quality Gold Filled cases can last up to 30 years. Gold Filled pieces can have the dull appearance of real gold.

There are some brand specific plating processes that provided more durability. For example Gruen made some watches marked “Gold Reinforced with Metal” and “Reinforced Gold”. These were thicker than the minimum standards and fell between Gold Filled and Solid Gold Watch cases.

Rolled Gold Plate (R.G.P.) or Gold Overlay

A similar process is used to bond a sheet of gold to sheet of base metal (brass,copper,nickel) or silver. The total weight will be less than 5% gold. Gold Filled pieces are 5 to 10 times thicker than RGP pieces.

 

I pulled this legal definition off Wikipedia.

Start Quote

In the United States, the quality of gold-filled jewellery is defined by the Federal Trade Commission(FTC). If the gold layer is 10kt fineness, the minimum weight of the plated layer on an item stamped "GF" must equal at least 1/10th of the total weight of the item. If the gold layer is 12 kt or higher, the minimum layer of karat gold in an item stamped "GF" must equal at least 1/20th the total weight of the item. The most common stamps found on gold-filled jewelry are 1/20 12kt GF and 1/20 14kt GF. Also common is 1/10 10kt.”

End Quote

Gold Electroplate

The thinnest form of gold plating is electroplating. Electroplating is the most common process used today.  Normally the thickness ranges from 1 - 2.5 microns, but can be as thick as 10 microns. This form of gold plating is usually very shiny.

All the above information applies to the standards and methods used in genuine watch industry. Most replicas probably have the minimum amount of gold plating as possible.

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BabaNJ

I just built a two tone dj with linen dial and the GF bracelet was actually most expensive part in it after the gen dial. It made me realize why we don't see many gold/tt reps. Even with only gen item as dial it ended up being expensive to build. 

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Rayanami

I think that choosing the original gold plated watches is complicated because most of the shops may sell you a copy of them. I have a lot of years of experience selling gold watches and proudly can say that there are plenty of shops where you can buy such watches, but only a few are selling original. If you are interested to buy from qualified professionals, the best choice for you is to buy at https://pawnbrokersrodeodrive.com/ because they have quite good authority on the market and have a 100% guarantee of quality.

Edited by Rayanami

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BravoDelta

mket1.jpg

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CollieWobbles

LOL

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Horace Derwent

As far as i know, most pf the reps in YG pr RG are 5 micron gold plated (i saw also some that are stated at 3 micron plating)

Wrapped reps instead have a 20 micron plating which should be way more durable...

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