Introduction
One of the most confusing issues for an owner of a vintage or heirloom watch in need of replating, is sorting through all the confusing and unfamiliar technical terms that are used to describe plating thickness, quality standards and best practices.
Navigating through all of this seemingly contradictory data can be very frustrating even for the most diligent consumer. This frustration is entirely understandable. The electroplating process is complicated! Explaining it in laymen’s term without oversimplification is extremely difficult.
In some cases, well intended explanations offered to the public have led to a huge amount of misinformation, amusing urban myths, and unnecessary technical biases within the jewelry trade and the related watch repair field.
It is easy to see why that most of the time the poor watch in need of replating, will end up back in the dresser drawer. For those of us who enjoy the beauty and pleasure of wearing a distinctive vintage watch, this is indeed a shame.
But before you decide to stash that watch back in the sock drawer, let’s make another attempt at correctly learning some of the key technical terms and basic concepts you will need to know before having a watch replated.
Explaining all of the important details without compromising technical correctness is a daunting task. As a result this article will be quite lengthy. At the summation of all of this, you can also refer to the frequently asked question FAQs section on watch replating. That particular section can help you put most of the technical information from this article into a more “real world” context. Hopefully all this data won’t give you a headache!
[fblock title=”For additional Information…” icon=” fa-book fa-fw”]For additional information regarding electroplating and metal refinishing, be sure to visit our faqs section located on this site. If we can assist you in your custom plating and metal refinishing needs, please contact us.[/fblock]
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