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-----Nickel plating on an old watch case
Q. I have to do gold plating on an old nickel and gold plated watch case. I did nickel strike first, but some black spots were appeared on the surface, look burned. So I think that the base material of the case is a kind of active metal and the nickel plated layer has some invisible cracks.
How I can do nickel plating on such case. Please help me!
Dadong FuPlating Shop - Vancouver, BC , Canada
2005
A. Hello Dadong,
I'm doing refinishing job on all type of watch everyday I do all type of plating also.
First of all tell us what is the base metal?
You should strip old nickel before you do any other plating. If you don't have stripping solution then use emery paper and you should polish like mirror.
Below are details to know which metal needs which type of plating before gold plating.
1.Base metal brass or copper for best plating use bright acid copper if you have or alone bright nickel will work.
2.Base metal SS will need wood nickel stick then acid copper then bright nickel.
3.Base metal zinc diecast needs cyanide copper,acid copper and bright nickel.
4.Base metal lead needs to activator then cyanide copper,acid copper then bright nickel.
Why I'm advising acid copper in #2 it because it gives more shining in small areas of watch, if you do nickel stick you can also move to bright nickel not a problem.
I hope this will help you.
Dipen Pattni
jeweler/goldsmith - Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania
Q. Hello, Dipen, Thank you!
(1) I don't know what is its base metal, it's a kind of active metal. I guess it's magnesium, because the case cover is thin and cast with a complex flower pattern. It's impossible to remove the old layers with sandpaper.
(2) The owner of the watch told me that case had been plated with Rh, last time plated with gold. The original case was gold plated. I really don't know how many plated layers under the nickel.
(3) Do you always strip old plated layer? How many kind of strip solutions do you have? I feel that strip is difficult and costs too much. I tried to strip a watch frame before. I stripped gold, nickel, gold, nickel,...., a part of old layers still stayed on the frame and a part of base(copper) was attacked.
(4) I hope there is a method to do replating on active metal with no strip old plated layers.
(5) Other question, for your advice No.4.
Would you give me more detail points about lead or 70%lead pewter or lead free pewter?
Is the acid copper important? What is the thickness of cyanide copper? etc.
Truly
Plating Shop - Vancouver, BC, Canada
A. You can remove nickel with sandpaper if you have right equipment, only back but inside of case it is impossible.
Can you tell me the color of that base metal.
Yes I do strip and do refinishing on watch, I do job it is really very hard and takes time b'coz my customer watch's are very old and it need to repair etc etc so I have to work like I'm making new watch.
It's sounds that you have made your own solution to strip Au & Ni. Which solution you have used to strip gold and nickel, I advice you buy from supplier they can support you & also if any problem you face you can tell them.
There are method to replate but u'll not get right finishing without removing old coating. If old coating is ok then you can do plating.
I have not yet check about lead or 70%lead pewter or lead free pewter.
It depends on design of watch case but normally I do 1-3 microns cyanide copper.
Dipen Pattni
jeweler/goldsmith - Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania
Hello, Dipen, Thank you for your advice.
It seems it is a only method to remove or strip all the old plated layers. I have to abandon this case because there is too complex surface and too many plated layers.
I have one gold and two nickel strip solutions from supplier, they work good. Also I have others I made myself. I feel that stripping from old jewelry is very difficult.
Plating Shop - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Q. Hi,
I'm trying to re-plate a 1940's watch case. The case has become quite oxidised.
I have cleaned it back, but I really want to know what the process would be to nickel plate given it is such an old and small piece.
Marco Dounis
- crystal palace UK
October 21, 2014
A. Hi Marco. The short answer is that there are plating shops almost everywhere who will undertake the process for you if that's what you want. If you are asking how do you do it yourself, well, you strip the old plating, clean the case, activate it, then electroplate it from a solution of Watts' bright nickel. But this is not trivial -- there are books just on nickel plating (Dipen has explained that the first several steps will depend on what the case is made of). I'm not sure that nickel plating would be appropriate for a watch in England these days due to a large percentage of people suffering nickel allergy -- white bronze plating followed by rhodium plating might be more what you are looking for.
You could do it yourself but it's a relatively expensive proposition and some serious learning is needed before you could start. Importantly, you'd have to do a lot of practice on scrap before putting an important object at risk. So I'd urge you to talk to a plating shop. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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