Interested in changing your stainless steel Apple Watch® into gold?
You love the look, but you don’t want to spend 10k-20k on the new Apple Watch? The good news is that Apple is offering many of their models in finely crafted stainless steel. We are very excited to announce that beginning May 1st 2015, the Artisan plating team will be providing gold plating services for selected stainless steel models from the new Apple watch product line. We will be using our industry leading special gold formula of hardened 18kt gold plating to transform your Apple stainless steel watch and band to be indistinguishable from the real thing!
Our plating specifications for transforming your new stainless steel Apple Watch® into gold
We will be plating only apple watches that are made from stainless steel. Once we receive your new apple watch it will be closely inspected for any surface flaws. We prefer that you send your watch to us fresh and new. Avoid the temptation of wearing it a few weeks as there is a chance you could scratch the pristine new surface. Once we receive your watch it will be plated in gold using the following specifications:
- Gold color: Our 18kt gold plated color will precisely match the appearance of real alloyed gold offered by Apple for this product. Keep in mind that all gold plating is 98% pure gold; the remainder is composed of tiny amounts of chemical additives that tint the gold to a precise color. Our gold plating technology avoids the use of cobalt as an additive to avoid the orange brown appearance of the plated gold. Frankly we think it looks cheap! Our 18kt gold plating was made to color match the real thing.
- Gold Thickness: For all stainless steel watches, buckles and bands offered by Apple, we will be plating the 18kt gold to a thickness of 5.0 microns. The FTC industry standards for gold watch plating is 3.0 microns. We believe that the wear life of 5.0 microns of gold will far exceed the “technology life” of the Apple watch. In addition, the value proposition of cost to gold plate versus durability of the gold watch is reasonable and rational based on watch industry standards. We could (if you insist) plate the gold much thicker but believe that it would be wasting your money. Our pore free layer of electroplated gold will be very durable and spectacular in appearance. For more information on gold plating thickness and how it is measured please, refer to our gold plating thicknesses article.
- Gold Hardness: There is a great deal of misinformation about “cobalt hardened” gold plating. All gold is soft and will scratch and dent. It is true that cobalt is used chemically to harden gold plating. Unfortunately, cobalt additives can impart an “orange brown” color to the final gold color. You will see this type of gold plating used on automobile wheels and trophies. We will use an 18kt gold that matches the hardness and scratch resistance without the “costume” gold color. The real good news is that our 18kt gold plating will be as scratch resistant as the 18kt gold alloy (assuming 210-220 Knoop hardness) being used by Apple for their gold watch. Because your watch is made of hard bright and chrome rich 316 stainless steel, your freshly gold plated watch will be far more dent resistant than the real Apple gold watch as well!
Projected Price Range
We are currently offering gold plating services for stainless steel Apple Watches to the public with a price range of $550-$700. Your exact price for our gold plating services will be dependent on the type of stainless steel watch model you have selected to purchase from your Apple retailer. If you are interested in having your new Apple watch safely custom plated by skilled professional artisans with over 40 years plating experience, give us a call to discuss the details and to schedule a time to transform your stainless steel Apple watch into gold!
To see more pictures, check out our article “First images of a gold plated Apple Watch®”. Ready to order now? Download our customer care kit for pricing.
*Apple Watch® is a registered trademark of Apple incorporated. Our company’s information is not sponsored by, endorsed or affiliated with Apple incorporated. All images contained in this article are property of Metal Arts Specialties LLC.
Metal Arts Specialties
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