Hi Guys,
I was one of the first customers that opted to try out the new gold plating service that user RianFlynn started. The website is www.watchplate.com. His original post can be viewed here. After his post, he got bombarded with orders and interview requests. But throughout the process he was very informative and kept me up to date. I am sure this will change once his orders increase, the last figure he told me was that he had 100 watch orders. When I first made my order, I was skeptical and worried. But with research and his responses to my questions, it allowed me to feel at ease with his process and final product.
My first issue, and it seems like the biggest concern to most people, was how long the plating will last. Watch Plate does give a replating within the first 30 days, and then charges a flat $199 after the 30 days. I did not want to have to pay an extra $199 to have it replated 5-6 months down the line. What I found was that you wear away 1 micron of gold ever 2 years. Watch Plate puts on 35 microns of gold. Thats 70 years!! Rings and necklaces where you usually see tarnishing and wear only get around .5 microns. Obviously it can last longer with great care.
My second issue was that this was a brand new business. He has experience electroplating fenders and guitars, but jewelry was a new venture. But his willingness to involve me in the process was more than enough to make me realize that he wants to make the perfect item. He has hired a team to perfect the gold, upgraded his equipment so that he could meet his 3 day turnaround, and even kept me up to date for some delays. Just from what he told me, it seemed like a delay was inevitable. It seems like he was expecting to do maybe 1-2 watches a day, instead of the 100 orders he got in the last week. While he may be new to the jewelry business, he is not a new businessman. With his upgrades, he should have no problem fulfilling his orders. I believe he told me his machine can now do 15-20 watches at a time.
My last issue was that the photos on his website seemed to be a bit blurry. I kind of wanted to see how the watch looked in person before ordering. Obviously that is not possible. This is the risk I took of being his first batch of orders. (I was actually order #10) They were actually having a photo shoot the day I got my watch, so new high res photos should be up pretty soon. Along with a shot of the new the Rose Color.
When my watch finally came, I was blown away. It was even better than I had imagined. The BSB works perfectly along side the gold plating. One issue that I had was the digital crown when I first turned it. It stuck a little, but after a few turns, it smoothened out. I dont know if mine happened to be subject to the sticky digital crown that everyone else is having, but it has not stuck since I first turned it.
In my opinion, Watch Plate is a great option to have that high class look without the price. I own 3 Rolexs so price was not the issue. I could not justify paying $10,000+ for a watch that might depreciate by a few thousand once the new version comes out. So Watch Plate was the prefect median for me. And its not like its fake spray gold, this is REAL 24k gold they are putting on the watch.
If you guys have any questions or would like a better photo of a different angle, ill try to upload them when I can.
I was one of the first customers that opted to try out the new gold plating service that user RianFlynn started. The website is www.watchplate.com. His original post can be viewed here. After his post, he got bombarded with orders and interview requests. But throughout the process he was very informative and kept me up to date. I am sure this will change once his orders increase, the last figure he told me was that he had 100 watch orders. When I first made my order, I was skeptical and worried. But with research and his responses to my questions, it allowed me to feel at ease with his process and final product.
My first issue, and it seems like the biggest concern to most people, was how long the plating will last. Watch Plate does give a replating within the first 30 days, and then charges a flat $199 after the 30 days. I did not want to have to pay an extra $199 to have it replated 5-6 months down the line. What I found was that you wear away 1 micron of gold ever 2 years. Watch Plate puts on 35 microns of gold. Thats 70 years!! Rings and necklaces where you usually see tarnishing and wear only get around .5 microns. Obviously it can last longer with great care.
My second issue was that this was a brand new business. He has experience electroplating fenders and guitars, but jewelry was a new venture. But his willingness to involve me in the process was more than enough to make me realize that he wants to make the perfect item. He has hired a team to perfect the gold, upgraded his equipment so that he could meet his 3 day turnaround, and even kept me up to date for some delays. Just from what he told me, it seemed like a delay was inevitable. It seems like he was expecting to do maybe 1-2 watches a day, instead of the 100 orders he got in the last week. While he may be new to the jewelry business, he is not a new businessman. With his upgrades, he should have no problem fulfilling his orders. I believe he told me his machine can now do 15-20 watches at a time.
My last issue was that the photos on his website seemed to be a bit blurry. I kind of wanted to see how the watch looked in person before ordering. Obviously that is not possible. This is the risk I took of being his first batch of orders. (I was actually order #10) They were actually having a photo shoot the day I got my watch, so new high res photos should be up pretty soon. Along with a shot of the new the Rose Color.
When my watch finally came, I was blown away. It was even better than I had imagined. The BSB works perfectly along side the gold plating. One issue that I had was the digital crown when I first turned it. It stuck a little, but after a few turns, it smoothened out. I dont know if mine happened to be subject to the sticky digital crown that everyone else is having, but it has not stuck since I first turned it.
In my opinion, Watch Plate is a great option to have that high class look without the price. I own 3 Rolexs so price was not the issue. I could not justify paying $10,000+ for a watch that might depreciate by a few thousand once the new version comes out. So Watch Plate was the prefect median for me. And its not like its fake spray gold, this is REAL 24k gold they are putting on the watch.
If you guys have any questions or would like a better photo of a different angle, ill try to upload them when I can.
