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"The "Wrapped" Gold Sub Guide"

991Turbo

Active Member
14/6/16
253
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Someone NEEDS to do a BP wrapped link. I believe BP has the best gold to date, by far. The rest of the factories seem to be a joke.
 

2470f2.8ii

I'm Pretty Popular
16/12/16
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guys, I just bought the bp bracelet for my 116713 gmt franken. got it from andrew at trusty about a week ago

i've got a spare link to send to whoever.

it certainly is heaver than my plated bracelet and looks much richer in person

just let me know because im super curious

also. i think my band is starting to stretch a little -_-
 

2470f2.8ii

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plated on the left, bp gold on the right. btw it cost me $450 for the new bracelet. and for ANYONE looking to do the same upgrade, I recommend buying some 1.5mm spring bars. The stock 1.8 didn't work at all. I spent about 5 hours trying to make it fit. 1.5mm x 19mm did the trick for mine. Stock is 1.8mm x 20mm. View attachment 84457 Took the clasp off, long story. Anyway I have a spare link for testing :)
 

maxracingshox

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17/7/12
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plated on the left, bp gold on the right. btw it cost me $450 for the new bracelet. and for ANYONE looking to do the same upgrade, I recommend buying some 1.5mm spring bars. The stock 1.8 didn't work at all. I spent about 5 hours trying to make it fit. 1.5mm x 19mm did the trick for mine. Stock is 1.8mm x 20mm. View attachment 84457 Took the clasp off, long story. Anyway I have a spare link for testing :)
$450 for a rep bracelet?? :O
 

2470f2.8ii

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$450 for a rep bracelet?? :O

Do you have anything constructive to add to this thread?

The real rolex version cost many thousand. This is the next best thing.

I have a franken watch this is going on, gen bezel, crystal and crown. No point in having all of that with a bracelet that doesn't look the part. Worth it in my opinion.
 

maxracingshox

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Do you have anything constructive to add to this thread?

The real rolex version cost many thousand. This is the next best thing.

I have a franken watch this is going on, gen bezel, crystal and crown. No point in having all of that with a bracelet that doesn't look the part. Worth it in my opinion.
Didn't say it's not worth it or anything, did I? Just that $450 is a lot for a rep bracelet, period.
 

HNTR

I'm Pretty Popular
17/2/16
1,141
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plated on the left, bp gold on the right. btw it cost me $450 for the new bracelet. and for ANYONE looking to do the same upgrade, I recommend buying some 1.5mm spring bars. The stock 1.8 didn't work at all. I spent about 5 hours trying to make it fit. 1.5mm x 19mm did the trick for mine. Stock is 1.8mm x 20mm. View attachment 84457 Took the clasp off, long story. Anyway I have a spare link for testing :)
Pm @andrei01 for sure
 
D

d4m.test

Guest
Just found this thread...very well done OP! I'm curious to see if this will change things with the dealers in the future...maybe, maybe not.

I will say though that in seeing some of the TT pieces I've bought since the first of the year or so, I've now went to sourcing Gen/Gen spec bracelets, crowns and bezels. Yes, a little bit more money, but well worth it when it comes to aesthetics!
 

Parabuteo

Patron, Salt and Lime
7/9/12
517
52
0
guys, I just bought the bp bracelet for my 116713 gmt franken. got it from andrew at trusty about a week ago

i've got a spare link to send to whoever.

it certainly is heaver than my plated bracelet and looks much richer in person

just let me know because im super curious

also. i think my band is starting to stretch a little -_-

You can start by taking the link to any “we buy gold” place or jeweler near you, have them do a scratch test (where they scratch the gold part of the link on a stone and then test the result with acid).

If the link does in fact test positive for gold content then you can investigate further as to a actual assay to determine how much gold is in it....percentage/karat wise. No point in this though unless the link acid tests positive.
 

Parabuteo

Patron, Salt and Lime
7/9/12
517
52
0
Didn't say it's not worth it or anything, did I? Just that $450 is a lot for a rep bracelet, period.

If the BP bracelet does in fact have gold content....which prospect I think is looking kind of dim but still open to the possibility, the price would be great since the least expensive rep bracelet that I think has actual gold links would be the Startime at 700+ bucks.
http://www.startimesupply.com/product/RMO2T14K-SUB.html

I would like to get to the bottom of the BP’s purported gold content as much as any, would be pleasantly surprised if it had even a low karat alloy, but as I said before I think this needs to be proven rather than speculated on....hoping someone does test a link soon!
 

2470f2.8ii

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You can start by taking the link to any “we buy gold” place or jeweler near you, have them do a scratch test (where they scratch the gold part of the link on a stone and then test the result with acid).

If the link does in fact test positive for gold content then you can investigate further as to a actual assay to determine how much gold is in it....percentage/karat wise. No point in this though unless the link acid tests positive.

That'll be easier than shipping it from usa to europe -

I got a feeling there's real gold in there. It def weighs more and in the light, it's brilliantly beautiful. My bezel is gen 18kt rolex. Pretty close to the bp bracelet if you ask me.

The plated that came with it was obviously off. too pale to say the least.

I'll keep you guys updated as soon as I get the chance to visit one of those shops.

I'm guessing a pawn shop will be a safe bet? They're bound to have such a test
 
D

d4m.test

Guest
Here are the results:

Shiny side 1st :

1fcaf1fb0ca38b95fb5853d2d817d166.jpg

a813abb2f2d5e5e338a6a7c254955582.jpg


The device i have is not calibrated to show precious metals so everything precious is shown as 'W', in our case W being gold. So there certainly is some gold there. But is piece gold plated or is gold really part of the alloy ?

Now the side facing the stainless link:

c58d2b232c92a63bd8d91c899096fa43.jpg

17b9227b2f526715dcd7acdf2678b263.jpg


You can clearly see that W doesn't show up anymore so this concludes the test.

Just to be sure i grinded the shiny face a bit and repeated the test:

9c7df1b84231d11949cd52a3f4dcea16.jpg

5730408fda232ddbe648c1d330c8ba8e.jpg


It still shows W ( gold ) but the piece being so small i'm not sure if i managed to scrape off the entire surface with the grinder.

The correct way was to flaten the piece and then sand it and then retest but since the backside doesn't show any trace of gold it's quite obvious that this is just gold plated brass.


Sent from the RWI App

Fascinating research here, thanks for sharing.
 

thinwhiteduke

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21/2/16
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Again, OP, take a bow. A thread worthy of a sticky. And thank you @2470f2.8ii for volunteering your spare link. Will closely follow this thread for the reslts.
 

Versaceboy54

I <3 DD’s
Certified
26/6/13
2,249
116
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plated on the left, bp gold on the right. btw it cost me $450 for the new bracelet. and for ANYONE looking to do the same upgrade, I recommend buying some 1.5mm spring bars. The stock 1.8 didn't work at all. I spent about 5 hours trying to make it fit. 1.5mm x 19mm did the trick for mine. Stock is 1.8mm x 20mm. View attachment 84457 Took the clasp off, long story. Anyway I have a spare link for testing :)

Awesome pics bro! Just so I’m clear your comparing BP plated to Wrapped or was the plated from another maker like Noob?
 

Spatiumtemporis

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7/8/16
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@2470f2.8ii i'll have to strip the wrapping off to have a good reading. Otherwise the gun will pick up the stainless underneath and from the sides and the reading will be erroneous.

Just in case you were thinking of maybe getting the link back after testing.

Sent from the RWI App
 

mskwatch

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EU
damn, this is the kind of stuff I love RWI for. Thanks for the writeup, much appreciated.
 

2470f2.8ii

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Again, OP, take a bow. A thread worthy of a sticky. And thank you @2470f2.8ii for volunteering your spare link. Will closely follow this thread for the reslts.

no problemo, let's get this all settled. hopefully concrete evidence will spark even more quality reps in the future from the factories

@2470f2.8ii i'll have to strip the wrapping off to have a good reading. Otherwise the gun will pick up the stainless underneath and from the sides and the reading will be erroneous.

Just in case you were thinking of maybe getting the link back after testing.

Sent from the RWI App

noted, I don't mine it being used for the greater good. I'll still have 1 other spare :)


Awesome pics bro! Just so I’m clear your comparing BP plated to Wrapped or was the plated from another maker like Noob?

It's bp plated vs bp "gold filled" I believe is the term they like to use. I think the plated was more rich when I first got it, but it's my daily beater so...that didn't last long. I could be wrong though!

I initially got the base model for my franken build. My modder was supposedly going to source a nice 18kt bracelet...but it is a long crappy story. Got a new modder who installed the gen parts I had and we kept the plated for the time being.

After some time, I ended up buying the bp gold "filled" and i i have to admit it looks fantastic in person.

I've got a lot going on right now but I will get this done sooner than later. Cheers RWI family