Does anyone have experience of getting a watch case gold plated. Is it possible? I have a case which is in good condition but with the gold worn off around the edge front and back. Thanks.

I believe Leon Harris here at IHC185 does high end case work with laser welders... You can accomplish anything you want with enough time and money.

I've seen one watch here that was re-plated in it's entirety... but comes out an unnaturally bright 24K.

Most of us just polish them up as bright as possible and call it close enough.

I've done some watch repair for a local jeweler and we have discussed laser weld repair and body work on dented cases... It is cost prohibitive from my perspective.

Thanks Paul. I'm really only thinking of the finish everything else is ok.

plating a gold case with gold does not work well, you will still see the wear through and worn areas, you would need to polish the case to a point where there was a 100% smooth natural transition between worn and plated sections as this would show when replated as a edge and looks worse than if left alone, the plating would be very thin only a few microns compared to the original thick GF. If you plate with other metal first then do a final gold plating gives best results but not durable, this could be any color, rose gold, bright yellow, green etc, I was going to experiment plating some in copper and see how that turned out. It is possible to have damage repaired to small areas if needed with a laser welder or skilled jeweler like Leon who does some wonderful case work.
I re-plated a few worn GF cases just for fun with thick nickel and the looked very good and turned then back into serviceable cases again with a hard durable finish of course this all takes time and equipment both are expensive to do or have done, the long and the short of it is to pay the extra and get the best case from the outset you can.

Thanks Chris. Been speaking to a jewellery manufacturer and he was of a similar opinion.
I think I will leave well alone. Hey Ho!

I had thought of refinishing cases years ago when I started this hobby so imagine my excitement when I found a gold pen refinishing machine at the Pasadena watch show years ago. The demonstration made it look so easy and the plating looked good too.
I purchased the machine and it still sits in my garage today. Only used once, great for plating "anything" but watch cases

I did re-plate one case, and it was not really very good. I never did another one because the results were not good enough.