zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: It is dangerous to take a little second-hand
: knowledge from one area of metalworking and
: think you have all you need to know to
: criticize any other application of a similar
: process.

: Rhodium plating is used to prevent tarnishing
: -- mainly on sterling silver jewelry.
: Tarnishing is something that the stainless
: steel or solid gold exteriors of Omega
: watches do not have a problem with. Omega
: uses it on certain movements parts that are
: made from brass or other materials that do
: tarnish. This helps prolong the life of the
: movement -- something very desirable in a
: $1,000-20,000 watch!

: Since rhodium is a silver-white metal, it would
: not be used over yellow gold. And stainless
: steel certainly does not need any tarnish
: protection.

: I don't know how your dealer might have
: misstated the facts, but all the official
: information I've seen from Omega pretty
: clearly described the rhodium-plating to be
: a feature of the movement, not of the case
: or bracelet.

: We're all here to share information, ask
: questions and learn from each other.
: Questions and debate about the quality and
: suitability of Omega's techniques are quite
: welcome content here.

: But trying to be all Mr. I Know Somebody's
: Dirty Secret with information that you
: clearly didn't sufficiently check out or
: apply common sense logic to reflects poorly
: on you.

The problem with any plating is that it eventually wears off and unevenly at that. So, you start off with a nice uniform shiny surface and eventually you get partially plated and partially scratched and unplated. Its much better to have something like stainless steel which looks nice as is. The same could be said for gold. As for internal parts, its tough to beat stainless for long term durability. Gold won't corrode but stainless will wear better if there is any load bearing.