Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


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Birthday present for the wife

2007

Hello,

My wife has had her heart set on a gilded enamel charm for years now. I have looked for a silver version of it with no luck. This site has been very helpful in convincing me not to try silver plating at home. So I was wondering if there is an easy method of white-gold plating or creating a white gold alloy (adding nickel, palladium, silver, etc.) that I could employ at home without killing myself. ANY silver-ish plating will do. I just want the look of silver. The charm is 18 karat gold.

Thanks in advance,

Patrick Powell
hobbyist - Cowpens, South Carolina

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First of two simultaneous responses --

The initial setup is prohibitively expensive for anything that will do a quality job. I would find a local jeweler that makes rings from scratch and tell them what you want. They can platinum or rhodium plate it for you. Ask for a heavy coat, which will cost more but last a long time.
Normally, you will get a far better job than you can do and for less money. Push comes to shove, have it reset in a white gold (not a plated finish) and trade in the yellow gold current mount.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2007

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Second of two simultaneous responses --

Patrick,
There are brush plating and pen plating kits available. By the time you buy everything you need to plate the one charm, you could probably buy three more. There are options as far as plating finishes go. Silver, palladium, rhodium or platinum. A jewelry store that designs their own can probably plate it for you in ONE of the aforementioned finishes. Plating shops in your area may not want such a small job, and most all shops have minimum lot charges that may exceed the value of the charm. Good Luck!

Mark Baker
Process Engineer - Syracuse, New York
2007

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Try this solution:1 gm gold chloride
75 gm sodium phosphate
2,5 gm sodium sulphate
1 lit water ,Stainless steel anodes,6 V
substrate must be grease and oxide free!
Try if it works(yellow gold plating),and if all is ok add some silver chloride(fresh is best, Mix silver nitrate solution with some saltY water) ,until obtained result is white alloy plating.I think it must work-good luck!

Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
2007