Sounds utterly crazy to me, to be honest. Also, you can only add Applecare + in the first 60 days of ownership, right?
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I successfully goldplated the applewatch!
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Sounds utterly crazy to me, to be honest. Also, you can only add Applecare + in the first 60 days of ownership, right?
My trusty old Longines had a 10 micron gold plating. It didn't wear off in 18 years.
I'm also pretty sure that the watch will require no disassembly. The sapphire and zirconia bits are non-conductive and won't have any gold deposited on them. My only concern is about the rubber gaskets that seal crown, button, speaker and mic – do they stand up to the various chemicals involved?
Will crown and button stick at first (from being joined to the case with gold) and require loosening? What about the Milanese mesh?
PS: I obviously know very little about electroplating
Anyone got theirs back yet? OP must be busy since he hasn't been in this thread in awhile!
Hopefully this works out for you all.
Hopefully this works out for you all.
It's not just the chat reps. When I went in for my try-on, the Genius that helped me told me I'd get two sizes of the modern band with the watch. I knew that wasn't accurate and told him, and he confirmed with with another Genius that you only get the one.
Honestly, that's my only issue with this rollout. The amount of misinformation seems very unApple-like.
They received my 38mm SS w/Milanese loop Tuesday noon and said they will mail back to me this Friday. I was the first one to order their gold plated service (Order No. 00001)
Hope it come thru....
I agree. Most of us don't know anything about electroplating. This question has been asked several times, I wish this guy would address it. I don't think it would publicly compromise whatever proprietary processes he uses. We know we're voiding our warranties anyway, id just like full disclosure as to how much we may be voiding it ... If doing this shortens the life of other aspects of the watch then it might not be worth doing.
So it'll be a two tone. Gold aftermarket mesh band on SS case. Photo is misleading though.
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There's no how much we're voiding it. Either it's voided or it's not. I already asked him in an email and he said everything that should not be exposed to the chemical is taped up. Nobody knows how it'll survive long term either.
But rest assured that you'll void the warranty and that's a risk you need to decide on.
From what I understand (e.g., what I've read over the last week... no expert here) the passive oxide on the surface of stainless steel requires a chemical solution to add a thin layer of nickel in order for the gold to bond. Then an electric potential causes the atoms to build up there.
Sapphire also has a passive oxide surface and is non-conductive, so it seems like that would be safe from this process. The only other things that are exposed to the outside, considering the watch's water rating, would be gaskets under the sapphire and around the buttons/mic/speaker port, the non-sapphire glass on the bottom, and the metal pins in the diagnosis port. Most gaskets are rubber-based and thus non-conductive, but whether they would react to a nickel solution or not, I have no idea. The diagnosis port is not used by Apple... I had them do a full diagnosis of my watch at the GB, and it was done over bluetooth. A semi-educated guess might be, the long term damage of this process at worst would compromise the water resistance rating if nickel does damage the gaskets, but other than that I don't see how this could impact the internals in any way.
I had a slightly meandering rant earlier in this thread, but I think I arrived at a solution... as I said there, I hope I don't need to test this, but I do feel better to have the plan. I went ahead and purchased AppleCare+ yesterday. By the language of their coverage restrictions, modifications need to be removed in order for coverage to apply, and from reading online, gold plating CAN be removed with some patience and sandpaper. If I hit a big issue with the watch, I'll just have to sit there and purge the gold plating away. At that point the watch would be "returned to its original state", and I am about 75% sure I would then be able to pay the incidental replacement fee. Again, it is hard to know because I get so much different info, but based on my phone call with apple last night, as long as the device was not opened, and it is returned in an unmodified (albeit scratched) stainless-steel form, I am good to go.
My watch should have arrived at this guy's place today, so 3 business days plus shipping back, I should have it Thursday or Friday next week. The waiting game starts again!
Right, what I meant was, does the process potentially cause damage to the electronics such that we might care if we void our warranties? We're definitely taking a risk that some defect pre-existing in the watch from Apple will fail and we'd be out of luck. What I want to know is what potential risks am I taking with respect to potentially damaging something during the process that guarantees I will need repair.
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Good info, so there's no worry whatsoever about conducting the electric current in the solution through the steel case and onto any adjacent electrical parts? I assume most of the electronic components are already isolated from any exterior metal, with the possible exception of a common ground. In which case a small voltage could be conducted from the watch case throughout the grounding path in the watch. Would that be enough to cause any electronic failure?
True, but I don't think the OP knows as he has no long term reliability data from his wife's gold-plated watch. You can wear it for some time to catch any pre-existing factory defects before sending it in for plating. I bet you can easily ebay your gold-plated watch with a defect for the price you paid for the watch itself and purchase a new one if it has to come to that.
tempted to get my watch done, but waiting to hear initial reports on an actual unbiased customers. I live 30 minutes south from their shop; was thinking of stopping by to check out their operation and look at an actual sample of the finished material.
Sure, you can attempt that time-consuming process, or you can simply skip AC+ and ebay it if it surfaces with a defect and buy a new one. Bet you someone will bid it up to at least the retail price even with a defect due to the additional value of the gold-plating. Either way, you'd be back to square one with an unplated watch.
We have to get pics of a gold plated Apple watch that has been sanded and filed to remove the plating. It would look like it had been run over with a truck and then dragged through the streets! And then return it to Apple for repair. 
Their reaction would be priceless.
Their reaction would be priceless.
We have to get pics of a gold plated Apple watch that has been sanded and filed to remove the plating. It would look like it had been run over with a truck and then dragged through the streets! And then return it to Apple for repair.
Their reaction would be priceless.
Lol yeah. Funny, Apple used that exact example... They said with AC+ it could get run over by a truck and they would replace it (for $79)
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Yeah all good points
I REALLY want to do this with my watch once it gets here. Hoping I'll be in the first batch of 42mm Space Black Stainless Steel. That being said, the black link bracelet is limited only with the watch, not to mention the watch itself. I'd have to order a regular SS Bracelet and send it in so that can get plated. I think black and gold go good together, not to mention gold alone. And looking at these pics definitely makes me want to do this even more. Just sucks that I'd have to shell out an additional $450 for the band, not to mention $399 for the plating alone. I'm dishing out all this money and the SBSS and wondering if even THAT'S worth losing the color alone. Just stand alone by itself it's already unique! Decisions, decisions. It's quite a bit of money to spend, but the look just looks so unique! All together that's like $2,050 Might have to wait on income tax next year. LOL!
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And 6 months later it quits and you need to send it back for warranty service. You're out $400. I'll pass.
I successfully goldplated the applewatch!
i just dont get it. if it is modified, no warranty. so why did you pay extra for nothing?
if you are going to return it to its original state, you do reliaze that you need to open the whole watch to get the plating off, it will be all over the watch, inside tiny slits. it is not only the gold, but the layer under the gold aswell. And what do you say to apple? "oh i accidentally dropped my watch to King's water, thats why it looks so crappy! i dont know what happened, but a sandblaster went crazy, thats why it so scratchy and there was a bucket of kings water on the floor and my watch dropped from my wrist."
i just dont get it. if it is modified, no warranty. so why did you pay extra for nothing?
if you are going to return it to its original state, you do reliaze that you need to open the whole watch to get the plating off, it will be all over the watch, inside tiny slits. it is not only the gold, but the layer under the gold aswell. And what do you say to apple? "oh i accidentally dropped my watch to King's water, thats why it looks so crappy! i dont know what happened, but a sandblaster went crazy, thats why it so scratchy and there was a bucket of kings water on the floor and my watch dropped from my wrist."
I was going to go with direct hit from a laser cannon, but yours is better.
I don't know man, the Apple rep told me it didn't really matter what happened to it, as long as all unauthorized modifications are removed, its covered. They've given me bad info before, but that is what he said.
there is a guy in youtube that had his done, and he posted a video about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPN-QGZ6tUo
This thread is really cool!
Think of it like this:
Watch Edition costs $10,000 - $17,000
You're plating a $600 +/- Watch SS + the cost of the plating. Repurchasing another Watch SS (in the event the plated one breaks), is still 1/10th of the cost (2 watches + plating) of an Watch Edition (maybe $1,500 vs. $10,000 +); while really this is the economical way to get the exact look of a $10,000 watch - for A LOT less.
Think of it like this:
Watch Edition costs $10,000 - $17,000
You're plating a $600 +/- Watch SS + the cost of the plating. Repurchasing another Watch SS (in the event the plated one breaks), is still 1/10th of the cost (2 watches + plating) of an Watch Edition (maybe $1,500 vs. $10,000 +); while really this is the economical way to get the exact look of a $10,000 watch - for A LOT less.
It really does look good. I usually am not a fan of gold, but I have the same SS with classic buckle and that is tempting as hell.
Let's not lie. You would turn heads...especially in the Apple Store.
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