I have a hankering for a gold speedmaster mark ii. I have seen a few on ebay but they look a bit tired. I usually prefer to keep my watches as original as possible but for some reason, gold capped watches just look scruffy to me and mine would have to be pristine. Has anyone here experience with getting a watch re plated and a rough idea what it would cost to get it done?

 

Gold plate will not look like gold filled or capped. It will look cheap as platers can only do a certain thickness.

If plating over a worn case. Areas that are worn to base metal need to be sanded and smoothed out and feathered in, so no difference is seen after the plating. If gold filled is split on edges. Not really much you can do except sand the area down to hide it.

Most places will do 5-10 micron. Old Cartier cases were done in 20 micron.

5 won't last very long before it starts to wear and 10 only twice that if worn everyday.

DON

 

Thanks for the info, Omega are also usually 20 microns. I wonder if sending such a watch to Omega to do it would be possible. The other option of course,is to wait for a good cosmetic version to pop up.

 

The Central Watch Case was able to do up to 80 microns. Where are they now?

 

Most vintage gold 'plated' or capped vintage Omegas are more than 200 microns. In the later 60s and 70s some, but not all, were gold plated and it really showed, the plated examples not really showing the depth of the 14k plaque or capped modles.

There was, however, a 20 micron gold Mk 11 speedmaster produced in 1972. It had the maroon tachy under the crystal, and looked very nice as a 'dress' piece. Why not trawl for one of those?

Cheers

Desmond,

 

Examples of those 20 micron watches were what I found, but they look a bit tired. An earlier post suggests it not as straight forward as simply getting the watch replated. If that is the case then patience seems to be the key here.

 

Yes, for a watch case to be re-plated it has to be cleaned of all its original plating, offering an opportunity for a good case re-conditioner to replicate the original finish, but that is expensive and sourcing an artisan to do it isn't easy.

As you say, patience is the key when wanting a good example of the gold plated Mk11. Good luck in your search.

Centrale Boites was owned by Omega, or actually the Brandt family, and is defunct (I've often wondered why we cant just say "Is no longer funct"

 

Why you need to replate if you can get one like this

 

I currently have a Gold Mark 2 and it is in rough shape. In a previous post some of the members suggested www.replateit.com, I have not seen anything they have done or contacted them yet but their prices seem good. I am seriously considering it though.

 

I have had two watch cases re-plated - one an early chrome on brass Smiths and the other a 2577 early Seamaster and both turned out well. The old plating is removed with an acid bath and so no sanding down is involved. The chrome plating was very cheap and well worth doing, I don't know how much the gold one was as it was serviced at the same time but it wasn't excessive.

 

That is what I am after, however, the ones I have seen so far look a bit rough so I was wondering if it was possible to get them redone so they look nice again.

 

If you haven't bought the watch yet, maybe you're better off holding out one in nice enough shape that won't need refinishing? They do crop up from time to time, although at a premium. The risk with replating at a non-specialist would be losing the original brushed finish.

 

I think that is the way to go. I have not bought one yet. I don't like to jump in, on several occasions I have had a desire for a particular model and a few months later that desire has disappeared or I want something else more, and waiting for the right example seems to pay off in the long run. I do have a sea master 176.007 gold capped watch which scratches the gold watch itch. I was looking for 18 months before I found the right one.