Bad problem with my 14K TT SUB

[sonicd0012 0]

UPDATE: Andrew is awesome and is sending me a replacement bracelet! Told me that noone has experienced this with theirs. Mine must be defective.

This has been driving me literally nuts, its like a parasite that just wont leave u alone. for a $350.00 sub

 

I have noticed that w/time (only 3 days!) my gold links started to develop these brown streaks which are only visible if you look at the link from an angle. If you look straight on the link, you will not see it, but if you turn it slightly you will see these brown crack like marks. I have no idea why they are here!!!! After taking off the plastic wrapping from the bracelet, perhaps the atmosphere started to mess the plating on some links. There is a few good links on this watch (2-3) that has no marks but the majority of them have it.

I took a rougher end of a sponge yesterday and scrubbbed the links, it seemed to have made it less noticible, but they are still there. It also seems that the brown possibly grows back, and on the non polished side it seems to be even worse. Its such a pity. Does anyone have this issue who has a 14K wrapped TT sub? Its bothering me because the watch is soo nice!!! Anyone have any advice? Should i ask for a link replacement from Andrew? Or take it to a shop that can treat it ?

Before sponge scrub

After sponge scrub

Underside

Underside with growing brown-wtf? I never even touched it.

Edited June 28, 2011 by sonicd0012

[AlphaLima 17]

Will it be expensive to make these links real gold?

 

I would say so. Gold has never been as expensive as it is today.

 

[Ska 11]

Shit sorry man.

 

I hate to tell you this, but those AREN'T wrapped links.

 

That brown staining is caused by porosity in the underlying nickel layer (When plating gold onto stainless steel you first have to coat the steel with a thin layer of nickel)

 

If done badly or cheaply (like in reps sometimes) the nickel layer is less than 2 microns thick. This is too thin and porous, the effect being that after plating although the gold itself doesn't oxidise or tarnish in contact with air, the underlying nickel and steel are left vulnerable to atmospheric corrosion. This twinned with gaseous release from any residual cleaning chemicals under the surface (again sometimes left over during shoddy plating) causes your brown streaks they're basically a mix of rust, and leftover chemicals making their way to the surface.

 

Like I said before.

 

Plated.

 

Sorry mate, but the factories lie.

[wat44 0]

doesnt someone on the forum offer gold plating?

[sonicd0012 0]

Shit sorry man.

 

I hate to tell you this, but those AREN'T wrapped links.

 

That brown staining is caused by porosity in the underlying nickel layer (When plating gold onto stainless steel you first have to coat the steel with a thin layer of nickel)

 

If done badly or cheaply (like in reps sometimes) the nickel layer is less than 2 microns thick. This is too thin and porous, the effect being that after plating although the gold itself doesn't oxidise or tarnish in contact with air, the underlying nickel and steel are left vulnerable to atmospheric corrosion. This twinned with gaseous release from any residual cleaning chemicals under the surface (again sometimes left over during shoddy plating) causes your brown streaks they're basically a mix of rust, and leftover chemicals making their way to the surface.

 

Like I said before.

 

Plated.

 

Sorry mate, but the factories lie.

 

Wow. So what can i do here?

Do the brown streaks develop and grow back? Can i take the links and wrap them at a jewelry place?

What are my best options? Shit

[Ska 11]

Yup, Tissotman.

[mspangl 0]

Shit sorry man.

 

I hate to tell you this, but those AREN'T wrapped links.

 

That brown staining is caused by porosity in the underlying nickel layer (When plating gold onto stainless steel you first have to coat the steel with a thin layer of nickel)

 

If done badly or cheaply (like in reps sometimes) the nickel layer is less than 2 microns thick. This is too thin and porous, the effect being that after plating although the gold itself doesn't oxidise or tarnish in contact with air, the underlying nickel and steel are left vulnerable to atmospheric corrosion. This twinned with gaseous release from any residual cleaning chemicals under the surface (again sometimes left over during shoddy plating) causes your brown streaks they're basically a mix of rust, and leftover chemicals making their way to the surface.

 

Like I said before.

 

Plated.

 

Sorry mate, but the factories lie.

 

Thanks for the info ! Good to know…

[sonicd0012 0]

doesnt someone on the forum offer gold plating?

 

You mean gold wrapping?

[Ska 11]

Shit sorry man.

 

I hate to tell you this, but those AREN'T wrapped links.

 

That brown staining is caused by porosity in the underlying nickel layer (When plating gold onto stainless steel you first have to coat the steel with a thin layer of nickel)

 

If done badly or cheaply (like in reps sometimes) the nickel layer is less than 2 microns thick. This is too thin and porous, the effect being that after plating although the gold itself doesn't oxidise or tarnish in contact with air, the underlying nickel and steel are left vulnerable to atmospheric corrosion. This twinned with gaseous release from any residual cleaning chemicals under the surface (again sometimes left over during shoddy plating) causes your brown streaks they're basically a mix of rust, and leftover chemicals making their way to the surface.

 

Like I said before.

 

Plated.

 

Sorry mate, but the factories lie.

 

Wow. So what can i do here?

Do the brown streaks develop and grow back? Can i take the links and wrap them at a jewelry place?

What are my best options? Shit

 

 

Sadly, nowhere save a massive purpose built industrial factory or coatings specialist will have the equipment required to do this, and even if you could find one, wrapping requires physical tooling made specifically for the part you are going to apply the coating to. This would cost in the high thousands to make.

 

your best bet is to seek a replacement. Unless Tissotman can strip it back to SS and re-plate it, repair in this case just isn't a practical option for a single bracelet. The only thing I'd be worried about is that these will be plated in huge batches so the likelihood is that you'll get the same problem with a replacement from the same dealer.

 

Your issue if you go to another dealer is matching the gold tone.

[wat44 0]

also note that Josh/Andrew arent on the RWG dealer list...

[sonicd0012 0]

Do you think that after the bracelet was removed from its protective plastic wrapping, atmospheric conditions have caused this ?

[Ska 11]

Ok dude, seriously a quick word of wisdom.

 

Please lose the obsession with 'wrapping'.

 

plating is just as good if not better due to its versatility. its all to do with the thickness and cleanliness during the process. Ever wonder why aircraft parts, industrial machinery and high end jewellery is plated??? Because done right it is the single best way to coat one metal with another.

 

The issue isn't the process itself, its the quality.

 

Do you think that after the bracelet was removed from its protective plastic wrapping, atmospheric conditions have caused this ?

 

Yes. Exactly. Where do you live/work by the way. Have you worn this watch in an industrial setting? A construction site? etc

[sonicd0012 0]

I think most likely Mary is picking out from the same batches. I highly doubt her subs are ever wrapped, very unlikely.

[sonicd0012 0]

Ok dude, seriously a quick word of wisdom.

 

Please lose the obsession with 'wrapping'.

 

plating is just as good if not better due to its versatility. its all to do with the thickness and cleanliness during the process. Ever wonder why aircraft parts, industrial machinery and high end jewellery is plated??? Because done right it is the single best way to coat one metal with another.

 

The issue isn't the process itself, its the quality.

 

Do you think that after the bracelet was removed from its protective plastic wrapping, atmospheric conditions have caused this ?

 

Yes. Exactly. Where do you live/work by the way. Have you worn this watch in an industrial setting? A construction site? etc

 

Nope, i wore it around the house and to a store. I live in florida. Didnt go to work with it yet.

[Ska 11]

 

I'm beginning to feel a distinct sense of Deja Vu.

 

1. The vast majority of dealers just go by what the factories tell them. This is because they actually know very little about the process of making watches. They are vendors.

2. The Factories LIE to make their watches sound better.

3. That's why we, the fora exist. To help us all wade through the shit and find the best possible watches.

4. Wrapping is NOT better than plating.

 

As Watt pointed out, you're in a bit of a pickle as far as this board is concerned anyway because Andrew is not a trusted dealer here. Therefore our Admin can't step in to help you.

 

He IS however trusted on one or two other boards, so all might not be lost. There's a large crossover of membership.

[agntkerr 0]

[sonicd0012 0]

 

Yours is on the way right ? Let me know how it goes for you. In the meanwhile, i will keep an eye on them and see how they are if the brown re-grows.

[AlphaLima 17]

 

[sonicd0012 0]

 

lol

[sonicd0012 0]

 

I'm beginning to feel a distinct sense of Deja Vu.

 

1. The vast majority of dealers just go by what the factories tell them. This is because they actually know very little about the process of making watches. They are vendors.

2. The Factories LIE to make their watches sound better.

3. That's why we, the fora exist. To help us all wade through the shit and find the best possible watches.

4. Wrapping is NOT better than plating.

 

As Watt pointed out, you're in a bit of a pickle as far as this board is concerned anyway because Andrew is not a trusted dealer here. Therefore our Admin can't step in to help you.

 

He IS however trusted on one or two other boards, so all might not be lost. There's a large crossover of membership.

 

Hese a good guy and very responsive. We will see how he helps me with this. It would be amazing if he could send me 10 fresh links : )

But the issue is, is the atmosphere causing this with time.

[AlphaLima 17]

But the issue is, is the atmosphere causing this with time.

 

From what i can gather from Ska's very informative post, the plating is so thin that the nickel will corrode regardless of the atmospheric conditions. If the plating was thicker, a gaseous environment may cause a little corrosion. With it being as thin as 2 microns, you could keep it in a metal box and it would still do this.

 

If you get a replacement bracelet, it's going to do this again. It doesn't matter where you are.

[Ska 11]

Do you think that after the bracelet was removed from its protective plastic wrapping, atmospheric conditions have caused this ?

 

Yes. Exactly. Where do you live/work by the way. Have you worn this watch in an industrial setting? A construction site? etc

 

That still stands.

 

I also wrote this:

 

 

That brown staining is caused by porosity in the underlying nickel layer (When plating gold onto stainless steel you first have to coat the steel with a thin layer of nickel)

 

If done badly or cheaply (like in reps sometimes) the nickel layer is less than 2 microns thick. This is too thin and porous, the effect being that after plating although the gold itself doesn't oxidise or tarnish in contact with air, the underlying nickel and steel do and are left vulnerable to atmospheric corrosion. This twinned with gaseous release from any residual cleaning chemicals under the surface (again sometimes left over during shoddy plating) causes your brown streaks they're basically a mix of rust, and leftover chemicals making their way to the surface.

 

Basically unless you keep it in a Vacuum 24-7 this will continue to happen.

[sonicd0012 0]

But the issue is, is the atmosphere causing this with time.

 

From what i can gather from Ska's very informative post, the plating is so thin that the nickel will corrode regardless of the atmospheric conditions. If the plating was thicker, a gaseous environment may cause a little corrosion. With it being as thin as 2 microns, you could keep it in a metal box and it would still do this.

 

If you get a replacement bracelet, it's going to do this again. It doesn't matter where you are.

 

Then im Fu-ked for $350.00

[wat44 0]

yes

 

it is very important to research a lot before you buy

[sonicd0012 0]

yes

 

it is very important to research a lot before you buy

 

Want to buy it from me? Ill sell it to you for 300.00 : )