Gold plating imitation/costume jewelry

A. Hi, Gunor. Although you may say that "there is no problem with the thickness", all you really mean is that you are putting on the thickness that you specified -- not that the amount that you specified is adequate. The reason it wears off so quickly is simply that the thickness you have specified is only 1/8 micron -- very thin.

I'm not sure that you should bother with gold at all at that thickness, knowing that it's just barely visible such that if it wears even a millionth of an inch or two it becomes invisible -- but you could add a clearcoat on top of the jewelry. You should probably just do titanium nitride deposition instead. Good luck!

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2005

2005

A. Titanium nitride is a high capital cost PVD process which may or may not be practical depending on production volume, but it puts an extremely hard gold-toned finish on the parts, which will offer great wear properties, without the material cost of a precious metal. It is the same process that you see on gold colored high speed drill bits.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Mr Basu,

While titanium Nitride is one ideally suited method which will work well over jewelry, you can consider what is done in Delhi and Mumbai by similar units as yours.

1) The Gold Bath is a Proprietary Hard (250 vickers) acid Flash bath that's pore-free. I presume Nickel is the undercoat.

This is followed by Clear Electrophoretic lacquer for protection and guarantee.

2) The second route is Dye gold. The Gold Plating step is followed by Gold dye based Electrophoretic lacquer.

Low Gold thickness simply provides a thin gold coat which is then protected and enhanced with Gold dyed Electrophoretic lacquer to protect the gold and increase life.

3) the third route is NO GOLD. Just Dye gold over jewelry for a true gold look and economy as well.

Asif Nurie [deceased]
- New Delhi, India
With deep regret we sadly advise that Asif passed away on Jan 24, 2016
2005


2005

A. No flash gold coating will last any significant wear, unless it is protected. In the imitation jewelry industry 5 millionths of an inch are typical for earrings or pins, but not for rings. And you cannot expect this product to last for long. If not protected, the gold will wear off in a matter of weeks, and in the case of rings the coating will wear in a few days.

An epoxy based E-coat will improve this a lot; you can expect an earring with 5 millionths of an inch gold coating and 8 microns of properly cured epoxy E-coat to last for several months and in some cases for years. Somewhat less if you are using an acrylic E-coat.

For a ring, you will need to apply no less than 1 micron (40 millionths of an inch) and then 8 microns of E-coat and even then it will last no longer than a few months of frequent use. If the ring is a white metal casting, it is likely to be worse. Joal E. Paiva
- Lima, Peru

A. Titanium nitride is deposited by vacuum technology and does not use an electrolyte. Process details are widely available on the Internet. Capital outlay is expensive, but the finish is excellent; it has a gold colour and is used by the jewellery industry to put down a hard coating that has micro "valleys" in it that can be filled with a small amount of gold. The TiN "peaks" protect the gold in the valleys from erosion. It is a good way of making cheap jewellery look expensive. TiN can be deposited onto a multitude of surfaces, so you would need to talk to a supplier about specific requirements.
I would not recommend using nickel as a barrier layer in jewellery because you will not be allowed to sell it in Europe. Try using white bronze; this is acceptable in Europe.

Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
2005

---

Q. What is the base metal for cheap Jewellery, over which this Titanium Nitriding is done. Will that base metal withstand Titanium Nitriding Temperature of 450 °C - 750 °C?

Panjala Mukesh
fashion jewelry mfgr.
Hyderabad, India
2005

---

Hi Panjela. Although I don't know much about Titanium Nitriding, it can be applied to steel, titanium, and aluminum. Titanium and aluminum sound like reasonable substrates for costume jewelry.

But if we want to go cheap, there is almost no bottom. Even plastic can be vacuum metallized with aluminum and then be given a gold tinted lacquer.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 2013

Hi again Gunor. No responses have been offered to your inquiry, so my tentative conclusion is that there is nothing generically special about rings that explains the problem, and that you would therefore need to supply some data about your situation in order to get an answer.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 2013

---

A. Hi Ramalingam. Yes, potassium gold cyanide can the basis for jewelry plating, and has been for 150 years. So it's not "wrong". But there are alternatives like gold sulphite plating solutions. Unless you want to spend decades in study though, it's probably best to profit from the experience of people who have done so, and buy packaged gold plating solutions.

What thickness of gold plating are you applying that is only lasting one week? (Please see the opening question and response in this thread).

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 2013

A. Hi Indranil. Gold dye is not something you put into a cyanide gold plating tank as you are discussing. To my knowledge, the gold dye is put into a lacquer, most typically an electrophoretic lacquer, or is applied as a post-dye after the electrolytic lacquer and before curing.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 2013

A. Hi, Arun. The most durable while economical process might be to apply titanium nitride by PVD and follow it up with a thin electroplating or PVD coating of gold.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 9, 2008

---

Q. Thank you Mr. Ted Mooney for your reply and suggestion. Please disclose the full form of PVD and oblige.

Arun Agarwal [returning]
- DELHI, INDIA
September 14, 2008

A. You need to locate someone who has a vacuum chamber capable of titanium nitride physical vapor deposition to learn more about it, Arun. The process requires expensive machinery, but the result is an inexpensive, very hard, almost gold colored deposit. You've probably seen it on high speed drills. Myself and other readers can answer limited and specific questions here, but you won't realistically get "full form" plant layouts and start-to-finish work instructions in a public forum -- you need to retain a consultant for that level of assistance. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 18, 2008

A. Hi, Asa. Rings are extremely high wear items which wear all the way through to "gone" over the years, so no surface coating can last forever. But I would expect good quality platings, including TiN PVD coating, to last at least a year or two based on experience with TiN on watchbands, and other coatings on rings. If the coating is not subject to severe wear conditions (for example if it was a stainless ring with the coating in engraved or embossed areas), the life should be pretty much indefinite.

Please tell us your situation. Are you a manufacturer looking into offering this process on a line of rings, a reseller looking to buy rings that claim to include a TiN coating, a consumer whose ring has failed and inquiring about what life you should have received -- because people only have so much time to spend trying to help you, and the helpful hints they can offer a manufacturer vs. a reseller vs. a disappointed consumer, etc., are different. Thanks!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 20, 2011