The short version: what plating is, how it holds up, and how we work. Anything not here, ask in your intake.
Yes, and purer than you would guess. The deposit is 98%+ elemental gold (independently assayed at 98.6% Au), which is chemically purer than the 75% alloy in a solid 18K case. “18K” in our spec refers to the colour standard the deposit is tuned to: on Rolex, matched to modern genuine 2N by CIELAB measurement under D65. It remains a surface finish, not a solid-gold watch. Done correctly, the colour is indistinguishable from factory.
With normal wear, expect years of service. High-contact edges (clasp, bracelet links, crown) wear first, exactly like any plated jewelry. We can re-plate down the line. Daily desk-diving and abrasive straps shorten the life of any plating, as does polishing with any product, even a gold cloth removes a trace of surface material each pass, so clean gently and polish sparingly (see caring for your plated watch →). For extra durability we can add a nano-ceramic coat or a longer-lasting polymer microfilm (+$40 USD). Flag it in your intake.
The standard build is 18K, layered and cobalt-hardened on the wearing surfaces, and we quote the thickness per piece: 2–6 µm depending on the watch and how it will be worn. Anything in that range is achievable, so the number is a choice, not a limit. But a micron number on its own isn’t a quality spec: a thick deposit over a poorly prepared surface peels just as fast as a thin one. What makes a plate last is adhesion, hardness and even coverage, decided in the prep, not the thickness alone: see the full process → Wondering how it holds up in wear? will the gold scratch through? ↓
The gold will scratch, that is true of any finish, but a scratch does not mean you are looking at stainless. The wearing surfaces go down in cobalt-hardened hard-gold over a layered barrier build, which resists scuffs and edge wear far better than the soft 24K flash many shops finish with. Marks land in the gold and stay in the gold. Hardness is demonstrated on the bench rather than quoting a number you can’t check. No plating is indestructible, and high-contact edges wear first, but a properly hardened, well-bonded finish holds its colour and edges through normal daily wear, and can be re-plated later.
For Rolex, the target tone was set by spectrophotometric measurement in CIELAB against modern genuine Rolex, read in a standardized D65 daylight booth, and we tune the deposit until the tone reads right across the whole assembly, case to clasp. Colour is genuinely complex: there are well over 50 variables that move the target, including when the reference was produced, the age of the watch, how it’s been worn and cared for, and many more. If you have specific concerns about colour matching, reach out to us first by any method and we’ll work it through. We’re glad to take on a custom colour match too. For other brands we match to a clean 18K tone.
How far can it go? We documented a full ΔE < 1.0 match to genuine Rolex 18K Swiss 2N, a colour result nobody else on the market has published
Read the RWI write-up →
Apart. The movement, dial and hands come out, the bezel, case-back and crown come off, and the bracelet is taken apart, so each part is prepped, racked and plated on its own, inside and out, then reassembled by hand.
Most platers work the other way, plating the watch more or less as it sits, movement still in the case. That covers the visible outer faces and leaves interiors, undersides and lug slots masked, shadowed, or bare, and it puts strongly acidic prep and activation chemistry, current and heat around a live movement: see the full process →
Plating quotes vary enormously, and the price almost always tells you which corners were cut. The usual variables: whether the watch is disassembled or dipped whole, how much surface actually gets plated, what the deposit is made of (soft 24K flash versus a layered, cobalt-hardened build in 98.6% pure gold), how much prep happens before the gold, whether the bath chemistry is controlled and validated, whether colour is measured or eyeballed, and how much hand work goes into reassembly and QC.
Ours sits at the top of that list on purpose. The common approach is to take the bracelet off the watch and call it a day: easy for them, bad for you, because only the outward faces ever see gold. Taking the watch properly apart multiplies the plated surface area, which means considerably more gold is actually deposited on your watch, a real material cost rather than a markup. There is also a knock-on effect most people never hear about: a whole assembled watch carries oils, old grease and residue into the solution, and a contaminated bath causes adhesion and colour problems for every watch that follows. Working on stripped, degreased parts keeps the chemistry clean and repeatable.
Then there is the cost of being able to take the watch apart at all. Every case family needs its own tooling: brand-specific case-back dies and wrenches, bezel and crystal presses, jewelling and pin tooling for bracelets, movement holders, hand and dial tools, torque drivers, and the fixtures to rack loose parts. That is thousands of dollars of tooling per brand, bought and maintained so a watch can be opened properly instead of forced. Shops that plate assembled watches never buy any of it.
The risk is real too. Disassembly is the point at which watches get damaged: seized case-backs, stripped threads, sheared bracelet pins, scratched lugs, crushed gaskets, hands and dials that mark if they are touched wrong. Doing it safely means the right tool for that exact reference, a technician who has opened it before, and time, none of which is free. We carry that risk, insured and inspected, rather than avoiding it by leaving the watch in one piece.
On top of that: a multi-stage prep cascade, a deposit thickness held to a process validated quarterly by independent XRF at an accredited lab, colour quantified by CIELAB spectrophotometry against genuine reference, and hand reassembly with a final QC gate. We are not competing on price. The aim is to bring the best quality work available to this market, and this is what that costs.
A gold electroplate is a thin, precise surface layer. It rewards gentle, routine cleaning and is damaged by abrasion, so the goal is always to lift away dirt and oils, never to grind at the finish. Work from the least aggressive method to the most, and only escalate if the previous step hasn’t done the job.
Do not attempt to polish out scratches. Abrasive polishes, polishing wheels, and aggressive buffing will cut straight through the plating and void the workmanship guarantee. If a piece needs refinishing, send it back and it can be professionally re-plated.
Typically 7–14 days of bench time once your piece arrives, plus the waitlist and shipping time. Various treatments such as nano coatings require a curing time, and will lengthen the process. We confirm a window before you ship.
A $25 deposit holds your place and is credited toward your build. When you reach the front, a 50% deposit starts the work; the balance is due on completion, before tracked return shipping. The current wait is shown in the bar at the top of every page.
You ship it to us tracked; we return it the same way, with tracked return shipping included in your quote (continental US and Canada).
Yes. Pieces come in from all over, and we’ve shipped many watches internationally with no customs issues. You cover the inbound tracked, insured shipping to us; tracked return shipping is included in your quote. Any unlikely import duties, taxes or customs charges are the buyer’s responsibility.
Peeling, blistering, or lifting that isn’t down to ordinary wear is exactly what this covers: if the finish shows a defect in our workmanship within 12 months of return, we’ll re-do the affected work at no charge. Plating is consumable by nature, so the guarantee covers our workmanship, not ordinary wear, abrasion, impact, chemical exposure, or third-party servicing after the fact.
The bench is in Canada and all work is mail-in. Fastest is a message on WhatsApp or Telegram, same number. Email, Reddit, and our RWI handle work too. We usually reply within a day.
Yes. These are delicate and priced individually on review. Flag it in your intake and include clear photos.
Yes. You own your watch, and re-finishing your own property is entirely legal. K-Plating is a finishing service on items you send in; we don’t make, brand, or sell watches, and we don’t apply or alter any maker’s marks. What you do with your piece afterwards is your responsibility; misrepresenting a plated watch as factory solid gold when selling it is not something we support.