Looking for (good/bad) recent experience using 10k/24k gold plated pen kits.

[WalkOn]

I did some searches on the forums looking for posts on gold plating and there were some interesting posts done in 2005 & 2006, but not a whole lot of recent info, or at least I didn't find a lot. Deal is, it's often said that 10k/24k gold plating won't last. Given that, I buy gold titanium kits when I can, but not all kits are offered in gold-Ti. I also read that some manufacturers have been coating their parts, while others use the rack method rather than tumblers (whatever that means) and I guess there are other methods, as well.

Bottom line - does current day 10k/24k plating really deserve the bad rap it gets? Have you used these kits and been disappointed, or do they seem to hold their finish and work for you?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Kev

 

[toddlajoie]

In my experience, if a standard gold plated pen (I've used Slims, Zens, Sierras, and Navigators) pen is carried daily, it will show significant loss of gold plating within 1 month...

I have had better results with Cigars, but I rarely buy the straight gold ones, typically the gold/gunmetal ones and I have not paid attention to the specifics of any of these kits, Cobalt Gold, 10K, 14K, 18K, "upgraded Gold", etc.