Platinum-plated jewellery offers the elegance of platinum at an affordable price. For coating high-value, high-carat but soft metals like 18ct white gold, platinum plating adds a classic silvery whiteness, as well as hardness and durability. It creates a uniform colour and protects the wearer from potentially problematic metals found in some white gold, such as nickel. One of the most attractive features of platinum is how well it holds up against scratches and wear, and it also polishes up easily.
Here’s how to ensure your plating process runs smoothly, with as little wasted time and materials as possible. It’s recommended that you wear gloves and protective eyeglasses for safety (consider an apron as well) and always ensure that your work environment is properly ventilated when undertaking any kind of plating or chemical process.
SET UP THE PRECIOUS METAL BATH
- Pour 1 litre of platinum plating solution into a 1-litre glass beaker and drop the magnetic stirring pellet inside. Put the beaker on the magnetic mixer hotplate and heat to 29.4°C, and let it mix on a medium-slow setting for about 15 minutes.
- Place the long end of a platinized titanium bent anode into the beaker and connect the positive lead of the rectifier to the anode. Set the rectifier voltage to between 1.5 and 3 (2 volts is recommended) and the plating time to between 30 seconds and 1.5 minutes.
HOW TO PLATE AN OLDER/DAMAGED OR OXIDISED ITEM WITH PLATINUM
- Polish the item and immediately remove the polish as soon as possible after application. If you have an ultrasonic cleaner it’s best to use it with a jewellery solution, otherwise the polish can harden on the ring. Eliminating all contaminates will help the plating solution to adhere securely to the item.
- Cut a piece of platinum wire about 10cm long. Make a loop to hold the jewellery piece and connect it to the negative wire lead from the rectifier.
- Rinse the item in distilled water (because it is purified and therefore has no metal or chemical contaminants, ensuring spot-free drying). Hot distilled water will dry faster.
- Electro-clean the item for 1 minute at 52°C, 5 volts, to ensure the plating solution bonds well to the surface.
- Rinse again in distilled water. Visually inspect your item for polish oil, and electro-clean again if necessary.
- Continue with the process outlined in the section below:
HOW TO PLATE A BRAND NEW ITEM WITH PLATINUM
- Place it in the acid activation beaker for a few seconds (up to 10 seconds)
- Rinse again in distilled water to neutralise the electro-cleaner soap.
- Connect the negative lead from the plating rectifier to your platinum wire.
- Electroplate in the platinum solution for 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes, at 29.4°C, at the recommended 2 volts.
- Remember to visually inspect the item throughout the plating process.
- When the desired colour is achieved, rinse your item in distilled water again. (Remember hot distilled water dries faster)
- Dry your item with a small hair dryer or soft tissue – without lotion.
- Dispose of all chemicals properly! This must be done by a licensed chemical company.
To save money you can certainly reuse your electroplating and acid activation solutions, but do note that you should replace them weekly. All distilled water rinses should be replaced daily, so it is best to batch all your plating jobs by metal.
CHECKLIST: a reminder of what you’ll need to complete a platinum plating job
- Ultrasonic Cleaner
- Electro-cleaner soap (replace this weekly)
- Acid Activator
- Digital rectifier with 4 wire leads OR 2 rectifiers with 2 wire leads each
- Hot plate stirrer with a magnetic pellet (If you do not have a hot plate stirrer you can agitate the piece in the solution manually by jiggling it on the platinum wire)
- 3 or more 1 litre plastic beakers (for distilled water rinses)
- 3 1-litre glass beakers (for electro-cleaner, activation salt, and plating solution)
- Platinum plating wire (to hold item being plated)
- Glass mixing rod(s)
- 1 Stainless steel anode (for electro-cleaner)
- Platinized titanium anode (for plating solution)
- 1 litre of platinum jewellery plating solution
CPM stocks a wide range of products including most of the items above. Chat to us for your plating needs.