Why plating peels — the 5 real causes
A client comes back in your messages saying "Patricia, it peeled". That is every reseller's worst nightmare. And it almost always has a cause, and almost never is it the factory. This lesson is your map to understand what happened, speak clearly with the client, and — when it applies — request Herreira re-plating without it becoming drama.
Cause 1: wrong piece preparation
Remember the degreasing and pickling we saw in lesson 1 of this module? When that step fails, the plating adheres but does not bond with the metal. Visually, it looks like normal plating. In a few months, it starts coming off in flakes, usually at friction points (under the ring, necklace clasp).
That is factory failure. On a Herreira piece it is extremely rare, because every batch goes through visual inspection before shipping. But when it happens — and it does — it is the classic priority re-plating case.
Cause 2: plating too thin for the piece's function
Half a micron on a ring worn every day will peel in three or four months, no doubt. It is not defect — it is physics. You are asking half a coat of paint to withstand the friction of a thousand handshakes a month.
Herreira works with three microns or more on everyday-use pieces precisely to avoid this. But if the client bought a popular mall piece with thin plating and blames 18k plating in general, you need to explain: the problem is not 18k plating — it is the thickness. The recipe is the same; what changes is how much of it she got. (Go back to lesson 2 of this module if this is not yet firm in your mind.)
Cause 3: aggressive chemical contact
You already saw this in lesson 4 of module 1, but it is worth repeating because it is the most common complaint cause:
- Perfume sprayed directly on the piece dries the gold from the top down. In four months of daily use, the piece already shows stains.
- Pool chlorine and sea salt attack the gold and the alloy at the same time. One beach season fades it.
- Dense body creams, especially those with acids (exfoliants, anti-aging) get under the piece and degrade the plating from inside out.
- Hand sanitizer applied directly with a ring on attacks the plating. During the pandemic, many Herreira rings suffered.
When a client complains, your first question must be: "does she put on perfume before or after the piece?". Seven out of ten times, that is it.
Cause 4: mechanical friction at a specific point
A bracelet that hits the desk all day. A ring that rubs the steering wheel daily. A chain that catches on a bag zipper. These points suffer more than the rest of the piece and show localized wear — it is not uniform peeling, it is wearing in one region.
This is normal use taken to the extreme, and there is a solution: piece re-plating (redoes the layer) and a usage adjustment (you become consultant here).
Cause 5: bad base alloy underneath
On popular pieces, the base is a cheap alloy, poorly balanced, sometimes with internal porosity. The plating sticks, but what is underneath expands, contracts, oxidizes — and pushes the plating out from the inside. You see the plating bubble before it peels.
On a Herreira piece this does not happen, because the base is controlled (you saw this in lesson 3 of module 1). But if the client brought a piece from another brand to compare, identify. "See this bulge here? It is the base oxidizing under the plating. No plating can hold a base like that."
The sentence that solves the hard conversation
"Plating peels for five reasons: wrong preparation (rare at a good factory), too thin a layer (popular cause), chemical contact (perfume, chlorine, cream), mechanical friction at a specific point, and bad base. A Herreira piece is designed to avoid four of the five. The fifth — chemistry — depends on you and the client. Let us look together at what happened here?"
That sentence shifts the tone. It is not "your fault, client". It is "let us investigate together". And when it is a factory case, you trigger re-plating calmly — because a good factory takes responsibility and redoes it.
Pocket sentence
"Plating does not peel by chance. When it peels, there is a cause — and almost always you can recover it with re-plating or prevent it by changing a usage detail."
What to practice this week
Mentally list the five causes in order (preparation, thickness, chemistry, friction, base). Memorize them. Next time a client complains about a piece (any brand), use that list as diagnosis — one question per cause. In three minutes you know what happened and speak with the authority of someone who really understands the factory.