also: is there a different method used for capping vs. electroplating? Anecdotally, it would appear < 30 to 40 microns becomes capping so I guess the difference would be in the physical application but I just really don't know and I bet there's lots of members who do. So, please share your knowledge with me for free and I'll forever be in your debt and gratitude. Thank you! further: you can almost always tell if a gold watch has been to pawn shop at some point in her life because those greedy fcukers always deep scratch the case in an inconspicuous place (and, sometimes, conspicuous). Also makes me wonder if the watch is stolen property.
Capping is an actual sheet of gold plate bonded under pressure to a substrate, with watches, generally stainless steel. Gold plate is a layer of gold deposited on the surface of the substrate via electrolysis or electrolytic deposition. Gold plate never becomes gold cap even though it may be a million microns thick, it'll still be gold plate.
Hey Jim, should you happen to come across a watch with a hundred thousand microns of plating or more, I'll set aside my long-standing bias and trade you straight-up for one of my solid 18k models.
Some watches have 80 microns of gold plate. I think JLC did this in the 60's for one. 20 to 40 microns was common back then. Now, 10 to 20 microns is common. I've never heard of a gold capped watch with less than 180 microns of gold capping. 200 to 240 was the norm. As Jim states, it's a different process.
Desmond wrote an article on the process some years ago: http://omega-constellation-collectors.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-doff-my-gold-cap-to-ya.html?m=1 Hope this helps, gatorcpa