I successfully goldplated the applewatch!

[AKMacGuy]

I didn't see a generic plating thread so I hope this is OK to post here. I just got my watch back from Artisan Plating and it is amazing! Every surface is perfect, the color is a dead on match for the Rose Gold Edition and the service from Dave and hit team was exceptional.

 

[3under2]

Was planning on sending mine in but was sort of on the fence. Now, no way to this company .

 

[zlin9596]

I didn't see a generic plating thread so I hope this is OK to post here. I just got my watch back from Artisan Plating and it is amazing! Every surface is perfect, the color is a dead on match for the Rose Gold Edition and the service from Dave and hit team was exceptional.
View attachment 560317 View attachment 560318

its 450 just for the watch right? not including the bands

 

[AKMacGuy]

its 450 just for the watch right? not including the bands

Yep, I had them do my sport band too so the total was $550.

 

[RyanFlynn]

Hey Everyone, Just a quick update. We've plated more than 500 watches and received more than 25,000 emails. I've had to hire 8 people and we are doing our best to make sure everyone is happy! If anyone has any issues with our plating or your watch, please email us and my tear or i will take care of you! I couldn't be more grateful for the macrumors community and the new friends we've made through this business.

Thanks again!
Ryan

 

[rozelida]

My watchplate.com review:

Received my plated watch today, and while not as upset as @msaghirmd, I do understand his/her concerns.

Communication: Practically non-existent. Sent numerous emails before during and after the process and received a total of 3 in return. The label, confirmation that they would try to do the adapter prior to me sending it in, and an email finally received a day before it was shipped (4 business days after they received it).

Shipping and delivery: My order # is 11 and when purchased the completion was explicitly stated as 3 business days along with 35 microns on the website. Believed this changed afterwards but that does not apply to my order or at least it shouldn't have. Return shipping notification sent from Fedex (no notification from company) on the evening of the 5th business day. Box was also returned dirty, (not a big deal for me but may be for others).

Product review: From a distance the quality looks great, much like the other glowing reviews in the thread. Up close the watch itself also looks good, but the bands are a totally different story. The adapters were returned unplated with no explanation on if they tried or not.

 

[rozelida]

Think the pictures will tell the story better with the bands. The specific areas of concerns are the ends of the adapter for the milanese band which do not appear to be plated at all and the sections of the inside of the band. In addition, sport band plating does not appear to be uniform.

Most likely @msaghirmd and I were expecting too much based on the other glowing reviews (although I was #11, specifically waited to send mine in until real reviews came in, just didn't wait long enough).

Overall I am fine with it since the issues can not be seen when wearing. Will not be returning the bands for correction, but may consider using another company for band plating once I receive my rebate.

Hope this helps everyone else that may be considering. Realize that this is the lowest cost option currently (outside of DIY) and unfortunately the process and product are now reflecting that.

 

[rozelida]

Yes, with that volume I now understand the quality I received unfortunately. Hopefully I will not have to wait or put up a fight for my rebate.

Hey Everyone, Just a quick update. We've plated more than 500 watches and received more than 25,000 emails. I've had to hire 8 people and we are doing our best to make sure everyone is happy! If anyone has any issues with our plating or your watch, please email us and my tear or i will take care of you! I couldn't be more grateful for the macrumors community and the new friends we've made through this business.

Thanks again!
Ryan

 

[RyanFlynn]

Yes, with that volume I now understand the quality I received unfortunately. Hopefully I will not have to wait or put up a fight for my rebate.

Hey Rozelida,

I'm going to contact you via the phone tomorrow regarding your milanese band. we've improved our process and would like to replate your band if your willing to let it go for a few days. We switched to a dedicated tank and are happy with the result. Also, you're $100 is sent as of right now. Regarding the responses to emails, we just hired a dedicated support team. That should be implemented in the next week.

Thanks!
Ryan

 

[EriCKY]

Hey Rozelida,

I'm going to contact you via the phone tomorrow regarding your milanese band. we've improved our process and would like to replate your band if your willing to let it go for a few days. We switched to a dedicated tank and are happy with the result. Also, you're $100 is sent as of right now. Regarding the responses to emails, we just hired a dedicated support team. That should be implemented in the next week.

Thanks!
Ryan

hey buddy

you guys got my watch today please take special care of it

i got the two day shipping hope to see it back soon...

 

[rozelida]

Thank you for your reply. That would be great if it can be received back in a week and the color will still match the watch.

Please email me the return label and I can ship on Monday.

Hey Rozelida,

I'm going to contact you via the phone tomorrow regarding your milanese band. we've improved our process and would like to replate your band if your willing to let it go for a few days. We switched to a dedicated tank and are happy with the result. Also, you're $100 is sent as of right now. Regarding the responses to emails, we just hired a dedicated support team. That should be implemented in the next week.

Thanks!
Ryan

 

[travelguy2500]

Iran - Perhaps you can get your team to reply to my emails too. My original plating arrived damaged and you replaced it (which took a lot longer than promised) and the returned watch looks great but the mic was dead out of the box upon return even after several reboots and resets. All in, I had the watch less than 6 hours since I bought it, you've had it 2 weeks between the two plating jobs and it didn't work out of the box after the second plating. Perhaps my post here can elicit a response to my multiple emails in the last week since it came back broken. BR

 

[bamjamdam]

I was order #3 and I'm sorry some of you are not happy but I've been nothing but pleased from my watch and bands. He's done plating on my milanese, black sports band, and blue leather loop and all look amazing! My apple watch box was clean. My plating was done exceptionally well. I've been getting nothing but rave reviews from everyone about how incredible it looks.

 

[EdisEdward]

It looks like the problem is that Ryan is hiring a bunch of unskilled laborers to meet the demand. plain and simple

 

[RyanFlynn]

Hey Everyone, I've been reading through this forum and am taking a lot of what I'm seeing here to heart. I've been working out of the country and really didn't want to step away, but contracts were signed and i needed to be in Progue. I hired a couple people to manage my day to day at watchplate.com, but unfortunately our email response time took a nose dive and a few people fell through the cracks. Here is what I'm doing to fix it:

1: I'm contacting everyone who has had a negative experience personally and doing whatever it takes to make them happy.
2: We are upgrading our customer service management system from just answering emails as they come in (which gets overwhelming) to hiring two dedicated reps and using a software solution called ZenDesk. Support tickets, escalation and a phone number we can be reached at.
3: While this is being implemented, please feel free to email me directly at Ryan@watchplate.com with your order number and phone number. I'll personally call you.

I couldn't be more grateful for the macrumors community and tech nerds for trusting us with your watches. Our feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, but the few people that have fallen through the cracks need to be taken care of and thats what I'm here to do! Our Customer service should be vastly improved in the next week, but please not hesitate to reach out!

Thanks again!
Ryan

 

[travelguy2500]

update: spoke to Ryan this am and they have ordered a new watch to replace the one damaged in plating. Given the backlog in getting orders shipped from Apple then the time for plating, I expect it will be at least two weeks before I get my new plated watch. After a 'dry spell' with no communications from Watchplate, there was a flurry of email/calls this am - the final outcome awaits delivery of my plated watch in a few weeks and I'll let everyone know when I have a watch. Hopefully, the third time is the charm

 

[zmunkz]

I am definitely on the list of happy customers. People are always blown away when they see my watch... I have the black sport, the milanese, and a 3rd party red leather that came with gold hardware. All three looks are solid as hell.

I do have to say, I've noticed one troubling thing. Check out these pictures of the pin on my sport band, which was fully plated upon receipt about 3 weeks ago. As you can see the actual pin which is visible when the watch is on looks fine, but the back part that touches my skin is 99% de-plated.

I maintain the watch nightly with water and a cleaning fabric designed for gold plated jewelry that I grabbed off amazon. On a day when I am perspiring a lot (it has been hot in NY the last week, and the sport band definitely brings on the wrist sweat) I make a point of moving the watch on my arm, or even removing it and rinsing it. This is all in accordance with instructions you can find on any jewelry site for maintaining plated jewelry.

Despite this, the pin has already been wiped almost totally back to the SS. The watch body itself looks great still, which is good, but this makes me very nervous about the longevity of plating in general. I was hoping an easy 2 years particularly given the thickness of this process, but 3 weeks... not ideal.

Again, not complaining yet. I love the watch and the reaction it gets. But if in another 6 weeks I'm seeing the same thing on the back of the watch body itself... well that won't be good.

Any of the other early adopters having similar issues?

 

[EriCKY]

I am definitely on the list of happy customers. People are always blown away when they see my watch... I have the black sport, the milanese, and a 3rd party red leather that came with gold hardware. All three looks are solid as hell.

I do have to say, I've noticed one troubling thing. Check out these pictures of the pin on my sport band, which was fully plated upon receipt about 3 weeks ago. As you can see the actual pin which is visible when the watch is on looks fine, but the back part that touches my skin is 99% de-plated.

I maintain the watch nightly with water and a cleaning fabric designed for gold plated jewelry that I grabbed off amazon. On a day when I am perspiring a lot (it has been hot in NY the last week, and the sport band definitely brings on the wrist sweat) I make a point of moving the watch on my arm, or even removing it and rinsing it. This is all in accordance with instructions you can find on any jewelry site for maintaining plated jewelry.

Despite this, the pin has already been wiped almost totally back to the SS. The watch body itself looks great still, which is good, but this makes me very nervous about the longevity of plating in general. I was hoping an easy 2 years particularly given the thickness of this process, but 3 weeks... not ideal.

Again, not complaining yet. I love the watch and the reaction it gets. But if in another 6 weeks I'm seeing the same thing on the back of the watch body itself... well that won't be good.

Any of the other early adopters having similar issues?

See this is what has me terrified. A sports band is one thing but I sent in a link bracelet and am terrified of incredibly fast fading (I also live in nyc)

It's making me really anxious as every other company is offering a 2 year warranty and since we used watchplate we only get 30 days...

I used watchplate to support a macrumors member but I'm really worried I'll regret not picking another source when I get my watch back.

 

[Vgm1987]

I am definitely on the list of happy customers. People are always blown away when they see my watch... I have the black sport, the milanese, and a 3rd party red leather that came with gold hardware. All three looks are solid as hell.

I do have to say, I've noticed one troubling thing. Check out these pictures of the pin on my sport band, which was fully plated upon receipt about 3 weeks ago. As you can see the actual pin which is visible when the watch is on looks fine, but the back part that touches my skin is 99% de-plated.

I maintain the watch nightly with water and a cleaning fabric designed for gold plated jewelry that I grabbed off amazon. On a day when I am perspiring a lot (it has been hot in NY the last week, and the sport band definitely brings on the wrist sweat) I make a point of moving the watch on my arm, or even removing it and rinsing it. This is all in accordance with instructions you can find on any jewelry site for maintaining plated jewelry.

Despite this, the pin has already been wiped almost totally back to the SS. The watch body itself looks great still, which is good, but this makes me very nervous about the longevity of plating in general. I was hoping an easy 2 years particularly given the thickness of this process, but 3 weeks... not ideal.

Again, not complaining yet. I love the watch and the reaction it gets. But if in another 6 weeks I'm seeing the same thing on the back of the watch body itself... well that won't be good.

Any of the other early adopters having similar issues?

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961)]Hey Guys! So far I am on the happy customer list as well. The watch looks great and it works perfectly. The plating had a few stains when I got it but they have almost disappeared in a matter of days. Its not noticible unless you are searching really hard for imperfections.

Shipping was pretty fast. Definetly better than what I was expecting! They only kept my watch for one bussiness day. I did pay extra for 2 day shipping to speed up the process a bit.

I would definetly recomend Watch Plate. Communication might be slow with them but I am really thankful we have this platform to share our experiences and find support if something were to go wrong.

The only thing that worries me now is the plating fading because of sweat. I am a runner and my plan always was to wear my watch even during my runs, specially since Watch Plate claimed to had a higher level of microns on their plating. I might buy a cover to wear over the watch for when I'm running or maybe even try it without it. I will let everyone know how its holding up later on.

Has anyone been wearing their plated watches during workout of while sweating? If so, how is it holding up?

Here are a few pictures of my watch. (PS: this is not the band that I plated. I will latet post some extra pictures with the actual black leather plated band)[/COLOR]

 

[mbapple]

Anymore updates on this thread? Would love to see how the plating is holding up over weeks and months. Just bought a second Apple Watch to get plated. Please share more photos. Also, what is the current wait or backlog?

 

[Vgm1987]

Anymore updates on this thread? Would love to see how the plating is holding up over weeks and months. Just bought a second Apple Watch to get plated. Please share more photos. Also, what is the current wait or backlog?

I sent mine a couple of weeks ago and shipping was super fast. They only kept it for one business day. I dont really know how busy they are at the moment. My plating seems to be holding up pretty good. I dont see any changes from day one to now, but as I said, I have only been wearing it for a couple of weeks. I would love to know how other watches are looking after months.

 

[UFG]

WatchPlate received my watch last Tuesday (7/9). They haven't shipped it back yet. I emailed them this morning and they still haven't responded with where my watch is or what is happening. I'm quite in the dark right now.

 

[noobinator]

30 day warranty? Wow, run don't walk away.

 

[bunnicula]

WatchPlate received my watch last Tuesday (7/9). They haven't shipped it back yet. I emailed them this morning and they still haven't responded with where my watch is or what is happening. I'm quite in the dark right now.

If a company doesn't respond to inquiries within one business day, I do not do business with them.

It sounds like this one was started to make money by undercutting the competition and it's been very successful in attracting people who want their watches plated for as little money as possible.

I firmly believe that I get what I pay for. In regards to products AND services. Including customer service.

Complain on here. I suspect he'll answer you here. It seems to be pretty common for people with complaints to get answered on MR.

Damage control, probably.

I think the business grew faster than the support staff. Or the facilities in which to plate these watches.

Frankly, any place with only a 30-day warranty for an item of this value would not be a place I'd do business.

 

[noobinator]

If a company doesn't respond to inquiries within one business day, I do not do business with them.

It sounds like this one was started to make money by undercutting the competition and it's been very successful in attracting people who want their watches plated for as little money as possible.

I firmly believe that I get what I pay for. In regards to products AND services. Including customer service.

Complain on here. I suspect he'll answer you here. It seems to be pretty common for people with complaints to get answered on MR.

Damage control, probably.

I think the business grew faster than the support staff. Or the facilities in which to plate these watches.

Frankly, any place with only a 30-day warranty for an item of this value would not be a place I'd do business.

In one of his first posts he said he could plate 1,000+ watches per day. At the price they are charging, that's quite a revenue stream. I'd imagine you could hire some people quickly with those revenues and profits.

Since this boom is short-lived I'm guessing profits outweigh quality. I'm afraid this thread will turn ugly as time goes on and watches fade/rub etc...