|
Can I do GOLD PLATING for a JEWELER?
You can do some gold
plating on jewelry but you run the risk of potentially having a problem with the work you
do.
Can you do GOLD PLATING
for a JEWELER? NOT REALLY.
In addition, there are
companies the have supplied Jewelry stores with JEWELRY TRADE ITEMS over many years who
can, and do, offer the Jewelry stores gold plating equipment direct, at affordable prices.
While it is not 100%
impossible to make a sale to a Jewelry Store, we strongly suggest you check out your local
market before you purchase any equipment from anyone to do a particular job.
While noting is totally
impossible, it is impractical. Do not take my word for it, you can check this out for
yourself. Go to any MALL or any JEWELRY STORE and look over what they offer. They offer an
assortment of 14 KARAT Jewelry. The important of stressing 14 Karat Jewelry is to show no
one would put 24 Karat gold electroplating over 14 Karat Jewelry.
Ask about jewelry from
the Kremetz company. That is an old company with a quality product.
For related information,
check EXACTLY what is 10K, 12K,
14K, 18K and so on to 24K GOLD anyway? web page. It is one of the
FAQ pages too.
You can ask the Jeweler
if you could do 24 Karat gold electroplating for the store. The answer might surprise you.
It will not surprise us.
I expect every Jeweler
has a catalog from a supplier of products since the 1920's.
They offer mini tank
plating systems for Jewelers.
The main company
catalog is almost 300 pages long.
The companies specialty
"FINDINGS" catalog is more than 125 pages and most are in 4 color.
The idea here is not to
impress you with my knowledge of a source. It is to explain to you the extremely limited
sales potential of selling to a Jewelry Store.
Unless, of course, if you
are going to Gold Plate the scripts and emblems on the Jewelers personal vehicle.
Please check this out
before you buy a Gold Plating system from anyone based on the potential to make sales to
the Jewelry Industry.
When suppliers discuss gold plating in
tanks, they occasionally refer to doing gold plating for a jeweler. The TANK PLATING
SYSTEM typically used by a jeweler is a 600 ML beaker, which is like a two cup measuring
container - a 16 ounce water glass size tank. This is small size is acceptable for the
typically small sized items they are going to gold plate.
The difference in size between 16
ounces and 33 gallons, is a HUGH difference.
A 33 gallon tank is 4,224 ounces.
Or, a 33 gallon tank is 264 times
bigger than a 16 ounce container.
This leaves a big difference. It all
boils down to how you look at it.
We have small systems that do gold
plating like Jewelers do, occasionally in glass beakers. A small system like this is
typically a 10 AMP SYSTEM. 10 AMPS is enough in the small glass beakers up to a one gallon
bath. The average jeweler is not in a rush.
The 10 AMP POWER SUPPLY has
enough power to handle most plating requirements from small baths up to one gallon of
plating solution. The 10 AMP POWER SUPPLY has a very limited capacity for electro
stripping, We recommend a minimum of 25 AMPS for stripping operations.
The 10 AMP POWER SUPPLY can be
used for BRUSH PLATING, subject to the limitations mentioned above. This means a jeweler
could do brush plating as long as they are not attempting to strip chrome. Fortunately,
few pieces a jewelry have chrome on them to start with.
Speaking of the 10 AMP Gold
Plating System, several companies already market this 10 amp Gold Plating System direct to
Jewelers all over the US. This includes companies the Jewelers probably already use for a
variety of other Jewelers Supply items.
Based on the fact the
equipment and supplies are already available to Jewelers from a wholesale Jewelry
Supplier, one has been in business since 1923, I see a very limited potential for anyone
to make any real money selling a service to Jewelers.
The Jewelry Store my parents
owned in Chicago did not need to have a Gold Plating System because there are all sorts of
what they called "JOB SHOPS" who had years of experience in Gold Plating of
Jewelry to do the work.
This bring up an important
point. Picture you are the owner of a Jewelry Store in your town. You would have built a
reputation within the local community and have a responsibility for doing a QUALITY JOB
for your customers.
Would you, as the owner of
the store, let an inexperienced person with a mobile OR small tank type gold plating
system work on a piece of jewelry one of your customers wanted gold plated?
Or, would you send it out to
have the work done by an experienced professional who already knows how and has a history
of doing this type of work?
The answer is simple.
- If the jeweler has enough customers who
want that type of work done, the jeweler already knows where to buy the equipment for
little money and will do the work in the store.
- If the jeweler does not have enough
customers who want that type of work done, the jeweler knows where to send the piece to
have the work done by an experienced person.
In another simple test, ask anyone you
know if they would let you attempt to plate gold onto a piece of FAMILY HEIRLOOM jewelry.
The idea of this information is not to
tell you that you can not do a particular type of gold plating work. And, you may find an
opportunity to do some depositing of gold onto jewelry. However, this is what we commonly
refer to as a NICHE MARKET, not a universally high income area. Perhaps it is better
described as a HOBBY TYPE gold plating.
To go
back to your previous page,
please click on your web browsers BACK button.
| 
