crystalcranium Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 This company is one of only a few companies who will do small run consumer plating of jewelry and watches. I had a long talk with their owner several months ago about the realities of gold electroplating watches and it didn't instill confidence in me about the quality of Asian GP. Putting a 10 to 20 micron coat on a watch is very expensive ($300+) and they consider a 2.5 micron plating a heavy plating. I have serious doubts about dealer claims about 5 micron GP. Acording to this company, such a coating would not be cheap and would be of very high quality, qualifying as a specialty gold plate. I wouldn't be surprised if most Asian GP falls in the costume jewelry range of 0.5 to 1.5 microns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corgi Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 I don't care how many charts you throw in my face... I bought a 18K full gold president from Joshua in early Sep '06 and wear it quite frequently... there is no wear. I also purchased a two-toned 18K turn-o-graph a while ago, again, gold sticks on well.... Whether it is exactly "5mil" or not is certainly a question I cannot answer, but, I can tell you honestly its a good looking and good quality product.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_uk Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalcranium Posted February 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 I don't care how many charts you throw in my face... I bought a 18K full gold president from Joshua in early Sep '06 and wear it quite frequently... there is no wear. I also purchased a two-toned 18K turn-o-graph a while ago, again, gold sticks on well.... Whether it is exactly "5mil" or not is certainly a question I cannot answer, but, I can tell you honestly its a good looking and good quality product.... What is it my wife says to me all the time?......oh yeah..."It's not about you!" Sorry you took my post as a personal afront about your most recent purchases. My reality check came in talking to this guy. I told him I wanted a heavy gold plating,...something on the order of 10 to 15 microns and was informed that was a very special amount of deposited plating, and that a 2.5 micron plating was the most practical thickness. It slowly dawned on me that he was providing truth in advertising and that 5 micron claims from China were dubious at best. Low level light and putting a slightly worn plated watch next to a new plated watch provides a reality check as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshot Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 i'm reasonably sure that artisan is the company that re-plated a rare seiko 6138 chrono for one friend and a bulova accutron for another and i can say the results were stunning the seiko in particular came out awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinsic Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 When crystalcranium speaks, people listen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torques Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 This company is one of only a few companies who will do small run consumer plating of jewelry and watches. I had a long talk with their owner several months ago about the realities of gold electroplating watches and it didn't instill confidence in me about the quality of Asian GP. Putting a 10 to 20 micron coat on a watch is very expensive ($300+) and they consider a 2.5 micron plating a heavy plating. I have serious doubts about dealer claims about 5 micron GP. Acording to this company, such a coating would not be cheap and would be of very high quality, qualifying as a specialty gold plate. I wouldn't be surprised if most Asian GP falls in the costume jewelry range of 0.5 to 1.5 microns. Wow, very interesting and helpful, thanks for the post. I have a new all-gold 18k Sub from Josh. I am wearing every day for the last 2 1/2 weeks. I will find out how it holds up. I don't do sports with it or get it wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolfire Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 When crystalcranium speaks, people listen. AMEN...... :hands: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raijor Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 What is it my wife says to me all the time?......oh yeah..."It's not about you!" Sorry you took my post as a personal afront about your most recent purchases. My reality check came in talking to this guy. I told him I wanted a heavy gold plating,...something on the order of 10 to 15 microns and was informed that was a very special amount of deposited plating, and that a 2.5 micron plating was the most practical thickness. It slowly dawned on me that he was providing truth in advertising and that 5 micron claims from China were dubious at best. Low level light and putting a slightly worn plated watch next to a new plated watch provides a reality check as well. Hi- Great post and timely. Is this company willing to do one off jobs or do require some minimum? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalcranium Posted February 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Hi- Great post and timely. Is this company willing to do one off jobs or do require some minimum? Thanks There's a $35 minimum but most watch plating, if they have to disassemble the watch, is going to run about $100. I sent them one disassembled watch case and bracelet and a 2.5 um plating was $60. Oh....they have a reputation for refusing work on replicas so sending them a non descript watch case or bracelet is probably the best way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raijor Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 This company is one of only a few companies who will do small run consumer plating of jewelry and watches. I had a long talk with their owner several months ago about the realities of gold electroplating watches and it didn't instill confidence in me about the quality of Asian GP. Putting a 10 to 20 micron coat on a watch is very expensive ($300+) and they consider a 2.5 micron plating a heavy plating. I have serious doubts about dealer claims about 5 micron GP. Acording to this company, such a coating would not be cheap and would be of very high quality, qualifying as a specialty gold plate. I wouldn't be surprised if most Asian GP falls in the costume jewelry range of 0.5 to 1.5 microns. Before I contact Artisan I should ask you if they are willing to plate reps or are they anti-rep? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalcranium Posted February 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Before I contact Artisan I should ask you if they are willing to plate reps or are they anti-rep? I would send them the watch case and bracelet without the identifying works. Ask them for a quote for just the plating. Tell them you heve, or you will have someone remove the mechanicals. I believe part of the watch plating expense is them having to involve a watch person to disassemble and re-assemble the watch...and sending them an annonymous case would help matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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