I successfully goldplated the applewatch!

[RyanFlynn]

Hey Friends,

My wife loves the look of the gold apple watch, but could never justify spending 10k+ on one, so I gold plated her Stainless steel Milanese apple watch. Well, i actually plated 2! I was going to keep it, but I think i'm going to stick with my 42mm link when it finally arrives, so its hitting ebay. (apple won't accept the return)

Anyway, here are some pictures of the finished product:

 

[Paulshaqz]

i like it!

 

[Kyone]

Wow! Great job guys! It's way cooler than the original.

 

[imaginex20]

How?? You did it yourself?

 

[WilliamG]

That looks fantastic.

 

[RyanFlynn]

How?? You did it yourself?

We own part of a motorcycle shop out here in LA, so I have access to the the equipment and chemicals required to do something like this. Wouldn't recommend trying it without some knowledge

 

[imaginex20]

We own part of a motorcycle shop out here in LA, so I have access to the the equipment and chemicals required to do something like this. Wouldn't recommend trying it without some knowledge

I figured you had some experience. How much did the material cost, if you know?

 

[RyanFlynn]

The gold itself is probably worth about $60 as its an extremely thin plating, but the labor involved is where the costs lie.

 

[CPx]

That looks... pretty cool! Did you clear coat it or anything? Are you worried about chipping?

 

[Kyone]

We own part of a motorcycle shop out here in LA, so I have access to the the equipment and chemicals required to do something like this. Wouldn't recommend trying it without some knowledge

And your custom motorcycles are super cool too! Very nice job guys

 

[imaginex20]

The gold itself is probably worth about $6 as its an extremely thin plating, but the labor involved is where the costs lie.

Thanks! Looks great by the way. Might even say it looks better than the Edition.

 

[claydoh]

You could make some serious $$$ doing that for other people I think. I believe some people would pay a couple hundred to have it done and look that good. I don't know how many hours labor it took but there is money to be made there. I would consider doing it to my SS milanese.

 

[imaginex20]

That looks... pretty cool! Did you clear coat it or anything? Are you worried about chipping?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but gold plating is an ion bonding of two metals, no clear coating required. But overtime, the gold plating can crack from corrosion if the surface is not taken care of.

I see a lot of car rims' chrome plating crack

 

[nfl46]

Wow! I am impressed! Damn, that looks good!

 

[AlliFlowers]

Really nice! Great job!!

 

[dannyyankou]

I was going into this thread prepared to post something snarky, but that surprisingly looks really good.

 

[ttexxan]

Too bad I dont like gold Jewelry because this turned out really nice...I def think better than 10,000K...You could make some serious coin doing this

 

[Joe1602]

cool story bro. No I mean it, that's pretty cool!

 

[robaroo]

that looks nice. a gold plated ss link bracelet would look HOT!

 

[penajmz]

Wow that looks great, would love to have that when I get my Milanese loop.

 

[ttexxan]

Nice photo of the wife as well LOL : >)....Judging by wrist size and mid drift I bet she is smoken wearing that gold

 

[RyanFlynn]

Thanks everyone! I'm very excited about how it turned out. I'll build a square space site this weekend and see what the interest is like. Does $499 seem reasonable for this service?

 

[WilliamG]

Thanks everyone! I'm very excited about how it turned out. I'll build a square space site this weekend and see what the interest is like. Does $499 seem reasonable for this service?

I was thinking $399.

 

[AppleWarMachine]

very nicely done

 

[CPx]

$400-500 seems about right? Not that I know anything about the process.

Any thoughts on longevity/resilience of the gold plating? How prone to chipping/scratching?