Gold Plating
I get almost all of my kits from the Manufacturer. I buy two types of gold plating in my kits.
The main one is Titanium/Gold- "This is an incredible durable plating method. Titanium nitride (TIN) is applied to the part and the gold is sputtered over the over the TIN.
"TIN is incredibly hard and is moleculary (sic) with the part. We found a way to match the TIN color to the color of gold when the gold gradually wears it can not be noticed since the color of the TIN matches the gold.
"This plating method provides for an incredibly long lasting perfect appearance, which could not be equaled by any other gold plating method."
The other gold plating I get is Upgrade Gold(24k)--"In this method each individual part is separately hung on a plating 'tree'. These 'trees' are the carefully immersed in a series of plating and cleaning baths. We also add cobalt/Palladium to the chemicals to improve wear ability."
I believe that the long lasting beauty of one of my pens depends on using the best kit available. I only use Upgrade Gold when the kit is not offered in Titanium/Gold. (I am still selling a few 24k kits that I bought before switching to Titanium/Gold.)
