Gold plate is very thin and soft so that it wears through in a few years if worn constantly. We are talking of a thickness of 10-20 microns.

 

There's nothing necessarily wrong with gold plating. But gold plating over time can wear off, making the watch not look good. I personally would not want a watch with gold plating, but then I don't particularly like gold to begin with.

 

... is there a difference?

A difference between what?

 

|> Raymond Weil does an excellent job with electro-plating.

 

Yeah, there is. Gold plate is trying to be something it's not, that's what's wrong with it

 

Nonsense, unless the manufacturer is selling it as solid gold. As long as they're honest about the watch being plated I don't see anything wrong with that. With an accurate description the buyer can make their own decision.

 

The gold plating is thin, so if there is a deep scratch, the base metal will show through. It also means that you can't really polish your watch case too much, as it might wear through the gold plating. For me, it adds to the cost, but reduces the functionality and durability, as a watch is essentially a throwaway once the plating gets worn through. I'm generally not a fan of plating, and PVD and DLC coatings.

 

If you like the color consider a bronze or brass watch.

 

Appearance-wise, it may be difficult to discern between gold-plating and a gold watch proper when unscratched and not worn out. But certain brands are known to only do gold-plating or have the bulk of their watches gold-plated so that it may be possible for someone who knows his/her watches to know that a watch is gold plated just by knowing the brand/model of the watch.

I stay clear of gold plated watches though, I've seen a few that are scratched and worn out and they look horrible, truly horrible.

 

Gold plated:

 

Personally I don't have anything against gold plating, I use it for my movements:

 

You have this nice watch....It will easily last 20-30years or more, but it's plated.
and in 2,3,5years the plating is wearing off and the watch looks really cheap...
You might even say "tacky"...what do you do? Wear a "tacky" ugly watch?
Buy a new watch? If this same watch had been in S.S. it would look good
for it's entire life....Gold plating cuts the life of a good watch.(unless you don't mind being tacky)

 

I guess it depends on the quality and thickness of the plating as well. My first watch was a gold plated Swiss mechanical that looked like a Rolex president. I wore it so much that the badly scratched crystal had to be replaced. The case is full of hairline scratches but the original plating is still 100% intact. I'm not sure about the quality of the plating these days though.

 

hey, I know, why don't you guys get your women some gold plated jewelry and see how far you get....lol

Gold plate is cheap, I'd rather have all stainless than a cheap azz look of a gold plating trying to look like gold. Heck, I'd rather have brass or copper before gold plate. Hey, but to each his own.,

 

Heck, I'd rather have brass or copper before gold plate.

Until it turns your arm green? Followed closely by turning your shirt sleeve green?

Rick "gold has value beyond appearance" Denney

 

In a word, nothing. Gold plated, capped, filled, rolled watches have been with us for a long time. They are a way of enjoying a gold colored watch at a fraction of the price of one made of 14 k or 18 k. The quality color and depth of plating will vary mostly by price. A gold plated Armitron will not look like a gold plated Longines.

 

Acceptable, but certain not my first choice in metal finishes.

 

First, there are different types and grades of gold plating. In the deep past, plating was very common, but it was applied by sandwiching gold foil with a base metal (often brass) using heat and pressure. This type of plating is known either as "rolld gold" or "gold-filled". Thickness can be as much as 90 microns, but is nearly always more than 20. I have an Elgin pocket watch from 1919 that is plated in rose gold in this manner, and it shows no gaps or wear spots through plating whatsoever.

And I have a Zodiac SST dress watch from 1968 that is in a gold-filled case that also shows no damage to the plating at all.

One physical feature of this approach is that the gold is work-hardened in the process of bonding it to the base metal, and often further work-hardened when the resulting plate is formed into the case shape (which was common with pocket-watch cases). This hardening greatly improves the wear resistance of the gold layer.

The next type is electroplating, where the gold is deposited onto the base metal using a chemical reaction as a result of current flow through the solution to the base metal. In this case, the gold is left in its softest state--even softer than if it had been annealed--and it can be applied very thin. A very soft layer of gold that is less than 10 microns thick is not going to tolerate much abuse. This method is also known as a "gold wash", and became popular in the 70's. Electroplating is the reason gold-plated watches have a reputation for wear-through.

The most recent method is only a little better than electroplating, but it involves less waste and doesn't need the cyanide-based plating solution used for electroplating. It's called PVD, or Physical Vapor Deposition, which is a class of thin-film deposition methods. PVD is popular because it can provide an even thinner film than electroplating, but for watches is usually deposited at about 10 microns.

There are some who feel that plated watches are disengenuous, but this position seems to me hard to support. These same people often are quite purist in suggesting certain watch colors to match other jewelry and accesories, which puts the impecunious in the winless position of violating either their sartorial directives or their moral directives. To the notion that women wouldn't tolerate plated gold, I just laugh. Women buy costume jewelry all the time that is gold-filled or electroplated. But women are smarter than we are--they know the difference between costume jewelry and fine jewelry, or even between jewelry and "accessories".

The notion that plating is associated only with people who are putting on airs of wealth say more about those who hold such notions than those who might own plated watches. As can be seen from my examples above, plated watches have always been with us. The plating adds value quite beyond appearance alone, particularly in the day before practical stainless steels were available, in corrosion resistance. These are the same folks who eschew watches with both steel and gold surfaces, despite the practicality that those watches bring to matching other accessories, because they think in terms of wealth display instead of aesthetics. Sometimes their assumptions that those who wear plated and two-tone watches are just putting on airs are correct, but they are only assumptions.

I wear two-tone and plated watches for the same reason I wear watches on bracelets sometimes and on straps other times--I'm in the mood for that particular look. And even though they are not supposed to have heirloom value, they still do--my oldest plated watch is 95 years old and the case still looks quite fresh. My father's college buddies, back in the 40's, gave him a Hamilton pocket watch in a rolled-gold case, and it has the same heirloom value as if it was in a solid gold case.

Solid-gold watches have more dollar value because of the metal content, but for me that affects their value in dollars only. That dimension is important to me only during buying and selling.

Rick "wearing a two-tone watch even today" Denney

 

The problem with gold plating is that certain axxhats will make judgements about you because of it even as far as you were concerned, it was just a colour choice.

 

I have a 1972 Soviet watch with gold plating (10 microns I think), and after all the years, including a good year of near constant wearing it myself since purchase, it is still in fair cosmetic condition. There is wear showing at the ends of the lugs and places where it has had a lot of contact/wear.

Now... if the Soviets did it (and they were notoriously stingy with valuable stuff, lol), then I think that contemporary brands can do it better. Contemporary brands, like Raymond Weil & Frederique Constant, as people have already mentioned here, offer watches with a high quality of gold plating.

Obviously, it doesn't have the same level of ostentation and raw value as a solid gold watch has, but I think it is a viable and great alternative, so long as one is aware of the fall backs. One pays for what they get, I suppose.

 

How long do you think this "Gold" will last?

 

Cheap watches will look cheap no matter what they are made of.

Rick "thinking this watch would look better on a strap" Denney

 

I can see both sides of this debate. Frankly I'm more into menswear than I am watches so aesthetics are not something I discount (remember I'm the guy always championing ETA or other movements of a unique in-house contraption) but I do agree that gold plated watches feel disingenuous sometimes. I place gold plated watches into the same category that I do homages, it's not necessarily an affront to me if someone wears a Squale diver that clearly is trying to be a Sub but at the same time it isn't something I'd do.

I actually purchased a gold plated FC for the lady friend that she enjoys wearing on dressy occasions but mentally I look at it as costume jewelry even though I view my very similar FC in stainless as a "real watch."

and mine

 

It's ugly. And gets worse with age.

 

It's ugly.

I'm curious. How can you tell? And the stainless steel back isn't an acceptable answer--that is not visible to anyone but the owner.

Rick "whose X-ray vision is lacking" Denney

 

I have a gold plated Christopher Ward C5. It is over 5 years old. There is no "gold" wear on it.
At no time have anyone ever ask me if that was real gold nor have I ever said "hey look at my gold watch".
I have always refer to it as my gold-toned watch.
At the price point of "real" gold, I would never own one. It is beyond my means. Secondly gold is a relatively soft metal. My real gold solid wedding band is no longer a circle, but a oval with a pregnant hump on one side. I chose and paid for a gold band because of the meaning. A gold-toned watch is just an accessory.
I put real in quotes because at what karat is gold considered real.?

 

I have a gold plated Christopher Ward C5. It is over 5 years old. There is no "gold" wear on it.
At no time have anyone ever ask me if that was real gold nor have I ever said "hey look at my gold watch".
I have always refer to it as my gold-toned watch.
At the price point of "real" gold, I would never own one. It is beyond my means. Secondly gold is a relatively soft metal. My real gold solid wedding band is no longer a circle, but a oval with a pregnant hump on one side. I chose and paid for a gold band because of the meaning. A gold-toned watch is just an accessory.
I put real in quotes because at what karat is gold considered real.?

The gold on a plated watch is real gold, same as on a solid watch. In fact, 14K gold-filled has a higher gold content on the visible surface than a 10K solid-gold watch.

Rick "beauty may only be skin-deep, but the skin is all I can see" Denney

 

Gold plating is a bit of a gamble. My ex has a gold plated watch that has been her daily wear for over 20 years and it still looks pristine but my mate has a gold plated Seiko of a similar age that has had much less use and it's looking tatty.

 

Rick has given a definitive post on gold filling/plating so I won't add anything but this:

Fortune "20 years" Gold Filled Case. 1901. Still looks pretty good to me.

 

What's wrong with gold plating? You take a metal, you accept that it's not fine enough and you try to turn it to something that it isn't. But you fail, because it's still the same metal but now it's also a fake. Not of another watch, but of another metal.

Now it's your turn, OP. Tell me what's right with gold plating.

 

What's wrong with gold plating? You take a metal, you accept that it's not fine enough and you try to turn it to something that it isn't. But you fail, because it's still the same metal but now it's also a fake. Not of another watch, but of another metal.

Now it's your turn, OP. Tell me what's right with gold plating.

Balderdash. Gold plating is putting a coating on a base metal that will stay shiny and yellow with little or no maintenance. Few other materials will do that as well, and they aren't much cheaper (some are more expensive). When the plating is applied to steel, for example, it preserves the much greater strength of steel while providing the finish and color of gold. It is a good use of resources, just like exotic veneers over strong secondary woods, which is considered more sustainable.

As I said up-thread, the way you describe the issue says more about your own gold-as-display-of-wealth viewpoint than anything. It seems to me rather condescending. Was that your intention?

Rick "calling it like he sees it" Denney