Watch Surface Treatment and Electroplating Services

FTM offers various types of electroplating that conform to the RoHS requirements. The electroplating we provide can give metal a colorful appearance and resistance to perspiration, corrosion, scratches, wear, allergies, and rust.

We can provide many different surface treatments and logo engraving. Natural finishing or simple gilt/nickel-free plating for brass buckles is also available.

Precious Metal Electroplating Coating
Functions of Layers
NIHS – Casting Composition of NIHS Color Standard

Plating processes we offer

Depending on the finish, we plate brass and zinc die cast parts, and stainless steel parts for gold plating. Aluminum parts can be anodized. Our finishes:

Gold plating, in karat gold and color gold
Rhodium plating
Silver plating
Ruthenium plating
White bronze plating
Anodizing for aluminum parts

Full table of plating layers for each base metal: precious metal electroplating coating.

What each plating layer does

A durable finish is built in layers, and each layer has a job:

Cyanide copper: adhesion and a clean surface
Acid copper: leveling
Bronze and nickel: diffusion barrier
Gold strike: adhesion
Karat gold: thickness, wear resistance, leveling and brightness
Color gold, rhodium, ruthenium and silver: the color you want, and corrosion resistance for gold, rhodium and ruthenium
Palladium-cobalt: adhesion, corrosion resistance, brightness and a diffusion barrier

Details of each layer: functions of layers.

Gold colors

Our NIHS color standard table lists the reference gold alloy for each shade: pale yellow (1N-14 and 2N-18), yellow (3N), rose (4N), red (5N), yellow-green (0N) and white (8N). Full compositions: NIHS color standard.

Questions buyers ask

Are your plating processes RoHS compliant?

Yes. We offer various types of electroplating that conform to RoHS requirements.

Which base metals can you plate?

Brass and zinc die cast for all of the plating finishes above, stainless steel for gold plating, and aluminum by anodizing.

Do you offer nickel-free plating?

Yes. Natural finishing or simple gilt, nickel-free plating is available, for example for brass buckles.

Can you engrave a logo?

Yes. We provide logo engraving as well as many different surface treatments.

What does plating protect against?

Electroplating gives metal a colorful appearance and resistance to perspiration, corrosion, scratches, wear, allergies and rust.

What is your minimum order quantity?

Generally 300 pieces, depending on the project.

Will my design stay confidential?

Yes. We sign NDAs on request.

Surface treatment for every watch component

Finish your parts to match: see our watch cases, bands and buckles, dials, hands, crowns and pushers and crystals and gaskets, or have us build complete watches with the finish you choose.

Ready to choose a finish?

Tell us the base metal, the finish and the quantity in our technical questionnaire, or contact our team directly.