Insights on integrating gold-plated hardware in traditional saddlery.

[aurumandalusi]

Hello everyone! I've been following the discussions on vegetable-tanned leather quality for a while. In my professional experience in Spain (Jerez), we are seeing a growing demand for 'Jewel-Tack'. I’m currently working on integrating gold-plated bits and hardware into traditional Spanish and dressage bridles.

Does anyone here have experience with the long-term durability of 24k plating over stainless steel in humid environments? I believe that high-end craftsmanship must balance aesthetics with functional longevity. Greetings from Andalusia!

[Mulesaw]

Hi, 

I have no experience with gold plated items on horse tack, but I would guess that high end gold plates hardware would be plated on top of either high end brass/bronze or stainless steel hardware. So in that term I don't think that a humid environment makes any difference. 

I would be much more concerned with the abrasions from horse & rider, gold plating is very thin, and gold itself is soft, so it wouldn't take long time for the gold plating to wear off I guess. Especially on pieces such as buckles and D-rings etc.

Please show us some pictures of your bridles, 🙂 

Brgds Jonas

[Handstitched]

@aurumandalusi perhaps  look up ' Ed Bohlin'  , he used a Lot of silver in his saddles, you may get some ideas and inspiration from his saddles.

Be warned, his saddles are a sight to behold,  some of the most magnificent creations I've ever seen 

HS

[Digit]

(Why) does it have to be 24k? That's pure gold and like Jonas mentioned, gold is soft and will abrade quickly. I'd go for lower-gold-content plating if possible; that's alloyed with copper and will probably better withstand actual use (but might still tarnish in the long run; there's a reason gold items and jewelery need cleaning and polishing once in a while).

Electroplating gold directly onto copper or brass risks the copper to come through and tarnish. This can be prevented by nickel-plating first. I'm not sure if you can gold-plate directly onto stainless steel or if you'd need intermediate layers for the gold to deposit on (I know that chrome-plating steel needs a base layer of copper, for example; and silver-plating is also usually done on a copper base iirc).