Ceramic Coating on clasp/watch/bracelet for YG/RG

[kevBquick]

Not sure if anyone has tried ceramic coating the watch and bracelet. I am currently doing a test.

After seeing RiffRalf clasp get all worn off from his desk dives...i figured i'd try it to some clasps to see.
I do it on cars for protection i figure why not on a watch. So I'm testing a rose gold yatchmaster clasp to see.
Like my cars i would do a double layer of ceramic to see if this reduces the scratching effect on them.

I think the whole purpose is really to protect the YG/RG plated watches. With one layer on right now I can't tell its there.
Brushed looks brushed as it was originally and polished looks polished. Its not visible. to the eye. you would follow the same procedure
as if you were ceramic coating a car. now its on its 24hr cure period....then I will hit it again with another coat and let it cure for another 24hrs.
then bust out a nail and see how it hold up against scratches. if it works out...could be an answer to helping preserve YG/RG watches.

then i will move to my VR RG yahctmaster and do the full watch if i like the results but right now i have spare clasps that i order that i can test one.
visually you would never know if it was coated or not. so that is nice. but once you put it on...whatever scratches were in the watch are now locked it.
this is not a permanent fix. however can last a few years depending on use maybe longer....but its looking to be a good start in adding some protection.

if the VR RG yahctmaster turns out I bought a YG submariner that i will work out the full bracelet and watch case and bezel.

most ceramic coating is for hydrophobic purposes. salt resistance. solvent resistance. so resisting sweat and having that peel affect or fade...it could definitely
help in that category.

a big scratch...this will not protect from...maybe it will lessen the blow but if you take your time. do a dual layer....i think it will be a start at least in the fading or peeling
of the plating while adding some desk dive protection.

if anyone else has done this please chime in with your results. best on a new unworn watch for no scratches to get locked or go through more labor of love and get the scratches out.
then coat it.

 

[fabbrisd]

Just so you know - "Ceramic" in the Watch World means "Ceramic Material" which is Alumina (Aluminum Oxide) - on the best Alumina with Zirconia mixed in - or Titanium Carbide - both are molded at High Temperature and High Pressure for bezel inserts - cases - and bracelets. Well done Ceramic Material has hardness measure up to 9 on the Mohs scale .

I would guess you are using a Liquid Car Ceramic Coating - and that space has lite up with 100"s of Product Choices.

For "Protective Ability" - a 90% Silicon DiOxide or 80% Titanium Dioxide "Nano Ceramic" will offer "technically" the best protection - note Nano Ceramic will scratch.

There have been several watch enthusiast who have tired this over the past 2yrs - before that some enthusiasts were even playing around with Cerakote.

It's what product to use - what time to put into application - and heck what real benefit over time.

Keep at it - keep the beat !

 

[kevBquick]

I use an H9 product using ceramic quartz. i'm guessing this will scratch. i'm hoping that it can protect the finish. since these are all spare parts i'm using....i don't mind doing.

cerakota would be interesting...not sure how the finish would show up. but for now this looks how it should and as for protection...we will see in 2 days.

i wasn't worried about ceramic in the watch world. more of a solution to help with YG/RG plated watches....and if it can add any benefit to it while retaining the look
and a finish. so far look and finish/feel are all retained...but as far as it stopping desk dives...i don't know.

appreciate the info.

 

[kevBquick]

so after a scratch test....while the coating can be scratched...its not scratching away the plating....its just scratching the ceramic coating.
so thats a positive result for keep the plating on and intact.

downside is the coating is scratched so buffing it out does not work. so while you can protect it....scratches remain behind.

so now i have coating my RG VRF yachtmaster. looks nice...its locked in. i will need to find a solution for fixing the scratches now once the coating gets it on there.

 

[Silverg]

so after a scratch test....while the coating can be scratched...its not scratching away the plating....its just scratching the ceramic coating.
so thats a positive result for keep the plating on and intact.

downside is the coating is scratched so buffing it out does not work. so while you can protect it....scratches remain behind.

so now i have coating my RG VRF yachtmaster. looks nice...its locked in. i will need to find a solution for fixing the scratches now once the coating gets it on there.

Can you post some pictures?

 

[Colt Seavers]

This is fantastic, actually. I was just going to ceramic coat a new car. What brand do you use? Correct me if I'm wrong, but YG and RG on a gen DOES scratch but it doesn't "rub off" or fade like plated reps. So while you cannot prevent the appearance of scratches (and I say "appearance," because it's only the ceramic coating scratching), you can still prevent the major flaw of reps that come in gold variants and the reason a lot of people avoid them. Excellent! Edit: I just saw your comments about the brand of ceramic coating.

 

[kevBquick]

This is fantastic, actually. I was just going to ceramic coat a new car. What brand do you use? Correct me if I'm wrong, but YG and RG on a gen DOES scratch but it doesn't "rub off" or fade like plated reps. So while you cannot prevent the appearance of scratches (and I say "appearance," because it's only the ceramic coating scratching), you can still prevent the major flaw of reps that come in gold variants and the reason a lot of people avoid them. Excellent! Edit: I just saw your comments about the brand of ceramic coating.

correct gen is solid gold. you scratch it...its still gold.
reps are plated about 5mils. so you can scratch through it to metal.
just trying to stop the or rather give protection to the metal plating.

 

[kevBquick]

i will get some pictures up or video of scratch tests. gonna see what tools i have to polish the scratches out of the ceramic. maybe none. but the good news is is that the rose gold is still there. I put some decent scratches in so that was what was important in all of this. was the ability to keep the RG from fading off, peeling, and trying to increase some scratch resistance. it appears to be working.
its not going to stop of the worst of the worst hits but desk dives....i think i can stop it from going to bare metal. and this only has one coat on it.

 

[Colt Seavers]

I personally think this is super creative. In my view, I don't really care of it scratches (because gens scratch). Peeling and all of that other stuff is the problem because it's unlike gen. I'll be interested to see how it endures. That said, there's nothing to stop someone from periodically coating the watch. Prior to this your only option was spending more for something wrapped (and some say this isn't all it's cracked up to be) or sending it out for aftermarket plating. At the end of the day, none of those things are fool-proof either and ceramic coating is far less expensive.

 

[Yogibear]

Not sure if anyone has tried ceramic coating the watch and bracelet. I am currently doing a test.

After seeing RiffRalf clasp get all worn off from his desk dives...i figured i'd try it to some clasps to see.
I do it on cars for protection i figure why not on a watch. So I'm testing a rose gold yatchmaster clasp to see.
Like my cars i would do a double layer of ceramic to see if this reduces the scratching effect on them.

I think the whole purpose is really to protect the YG/RG plated watches. With one layer on right now I can't tell its there.
Brushed looks brushed as it was originally and polished looks polished. Its not visible. to the eye. you would follow the same procedure
as if you were ceramic coating a car. now its on its 24hr cure period....then I will hit it again with another coat and let it cure for another 24hrs.
then bust out a nail and see how it hold up against scratches. if it works out...could be an answer to helping preserve YG/RG watches.

then i will move to my VR RG yahctmaster and do the full watch if i like the results but right now i have spare clasps that i order that i can test one.
visually you would never know if it was coated or not. so that is nice. but once you put it on...whatever scratches were in the watch are now locked it.
this is not a permanent fix. however can last a few years depending on use maybe longer....but its looking to be a good start in adding some protection.

if the VR RG yahctmaster turns out I bought a YG submariner that i will work out the full bracelet and watch case and bezel.

most ceramic coating is for hydrophobic purposes. salt resistance. solvent resistance. so resisting sweat and having that peel affect or fade...it could definitely
help in that category.

a big scratch...this will not protect from...maybe it will lessen the blow but if you take your time. do a dual layer....i think it will be a start at least in the fading or peeling
of the plating while adding some desk dive protection.

if anyone else has done this please chime in with your results. best on a new unworn watch for no scratches to get locked or go through more labor of love and get the scratches out.
then coat it.

E-coating doesn't last long and is not recommended for jewelry like watches which are similar to rings with the wear and tear. It depends really on how well you polished the piece. And I mean you really need to polish it well. Poorly polished can mean 3 weeks tops and a good polish probably 3 months before it's gone. It's a very time consuming process as I'm sure you just experienced and you dont want to repeat. I can msg you other ways later today if you wanna try something else.

White Rhodium works longer but it looks awful when it fades and it reacts with the plating.

 

[kevBquick]

3 months? naw...i've had the same coating on my M3 for a 1yr....it hasn't faded off...how do i know? because the car is still extremely hydrophobic. snow, oil, driving rain, etc.
watch wise...it may need to be applied more often. this is an easy easy fix. especially if peoples plating was peeling/fading off. this will lock it down....its quick and easy.
only part of the process is to wait 24hrs between cure times. if its double coated....i currently see no issues. i don't wear my watches like a ring or your right that may need
to be applied more often.

this was a simple DIY fix. i scratched decently hard on my piece yesterday with a super pointy tweezers figuring i'd scratch away the plating. it didn't happen.
i'm sure at some point at it will.

is it and end all be all fix....no. but i will say its better than nothing coating it.

 

[Yogibear]

Cars and jewelry are different materials. You cant expect same results as your car. The bond doesn't hold up long on watches and rings. Doing a scratch test now holds no weight because the bond is fresh. Do it in 4 weeks at least. I applaud the effort as it's a tiring process to go through. The gold bug bites hard lol

 

[kevBquick]

Cars and jewelry are different materials. You cant expect same results as your car. The bond doesn't hold up long on watches and rings. Doing a scratch test now holds no weight because the bond is fresh. Do it in 4 weeks at least. I applaud the effort as it's a tiring process to go through. The gold bug bites hard lol

with car it bonds to paint/metal/plastic. jewelry its metal/plated metal is metal. its still bonds. sure i can test in 4 weeks. i don't expect there to be much difference....i won't be purposefully be scratching my watches to prove the point....albeit just 2. while i don't expect the ceramic coat to last over a year like my car. the way i wear my watches....it could easily last longer. i mainly wear steel watches. so when i do wear them...i can expect it to hold up better than from when i received it. i do expect the watches to hold and i will continue to scratch up the full rose gold rolex clasp i have coated. right now with medium presses it is only scratching the ceramic coat.

and no as time goes on the bond cures over 7 days and gets stronger. my scratch test was done shortly after 24hrs. so yes i expect a more hardened version in 4 weeks. doing this to a watch may take 5 min.

its not hard on a car....that takes an hour. watch is not labor intensive. popping the bezel or not. coating take 10 seconds....let it flash. wipe it back down 20 seconds. let it cure. do bracelet takes 20 seconds. let it flash. repeat. done in a a few let the watch cure for 24hrs. the bond takes 7 days to fully cure. no water in 24hrs can touch it...preferred 3 days or if possible the max 7 days. so while most stay away from gold for all the reasons we know...this can only help. at least with desk dives and keep the plating on and only scratching the ceramic.

i'm not here to convince anyone. just the spread of information for those that do have and may want to try to protect their watch.
and from the little bit you order...its prolly a life time supply for the watch to be coated. just my .02 on my current experience.

 

[kevBquick]

I personally think this is super creative. In my view, I don't really care of it scratches (because gens scratch). Peeling and all of that other stuff is the problem because it's unlike gen. I'll be interested to see how it endures. That said, there's nothing to stop someone from periodically coating the watch. Prior to this your only option was spending more for something wrapped (and some say this isn't all it's cracked up to be) or sending it out for aftermarket plating. At the end of the day, none of those things are fool-proof either and ceramic coating is far less expensive.

to me...this was exactly my point. things scratch...i can't stop it but the peeling and fading of the plating...yeah i think this can stop those issues while over a little scratch defense for the plating from being removed. the coating still scratches.

 

[KJ2020]

Some pics please bro.

 

[kevBquick]

Some pics please bro.

is there a way to upload from my iphone to here? not using imgur or something else.

 

[KJ2020]

is there a way to upload from my iphone to here? not using imgur or something else.

https://clickpix.org/

You should shrink images to 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024 before uploading. After uploading, select Embed codes > Full Image > BB Codes > Copy. Then paste the codes here.

 

[kevBquick]

So what we have here is multiple angles.

heavy scratch put into the coating....didn't scratch off the RG plating though.

Here you can really see the scratch test....I scribbled back and forth over it.

different angle...scratches are still there. you can see brushed is still brushed....polished is polished.

 

[KJ2020]

different angle...scratches are still there. you can see brushed is still brushed....polished is polished.

This is interesting. So how is the coating removed, and is it practical to remove and re-do it periodically when it gets scratched up?

I have used a different approach, putting cell phone screen protector squares on the clasp and 2 links either side. This has served me well, but it takes longer to do. A 10 second coating would be a nice solution!

 

[Yogibear]

This is interesting. So how is the coating removed, and is it practical to remove and re-do it periodically when it gets scratched up?

You have the most suitable method with those covers.
Ecoating needs to be polished heavily in order for it to work properly to avoid spot discoloring. 1 coat is not enough however 1 coat on RG makes it look darker. Another coat and it will look like total copper. RG has higher copper and zinc metals to begin with so it migrates through any plating and coats quicker than YG.

Clear powder coating is a better and easier solution to this problem. Air compressor, coat gun and toaster oven from walmart and it will work. Clear powder coatings can be applied thicker as well but instead of polishing you need to brush the surface. Bonus is it wont react with surface colour.

The BEST solution for everyone's plating problems would be Titanium nitride method...
Gold deposition over the TiN...TiN is relatively rough and the gold fills the valleys and peaks. As the gold wears off the peaks, then the TiN acts as a very hard and durable wear resistant point that protects the gold deposits in the valley.

Naturally TiN has a an electrical sensitivity of 20 to 25 Ohm-CM so it's not ideal with most metals because of its lack of conductivity but 316l and 904l can work. To make it conductive enough for a substrate for electrodeposition, the conductivity needs to be increased. With PVD, you can deposit a layer of gold on top of the TiN. This will require the normal preparation by plasma discharge prior to gold coating. However if you want to use conventional electroless gold the TiN will need to be thoroughly prepared to be a non conducting surface. So alkaline, acid dips with any suitable activation that may be required. TiN gives it a hardness of 84 RC and a higher melting point.

Some use ZrN(C) and think it's better due to the amount of carbon being used to adjust the colour. The colour is a brighter more accurate gold to some with a much lower chance of corrosion and even harder and extremely wear resistant. Problem is you need to plate the substrate with nickel first that is electroless for shine and corrosion resistance. Some people's skin cant take nickel.