# Replating gold, worth the effort?



## panamamike

For those watches that have gold plated parts, is it o.k. to get the replated? Or does this take away from the watches value?
Also, I've never had anything replated, does it look good and worth the effort?

Mike


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## Will_f

I've been wondering about this myself. From what I've see price wise, it's not insanely expensive. Subscribed.


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## TheJohnP

I've seen some before/after pics online and it can make a world of difference. 
If it is a watch you plan to keep and cherish, I don't see why you wouldn't.
Not sure if this is as badly looked upon as a redial, but I'm sure others will chime in with their input.


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## Kungfucowboy

I thought the problem was the thickness of the plating of quality vintage watches the the lack of thickness of most modern plating methods.


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## AbslomRob

There's a lot of work involved to get "good" plating results. Ideally, you want to remove ALL the existing gold, and/or polish the case so that you have a perfectly smooth finish. 

The biggest problem with plating over existing gold-filled (as I understand it) is that the plating tends to wear unevenly, so while it looks good right away, in five years it will start to look blotchy.

Modern plating methods are (or at least can be) superior to even gold filled from 100 years ago (but not rolled gold), but it depends on the method used and the quality of the plating solution.


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## Mirius

I had a watch replated. The results are not impressive because as Rob says, not enough care was taken in the preparation work. So I'd say that though it can be done, you'll pay a lot for the labour involved for a first class finish, it won't be the gold that is really going to be the major cost element.


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## panamamike

Thanks for the input guys, this certainly helps me get a better perspective.

Mike


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## JackW

As Rob says, surface preparation is everything with plating. Where I disagree is with the statement "ideally, you want to remove ALL the existing gold". You need a metal that the plate material will stick too. Gold is just fine. You also need to ensure that the piece is finished to the level that you want with the plating. Things to consider if you are plating on a piece that is gold filled, are 1) you can certainly plate over the gold, but if you have brass showing then you'll need to first plate over with nickel. Some vintage watches are goldfilled on a nickel base so this may not be a needed step; Wadsworth commonly did this. 2) if you plate over a piece that has wear those are then going to be the first places to show wear again when the plating is worn off. This is going to happen regardless of the surface treatment prior to plating. Going to your local manufacturing jeweler for plating service, you will get a pretty thin layer but will run you $20 or so. Professional plating services where you can get a range of plate thickness, is going to cost you for the set up and then the material so it is always best to run plating in batches. Plating one case this way is not cost effective.

If you are just trying to cover up a small, mm-scale wear spot on a corner of a lug or case back, it is better to sweat-solder gold over the wear area and then refinish the case. The problem is that some jewelers don't like working on gold fill. Often there is soft and lead containing solder used in the manufacture of older cases.

If you are talking about bridges or wheels that were once gold plated and cleaning (such as excessive ultrasonic) has removed the plate, then there should be no reason to not restore to an original finish with a dip in a plate bath.


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## FaceMaster7

JackW said:


> As Rob says, surface preparation is everything with plating. Where I disagree is with the statement "ideally, you want to remove ALL the existing gold". You need a metal that the plate material will stick too. Gold is just fine. You also need to ensure that the piece is finished to the level that you want with the plating. Things to consider if you are plating on a piece that is gold filled, are 1) you can certainly plate over the gold, but if you have brass showing then you'll need to first plate over with nickel. Some vintage watches are goldfilled on a nickel base so this may not be a needed step; Wadsworth commonly did this. 2) if you plate over a piece that has wear those are then going to be the first places to show wear again when the plating is worn off. This is going to happen regardless of the surface treatment prior to plating. Going to your local manufacturing jeweler for plating service, you will get a pretty thin layer but will run you $20 or so. Professional plating services where you can get a range of plate thickness, is going to cost you for the set up and then the material so it is always best to run plating in batches. Plating one case this way is not cost effective.
> 
> If you are just trying to cover up a small, mm-scale wear spot on a corner of a lug or case back, it is better to sweat-solder gold over the wear area and then refinish the case. The problem is that some jewelers don't like working on gold fill. Often there is soft and lead containing solder used in the manufacture of older cases.
> 
> If you are talking about bridges or wheels that were once gold plated and cleaning (such as excessive ultrasonic) has removed the plate, then there should be no reason to not restore to an original finish with a dip in a plate bath.


Just wanted to say thanks for the information. Planning on applying a new layer of gold onto some vintage watches I have, now I'm not so sure this is a good idea.


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## Old Navman

Further to this topic it wasn't that long ago when we've had this discussion about replating (but not necessarily in gold though).


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## FaceMaster7

Actually, I re-applied 14K plating using a $60 plating kit from Ebay. All i did was dismantle the watch clean the parts using an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner and then followed the simple directions.
Now I'm going to have it serviced and polished by my watch guy here in San Antonio. This is pre polish.
Please. Let me know what you think.


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## Dodgydruid

Plating soft metals like gold, copper and brass is fairly simple, bright nickel and zinc a step up but still home doable. Its chrome and chrome mixes that produce the nasty fumes that will eat your lungs out and you for best effects need a heated tank as hot plating chrome produces the best effect.

There is a new system that uses a silver solution that you "wash on" to your device and it spreads itself over the metal frame of what you are plating and produces a high mirror effect which you can seal in with a polymer shell. Hydro-silvering I think its called and I would say it gives London Chrome a run for its money and all you need is water, a hose and a catch tank.


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## The Linen Dial

FaceMaster7 said:


> Actually, I re-applied 14K plating using a $60 plating kit from Ebay. All i did was dismantle the watch clean the parts using an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner and then followed the simple directions.
> Now I'm going to have it serviced and polished by my watch guy here in San Antonio. This is pre polish.
> Please. Let me know what you think.


 It looks nice! Can you post pictures after polish too?


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## king_collector

I think no unless you managed to find a very good technician. The related gold wears off within a year and not to mention having to polish it before replating (which most people have a hard time keeping the edges and sharpness of the original case). You will end up with a subpar product with sometimes even less value than its original form.


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