Electroplating
CIR Electroplating offers its electroplating services to businesses and the general public alike. We produce high quality gold plating, silver plating, platinum plating, nickel plating, copper electroforming and vermeil finishes in-house from our state-of-the-art electroplating shop. Whether you have a need for electroplating, or re-plating, CIR Electroplating follows a rigorous quality control procedure to ensure the best possible end result.
Whether you need gold or silver plating, from jewellery and trophies to models medals and components, we’ll undertake one-off pieces or batches of many items. We have various strike solutions which enable us to electroplate onto a range of different metals and alloys. We use an electroforming system to plate onto non-metallic objects. This can also be used to make components or jewellery, with the original piece (mandrel or mould) being removed after electroforming.
Some of the most common items we provide electroplating for are:
Jewellery ~ Ornaments ~ Die Cast Models ~ Trophies ~ Clocks ~ Watches ~ Antiques ~ Silver ware ~ Light Fittings ~ Architectural Fittings ~ Industrial, Scientific & Medical Components
We always use the highest quality materials to give you a fantastic finished piece, most of our gold plating is done in 24 carat gold to produce a deep and lustrous yellow finish. If you want an extremely bright, white finish then platinum will be the metal of choice. As well as silver plating and gold plating we can also accommodate requests for rhodium and ruthenium plating, palladium plating and platinum plating.
Electroplating can be used to restore life to your most treasured items such as worn jewellery, rings, watches and chains, or to transform an otherwise dull object into something far more eye-catching.
As well as silver and gold plating we can offer polishing, metal working, soldering and rewiring, with our normal turnaround time of under one week. If you have an urgent request please discuss it with us and we’ll do our best to oblige, sometimes we can even plate while you wait!
Please note we don’t do chrome plating
The £1500 Golden Marmite Jar
Heavy copper electroform over engraved glass jar, followed by intermediate silver plating and 24 carat gold plating – sterling silver lid also plated in 24ct gold
A Golden Journey: From Lead to 24ct Gold
When we were first contacted to gold-plate a lead bar with Soviet gold bullion markings, we were initially wary, suspecting the request to be somewhat “dodgy.” However, this enquiry led us to learn of a fascinating piece of history about Cold War British-Soviet cooperation. This cooperation resulted in the salvaging of over 400 gold ingots sunk in 1942 with the torpedoed HMS Edinburgh, in Soviet waters North of Murmansk, at a depth of 800 Ft.
The gentleman behind this unusual request turned out to be the Salvage Master in-charge of the 1982 operation and as a memento, he was given a lead facsimile of KP 0620, the first ingot recovered. Originally covered in gold paint, he now wanted it plated with real 24ct gold to make it look like the genuine article.
The process began with meticulously cleaning and preparing the lead surface. Plating it proved challenging due to the weight and softness of the lead, which could be easily marked with the slightest knock. To address this, we constructed a custom jig to hold the bar securely.
First, we deposited a layer of copper in a cyanide solution to ensure proper adhesion to the lead. This was followed by several hours of applying bright copper in an acidic solution to form a protective casing around the lead. An intermediate layer of nickel was then applied, followed by 2 microns of 24ct gold, completing the transformation.
Below: lead bar gold-plated by us in 2024
Above: gold bars successfully salvaged in 1982
