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I successfully goldplated the applewatch!

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jaykk said:
Looks great..

What I want is a black milanese loop.
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We can do black chrome. I have my personal 42mm milanese ss coming soon, and i'm going to do a black chrome band and gold face. More masculine in my opinion.

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macachia said:
How is the milanese strap holding up? I'm asking as the milanese runs through a loop all the time and can scratch perhaps?

Thanks
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So far its holding up well, but only time will tell. The watch face looks absolutely perfect.

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evolkatie said:
Rose gold will be a money maker
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I agree. I just added it as an option.
 
Looks damn legit to me!

Wonder how much it would be to just gold-plate the watch and not the band...
 
So I assume you have to completely disassemble the watch down to the shell. Based on the Ifixit teardowns that doesn't look easy with parts held on with adhesive that has to be re-glued, and yes warrantees are void by this action alone.
 
RianFlynn said:
Great call. I'll reassess after a few orders come in #humble
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Don't be scared to increase prices as time goes on.Your low price of $399 is what everyone is going crazy about right now. Ride it. Keep it there if you can, drum up the excitement - you can always raise it later.
 
You should consider limiting this business to the LA area (no mailed-in orders) before going wide just to see if your technique holds up and to keep complaints to a minimum on social media/online.

Just my 2 cents as a marketer.

Good luck in your venture.
 
mrex said:
just some thoughts... gold plating a watch is different than gold plating a motorcycle object. the watch is contacted to your skin. when you do cold plating process, i hope you dont use the typical woods nickel method that may cause an allergic reaction.
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uhhh is there really a method that is more prone to allergic reactions?
 
RianFlynn said:
We can do black chrome. I have my personal 42mm milanese ss coming soon, and i'm going to do a black chrome band and gold face. More masculine in my opinion.
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Please post pics of the black chrome! I'm kinda over the shininess of the stainless steel already. How about gunmetal or a brushed metal? Something not shiny.

I live in the LA area too...
 
archrider said:
So I assume you have to completely disassemble the watch down to the shell....
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I don't know that needs to be done. The OP should call this proprietary knowledge, IMO. But so long as everything is metal and there is conductance between the parts, he could submerge the whole watch and get a good plating. Previous efforts have shown the watch submergence tolerance good to a few feet and they only need a few inches, so ......

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ddkkpp said:
uhhh is there really a method that is more prone to allergic reactions?
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I have no clue. But there was a thread discussing high nickle content in wearable as being an allergic problem for some folks. And the ever popular "that gold jewelry turned my skin green.." of the past.

In regards to cost, I'd recommend the OP also talk to his insurance carrier as well as his lawyers. That can add quite a bit to the bottom line.
 
Damn, do you actually disassemble the entire watch to do this? If so, that's a heck of a lot of work based on iFixIt's teardown.
 
I am pretty pumped about this, but I do want to share one thing so people are aware. I had a chat with Apple this evening, and told they told me pretty explicitly that this would void the warrantee and disqualify you from your AppleCare+ coverage (including the incidental replacements). I didn't show them the website or anything, so they were just going by my description, but I would guess that doesn't change anything. Furthermore, AppleCare must be applied to the watch+band combo you originally bought, which means both need to be unmodified and returned in order to use the incidental replacement. The guy said if I wanted to do this and be fully covered, the only combo he could recommend was buying an extra milanese (so I would have the original unmodified) and plating that, and not plating the watch body.

Anyway just putting this out there so everyone knows. I'm definitely getting the band done, then I figure I can order another one later if I'll need it to return with the watch. I'm torn on doing the body ... I feel like it would still look good SS/Gold. What do you guys think? Price is the same based on his website.

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GreenFrog said:
Damn, do you actually disassemble the entire watch to do this? If so, that's a heck of a lot of work based on iFixIt's teardown.
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I think the process just relies on the conductive properties of the SS and a current to attract gold atoms... The Gold basically ignores the non metallic parts and attaches to the metal, and no disassembly is needed. But the OP can clarify I am sure, I know little about this.
 
zmunkz said:
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I think the process just relies on the conductive properties of the SS and a current to attract gold atoms... The Gold basically ignores the non metallic parts and attaches to the metal, and no disassembly is needed. But the OP can clarify I am sure, I know little about this.
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That makes sense. I'd be worried about the electric current running through the watch and messing with the electronics. Looks like the watch is unaffected, though, so who knows?

I'd love to learn about the science behind this.
 
If you really want your apple watch gold plated, simply do research on people who gold plate their car parts. This is a very common practice in the car modding scene. Simply look for a reputable shop that can refinished wheels. The process use is common and isn't a $394+ dollar labor job that people are charging for it. Can be done for a fraction of the price easily.
 
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I would be wary of using black chrome on something like the watch. It's going to wear off and look bad -- there's a reason that Apple is using DLC for their high-end watch.
 
Honey Badger said:
Check these bad boys out:
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Nice job! I admit I was expecting something tacky when i saw the subject, but I was wrong. It looks great.

I would consider this look, very slick!

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