PVD vs water plating: what actually lasts on stainless steel
Two coating processes, two very different wear lives. How to read plating thickness on a spec sheet before you quote your own customers.
PVD bonds the coating in a vacuum chamber; water plating deposits it in a bath. Both produce gold-tone jewelry. They do not produce the same wear life, and the difference is measurable in microns.
What the process changes
A PVD layer is bonded at the atomic level, which is why it resists abrasion and sweat far longer than an electroplated layer of the same thickness. Water plating is faster and cheaper, which is why it dominates fashion jewelry — but it wears through at high-contact points first: ring bands, bracelet edges, ear-post friction zones.
How to read the spec sheet
Thickness is stated in µm. On our spec sheets, the plating method and thickness are two separate fields, because “gold” tells you the color and neither the process nor the wear life. When you quote your own customers, quote from the number, not from the photo.
What to ask a supplier
Ask three things: which process (PVD or electroplate), which thickness in µm, and whether the thickness is measured at incoming inspection. If the third answer is no, the first two are unverifiable.