Foray Into Re Chroming

Vich · March 19, 2016

Hello all,

I have tended to buy new cases to house some of the old beaten up watches I took a liking to. Sometimes with the likes of old trench watches the cases were chromed and effectively, through various causes the chrome has worn or blistered / lifted off leaving the nickel or whatever underlying layer it is, visible. Now I am aware there is a school of thought that says that the watch should look like its age and the harm it has undergone is merely evidence to the rich tapestry of life it has been intertwined with etc., I have some agreement with that and I can go along with it for normal wrist wear but water damage, dings and bad scratching and simply beaten up or other sorts of abuse etc. are a bit more than normal wear.

Also Its one thing getting satisfaction from getting the movement serviced and running like a charm but when you put it all together again and it really looks pretty bad despite working perfectly, it is a bit of a let down and saleability (should I ever actually let one go ) is greatly affected.

I got to thinking about whether the cost of professional electro-plating was viable or not - initially I admit that this is largely curiousity as I doubt it.

After looking into electroplating at home and researching it some time ago but then deciding it was not for me ! I left the issue on the shelf. However it surfaced in my mind again and I sent off a few random mails to specialists in the area I live, not really expecting much interest. From the majority I was right but there were a couple of positive responses.

One was subject to a £40.00 minimum payment caveat so that was out of the question as regards viability.

The other seems more promising and he will quote if I send pictures of the items in question. It may all turn out to be a waste of time - who knows ! However, I will follow this up as I mentioned earlier I am curious to know anyway. I will advise if anything positive and promising turns up.

Cheers,

Vic

Edited March 19, 2016 by Vich