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I successfully goldplated the applewatch!

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Wow. Can I purchase an watch from apple and let it deliver at your store to be goldplated and then send to the Netherlands? Let's set up a goldplate transatlantic business

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RianFlynn said:
Hey guys, I'm convinced. I'm going to do this. I just talked to my coowners and we can do 1000+ day. I'm putting together a squarespace page right now.



$399 seems like a good price. Its worth it for us, but not outrageous. I would totally do it if I didn't already own the shop
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Where is the link to your shop? Want to have a couple!

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Found the watchplate.com. Just subscribed! As soon as it is available in the Netherlands expect my order. Can't wait!!
 
GreenFrog said:
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.
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Yeah this is what I was thinking. If the watch is powered down, then that probably mitigates a lot of these issues. On the other hand, I'd think that the internal components would need to be isolated from the watch case, and perhaps that's the case. The digital crown is the only part that might not be able to be isolated from conductive material on the logic board, but perhaps it is. Even powered down, an errant current can zap a chip.
 
Has anyone actually done this yet? I have my watch in hand today, so I'm sending it to him tomorrow... was hoping to hear at least one success story first, but maybe I'll be the first one (not counting his own). I am anxious about losing the warrantee, but as far as i can tell, everything is working fine, so I think I am good. I posted a thread here to see if people had ideas what to check before sending it, to make sure I don't miss a "known" problem before voiding things, but nobody responded:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1878781/
 
Very sharp! Definitely interested in doing this once I get my watch in June.

I ordered a 42mm SS with a white sport band, but ordered myself a few third-party Click adapters (which has a stainless steel/silver finish). Could that be included in your rate to gold plate the adapters as well?
 
Bigdog9586 said:
I what happens if the watch dies and needs to go back to Apple. Out a few hundred bucks.
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Then you would have to pay the out-of-warrantee service fee, which I think I remember seeing was to the tune of $350 or something. That is the risk...

illippinno said:
I ordered a 42mm SS with a white sport band, but ordered myself a few third-party Click adapters (which has a stainless steel/silver finish). Could that be included in your rate to gold plate the adapters as well?
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I emailed the guy the same question about the SS Click... in my case I would have to send them separately, but I am hoping he can do that.
 
What about just plating the bands and not the casing? That would most definitely not void the warranty on the casing, and it would give customers a lower cost option.

And possibly various colors? Something like steel gray:

 
FYI, I called Apple and they confirmed that the 18K bands are not sold separately from the edition... you will need to plate any bands you want to match post-op.

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Xcellere said:
What about just plating the bands and not the casing? That would most definitely not void the warranty on the casing, and it would give customers a lower cost option.

And possibly various colors? Something like steel gray:
Click to expand...

Good option, but you will need an EXTRA band to do this. I went through this scenario with the Apple rep, and they said for AppleCare and most regular warrantee services, they would need customers to return the watch and the original band, BOTH unmodified, in order to be eligible for the coverage. The only scenario they could give me that kept the warrantee in tact was buying a separate milanese band, plating that one, not plating the watch body, and keeping the original SS milanese in a box somewhere in case I needed to call on the warrantee.

In that scenario, you could really just plate the original, but figure if you ever need to hit the warrantee, you might need to buy another milanese to send back as your "unmodified" one, so it turns the AppleCare incidental $79 fee into $228. For me that is close enough to the out-of-warrantee fee, that I just figured **** it. What is life without a little risk.
 
Or just buy a SS BSB and an extra Milanese, that way you don't have two expensive bands.

zmunkz said:
FYI, I called Apple and they confirmed that the 18K bands are not sold separately from the edition... you will need to plate any bands you want to match post-op.

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Good option, but you will need an EXTRA band to do this. I went through this scenario with the Apple rep, and they said for AppleCare and most regular warrantee services, they would need customers to return the watch and the original band, BOTH unmodified, in order to be eligible for the coverage. The only scenario they could give me that kept the warrantee in tact was buying a separate milanese band, plating that one, not plating the watch body, and keeping the original SS milanese in a box somewhere in case I needed to call on the warrantee.

In that scenario, you could really just plate the original, but figure if you ever need to hit the warrantee, you might need to buy another milanese to send back as your "unmodified" one, so it turns the AppleCare incidental $79 fee into $228. For me that is close enough to the out-of-warrantee fee, that I just figured **** it. What is life without a little risk.
Click to expand...
 
Xcellere said:
Or just buy a SS BSB and an extra Milanese, that way you don't have two expensive bands.
Click to expand...

Yeah, definitely... if you are buying the watch with this in mind, get the cheapest band. Myself, I pre-ordered without any awareness that this would come up, so I had already opted for the milanese bundle. For me, I would always need an "unmodified" milanese in order to return the bundle as ordered.

All that said, there was another thread where Apple was having some people just return the body, and specifically instructing them to remove the bands. Not sure what service that was for, but given that Apple has handed out some conflicting info recently, it is possible the info I got about the band was not correct.
 
zmunkz said:
Yeah, definitely... if you are buying the watch with this in mind, get the cheapest band. Myself, I pre-ordered without any awareness that this would come up, so I had already opted for the milanese bundle. For me, I would always need an "unmodified" milanese in order to return the bundle as ordered.

All that said, there was another thread where Apple was having some people just return the body, and specifically instructing them to remove the bands. Not sure what service that was for, but given that Apple has handed out some conflicting info recently, it is possible the info I got about the band was not correct.
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Would Apple care which band you sent the Watch in with, even if it wasn't the original? I would think all that matters is that you have an OEM band on it. Could be wrong, though that seems like good sense.
 
I would def. be in for a gold or possibly space grey plated Band/Loop. Not sure I want to mess with getting my watch body plated but I would for sure do a strap!!
 
jekyoo said:
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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Just bear in mind that they cannot plate stainless steel without it being specifically prepared.

Find a shop that knows how and has the chemicals, or is willing to learn. It's different from doing chrome. (There's not a lot of stainless steel car parts except some manifolds, pumps and exhaust pipes.)

Also, this is an electronic device, not a dead lump of metal. Might not be much of a factor, but still :)
 
rozelida said:
Any updates? Haven't seen the thread starter answer this post.
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Yeah I think since his own watch arrived he hasn't been on here as much... I've been emailing with his team (wife?) via info@watchplate.com, and it sounds like they are a little overwhelmed with orders.

My own watch is in the mail today, I'll post back so you guys can see how it went.... I guess probably early next week.

One other update, I had a GB appointment last night to do a diagnosis on my watch before I voided the warantee, just to make sure it had a clean bill of health. They told me one other piece of info that was new: this process not only voids the warrantee and AppleCare, but also disqualifies me from out-of-warrantee service. Basically, if we do this we are on our own.

Also, if you have the SS Click adaptor, these guys are saying they can plate those too along with the watch/band for no extra charge, if you send it all in at once. I missed that window since they didn't ship yet, but just putting that out there.
 
I'll be interested to see how well this holds up. I'd probably never do it due to warranty issues and be afraid of it not holding up but I'll check out this thread from time to time.
 
zmunkz said:
They told me one other piece of info that was new: this process not only voids the warrantee and AppleCare, but also disqualifies me from out-of-warrantee service. Basically, if we do this we are on our own.
Click to expand...

That info may be new to you, but it's well known around here. All third party modifications make it ineligible for out-of-warranty service, meaning you won't be able to pay the OOW price of $329 or the $79 accidental damage deductible under AC+ to replace a gold-plated case in case it croaks.

55-47568-iphone_5_policy-1366084722.jpg
 
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JayLenochiniMac said:
That info may be new to you, but it's well known around here. All third party modifications make it ineligible for out-of-warranty service, meaning you won't be able to pay the OOW price of $329 or the $79 accidental damage deductible under AC+ to replace a gold-plated case in case it croaks.

Image
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Gotcha, yeah that is consistent with what they told me yesterday. They had previously given me a slightly different story on live chat, but most likely they misunderstood what I was describing
 
zmunkz said:
Gotcha, yeah that is consistent with what they told me yesterday. They had previously given me a slightly different story on live chat, but most likely they misunderstood what I was describing
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These so-called "Apple Specialists" are notorious for giving out false information, including the Sport coming with two full sets of bands and the out-of-the-box band not covered under AC+. Always take those live chat reps' word with a grain of salt.
 
Wait actually that confused me again... It says on that graphic that malfunction due to third party modification is not eligible .... That would seem to imply that if the watch broke as a result of plating, it would not be covered. Makes sense. But If the watch was working fine after the plating, and broke later due to unrelated failure, that does not seem to fall under that description...? I mean they already told me no, it just seems like there might be budge room to at least argue the point, if I find myself in that situation. Hopefully I won't have to test that!
 
zmunkz said:
Yeah I think since his own watch arrived he hasn't been on here as much... I've been emailing with his team (wife?) via info@watchplate.com, and it sounds like they are a little overwhelmed with orders.

My own watch is in the mail today, I'll post back so you guys can see how it went.... I guess probably early next week.

One other update, I had a GB appointment last night to do a diagnosis on my watch before I voided the warantee, just to make sure it had a clean bill of health. They told me one other piece of info that was new: this process not only voids the warrantee and AppleCare, but also disqualifies me from out-of-warrantee service. Basically, if we do this we are on our own.

Also, if you have the SS Click adaptor, these guys are saying they can plate those too along with the watch/band for no extra charge, if you send it all in at once. I missed that window since they didn't ship yet, but just putting that out there.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, hope ur watch come out looking as good as the edition. Just wondering which band did u send in to plate?
 
zmunkz said:
Wait actually that confused me again... It says on that graphic that malfunction due to third party modification is not eligible .... That would seem to imply that if the watch broke as a result of plating, it would not be covered. Makes sense. But If the watch was working fine after the plating, and broke later due to unrelated failure, that does not seem to fall under that description...? I mean they already told me no, it just seems like there might be budge room to at least argue the point, if I find myself in that situation. Hopefully I won't have to test that!
Click to expand...

The wording may be confusing but it's already been tested. Any sort of third party modification will render it ineligible for out of warranty service until it's returned to the original state, and opening it up at all automatically voids it. Given that your gold-plated Watch has never been opened up, you could in theory get it back to a serviceable state if you strip the gold, but that'll cost you $$$ too.
 
Sent WatchPlate.com my 38mm SS Milanese today. I'll post pics in this thread once I receive it back.
 
zlin9596 said:
Thanks for the info, hope ur watch come out looking as good as the edition. Just wondering which band did u send in to plate?
Click to expand...

I sent the Black Sport with SS pin, and the Milanese. Hoping it looks legit when it gets back!

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JayLenochiniMac said:
The wording may be confusing but it's already been tested. Any sort of third party modification will render it ineligible for out of warranty service until it's returned to the original state, and opening it up at all automatically voids it. Given that your gold-plated Watch has never been opened up, you could in theory get it back to a serviceable state if you strip the gold, but that'll cost you $$$ too.
Click to expand...

I've been reading online, it looks like gold platings can be removed with some patience and some metal files/sandpaper. I was thinking, I could try to quickly add AppleCare (if I can do it without the watch in my hand...), in which case if push really came to shove, I could file away the gold and be left with a scratched up but otherwise original case, and hopefully that would still qualify for the $79 incidental replacement.

What are the chances that would fly?
 
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