What to do if the gold plating on your watch case has peeled off. Is it possible to fix it?

Q: The gold plating on my watch case has come off. Can it be fixed?

Gold-plated cases, which are often found in budget watches, can be refinished if they are plated with real gold like in the old days, but the more common types that use titanium, which are more common these days, cannot be refinished.

A: Old clocks can be repaired.

Gold-plated cases are often found on budget watches. Old gold plating is easily damaged, and if left in a harsh environment, it may peel off and reveal the base. Generally, watch manufacturers do not re-gold plate, but some watch repair companies are able to do so. However, since the plating must be removed and then re-plated, the repair costs are high. For this reason, gold-plated re-finishing is not very popular.

Most gold plating today is not gold, but rather a titanium film made to look like gold. It is much stronger than real gold plating, and recent examples have produced a color that rivals the real thing, but the film is hard and difficult to peel off, making it impossible to refinish.

You can tell if the watch is gold-plated or gold-filled by the engraving on the case.

If a watch is genuinely gold-plated, the case will generally have an engraving such as "GOLD PLATED." A gold-plated case without an engraving can be considered imitation. Incidentally, in the watch and jewelry industry, it is said that 1 micron (1/1000 mm) of plating will wear off in one year.

Also, some old American pocket watches are gold-plated rather than gold-plated, resulting in a coating tens of microns thick. These gold-plated cases are often stamped with "Lifetime Guarantee" to emphasize that the coating will last for decades.