# In The Pink?



## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

Following up on the Customs issue with RePlatit in Canada..

Having said the don't reply to emails - they did to my email about the colour of their gold finishes. I had to ask because some 'yellow' gold is very yellow indeed, while some are warmer - slightly red, which I prefer. This seems to be the case regardless of carat, the nicest hues have copper added to the gold.

My queston to them was what colour is their 'Rose Gold', and was it a girlie pink colour. They sent me this photo:










So the answer is definitely YES..yeuch!

In contrast to this:


----------



## feenix (May 27, 2008)

I like rose-gold, I'd rather have the finish of the top picture :man_in_love:


----------



## Mirokujames (Dec 14, 2011)

Im a fan of rose gold also, not sure why just always have been. Guess its all down to personal choice though


----------



## trim (Sep 23, 2010)

You are right that it is certainly not the shade of rose gold used in the 50s-60s, and would never have been seen on your example Roamer. Roamer's rose gold was on the subtle end of the rose gold spectrum. I don't think I mind the one you posted though, it suits the teardrop case I think.

I agree older gold alloy's are richer more mellow and less bright. I was getting a demo on gold soldering from a manufacturing jeweler, and he was using 14K to repair old 10K cases, and the match was good. He suggested you should usually bump it up to the next caret to match the colour - but of course each alloy is different, so it is not always true. Perhaps this holds for plating as well, in which case you should get your 10K done in 14K, your 14K done in 18K etc. Worth a thought.

I am keen to see the result of your job - particularly interested in how much they polish the case, and if they round out the lines too much.


----------



## feenix (May 27, 2008)

I don't have a Roamer, but I do have this Bulova in rose-gold. Shame about the salmon coloured dial, but I still like the watch :man_in_love:


----------



## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

trim said:


> You are right that it is certainly not the shade of rose gold used in the 50s-60s, and would never have been seen on your example Roamer. Roamer's rose gold was on the subtle end of the rose gold spectrum. I don't think I mind the one you posted though, it suits the teardrop case I think.
> 
> I agree older gold alloy's are richer more mellow and less bright. I was getting a demo on gold soldering from a manufacturing jeweler, and he was using 14K to repair old 10K cases, and the match was good. He suggested you should usually bump it up to the next caret to match the colour - but of course each alloy is different, so it is not always true. Perhaps this holds for plating as well, in which case you should get your 10K done in 14K, your 14K done in 18K etc. Worth a thought.
> 
> I am keen to see the result of your job - particularly interested in how much they polish the case, and if they round out the lines too much.


To be honest, I'm having 2nd thoughts about having them re-plate my 'priority' watch. I wouldn't want it coming back looking like the 'Yellow Rose of Texas'. I've got a 70s Roamer with quite a bright yellow plate and I'm not too keen on it. Most of the others are definitely more 'coppery', particularly the ones with 30mm cases. In fact they look just like the Welsh Clogau gold. If I have to change colour it'll be for the copper shade.

With all the uncertainty, it's looking like I should try a D.I.Y. job. I'm thinking I could remove the plate - by reversing polarity, then re-plate it back on so as to even out the 20 microns over the whole case. I'll end up with thinner plate overall, but it'll still be more than RePlateIt will put on, and it will be the original gold. Of course, I'll try it first with a 'disposable' case - that's the outline plan anyway.

Your point about the amount of rounding out is important, but on this particular case it shouldn't be too much of a problem. However, I do have some cases where it might be. I was thinking first I'd send them one of my three Type I brevetÃ© 372 cases for a trial run. They're nickel plated with many sharp corners. As for cost, a simple polish and replate is CAN$35-40, but if repair work is involved, more like $75 upwards. Trouble is with all three the strap holes are worn badly oval and so need filling with braze and re-drilling. That being so, I might resort to D.I.Y for these too!

Whatever, this time of year it's deadly to send anything by post. I sent a dial off to America for refurb on the 6th Dec - and it seems to have got lost!

BTW this is the 'priority' watch for re-plating which I'd really hate to get lost in the post:


----------



## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

feenix said:


> I don't have a Roamer, but I do have this Bulova in rose-gold. Shame about the salmon coloured dial, but I still like the watch..


I turned down a lovely 2nd hand Dreyfus in June for that very reason - it looked too effeminate by far.


----------



## trim (Sep 23, 2010)

Roamer Man said:


> With all the uncertainty, it's looking like I should try a D.I.Y. job. I'm thinking I could remove the plate - by reversing polarity, then re-plate it back on so as to even out the 20 microns over the whole case. I'll end up with thinner plate overall, but it'll still be more than RePlateIt will put on, and it will be the original gold. Of course, I'll try it first with a 'disposable' case - that's the outline plan anyway.


Nice watch - well worth not losing in the post. That has also put me off. I too had similar thoughts to you above, but my chemist wife has convinced me this is harder than I think.



Roamer Man said:


> feenix said:
> 
> 
> > I don't have a Roamer, but I do have this Bulova in rose-gold. Shame about the salmon coloured dial, but I still like the watch..
> ...


I quite like them, and they seem to last better than painted dials.


----------



## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

trim said:


> Roamer Man said:
> 
> 
> > With all the uncertainty, it's looking like I should try a D.I.Y. job. I'm thinking I could remove the plate - by reversing polarity, then re-plate it back on so as to even out the 20 microns over the whole case. I'll end up with thinner plate overall, but it'll still be more than RePlateIt will put on, and it will be the original gold. Of course, I'll try it first with a 'disposable' case - that's the outline plan anyway.
> ...


She's right, the finer points of successful plating certainly do present a challenge. However I was surprised how good results can be achieved on the 'table top'. Earlier this year - just for the hell of it - I experimented with a Seiko and it's bracelet. As a first effort I was quite impressed. I was improvising a lot through whole process, but certain parts turned out perfectly. The trouble was I was plating on the worst possible material for a first effort - stainless steel. Even so it was not at all bad, and gave me encouragement to try again.










Plating onto brass/nickel should be a lot less challenging, especially if I use the more advanced pre-plating solutions this time (MetaPrep Ultra). They say you don't have to worry too much about temperature, but I found warm solutions work much better. However, maintaining everything at 20 deg C is no simple matter. It reminds me of the challenges with colour film processing and printing of yesteryear, and you need to work in goggles and gloves.

Anyway, first step is too work on my nickel/brass cases. I've ordered some nickel acetate solution, but it's hung up with the Xmas post!


----------

