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Why Gold-plated Make You Look Like A Fool, And How To Fix It

loodeytunes

Getting To Know The Place
27/8/23
30
22
8
Im not a watch expert at all but my gen day date from an AD looks yellow like your sub though. It was from the 90s if that makes a difference.
 

guarda

You're Saying I Can Smell?
Certified
26/10/16
188
179
43
NYC
I call out the idiots who pay for a real gold Rolex all the time. Makes me happy
 

tris101

Getting To Know The Place
4/1/24
16
4
3
Hi Everyone,

Around 4 years ago I have bought myself a gold-plated blue dial submariner from a trusted dealer here. I was very happy and was wearing it with pride, and in my eyes there was absolutely nothing wrong with the watch. It passed a 100m water pressure test, it was running only +2/day, SEL were - after purchasing the original Rolex fat-springbars with 1.2mm end lugs - absolutely stunning, and I loved that watch. It was only when I walked into a private bank, that I was called out on my fake; and these people have only seen the watch from a distance of 5 meters. It ended up being in the drawer ever since.

Fast forward, 4 years later a lot has changed in my career and I finally found myself in the position to purchase a 18k gold daytona - a dream has come true. After my new watch finally arrived from Chrono24, I began to understand why people called me out on my fake Rolex before. The gold color is simply off - big time!

While the Daytona has a nice whitish gold, the gold-plated sub has a dark-yellowish gold. Unfortunately, the Daytona is in for a service right now but I still have two spare solid gold links that I can compare to the gold plated ones.

You will see, that the real gold links are just way brighter. While it may not be as obvious when you compare two links only, it is a major tell when comparing two watches.

I think I should let some photos speak for themselves.
In no particular order ... here some shots in different lightings on different backgrounds. If you can tell which one is the real and which one's the fake, other people will too.

I will document the fix here on RWI soon. I will remove the current gold plating, and go for a 14k plating in the hope that it's gonna be brighter than the Noob 18k one. Just need to wait for the galvanising equipment :) Once the color issues are fixed, I will be happy to wear this beautiful thing as my daily beater again.

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tris101

Getting To Know The Place
4/1/24
16
4
3
And here, two older shots I have found in my photo stream.
See how "yellowish" the sub is as opposed to the almost white/greyish gold on the Daytona?

Preparing the acid bath just now to remove all gold plating from the sub :)


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Mate your original watch was never 18k rose gold plated it was just fake gold no watch is plated with real gold that's why you were called out you needed to of had it gold plated with real rose gold, why you ever thought it would be a match is beyond me, the stock factory colour on gold watches is just a joke it's just PVD mixed metals trying to look gold.