Material & Care

Does PVD Gold Plating Tarnish? The Honest Answer

17 Sept 2026 · 2 min read

You bought the gold ring. It looked incredible for nine days. Then your finger went green and the gold wore through at the back like it had somewhere better to be.

That's not gold's fault. That's plating's fault — specifically, the paper-thin flash plating over brass that most cheap jewelry uses. We use something else, and this is the article where we explain exactly what, so you can tell the difference before you spend again.

What 316L steel and PVD actually are

316L is surgical stainless steel. Same grade as the instruments in an operating theatre — it doesn't rust, it doesn't corrode, and it holds its shape.

PVD stands for physical vapour deposition. Real gold, vaporised in a vacuum chamber, bonded to the steel at molecular level. Not dipped. Not sprayed. Bonded — which is why it behaves like part of the metal instead of a coat of paint sitting on top of it.

Ours goes on at three microns. Standard flash plating is around 0.5. That's the whole story in one number.

So does it tarnish?

No. Not under normal wear, not in a year, not in five.

Tarnish needs a reactive metal to work with — copper, brass, low-grade silver. Steel doesn't give it one, and the PVD layer doesn't either. Cheap plating fails because the brass underneath oxidises and pushes the gold off from behind. There's no brass here. Nothing to push.

Shower, sea, gym — all of it?

All of it. Salt water, chlorine, sweat, suncream, the gym, the sauna, the sea.

Shower-proof. Sea-proof. Ex-proof. Put her on and forget about her — that's the entire point of the material.

Will it turn my skin green?

No. Green skin is a copper reaction — copper oxidises against the acids in your sweat and leaves a mark. There's no copper in 316L and no copper in the PVD layer.

If a piece of jewelry has ever turned your finger green, it was brass. Now you know what to look for.

FAQ

Does PVD gold plating wear off?

Not under normal wear. Real PVD is bonded to the steel at a molecular level, not painted on — there's no brass underneath to push it off the way there is with flash-plated jewelry.

Is PVD better than gold plated?

Yes. Standard flash plating sits at around 0.5 microns over brass and wears through in weeks. PVD over 316L steel goes on at three microns with no brass to oxidise underneath, so it lasts years, not days.

Can you shower with PVD gold jewelry?

Yes. Shower, sea, chlorine, sweat, suncream — PVD-plated 316L handles all of it. Put it on and forget about it.

How long does PVD gold plating last?

Years, with normal daily wear — not weeks. The three-micron bond doesn't flake or wear through the way thin flash plating does.

Is 316L stainless steel real gold?

No — the steel is the base metal underneath. The gold is a real, vaporised-gold PVD layer bonded on top, not paint or dye.

Wear it like you mean it. Then don't take it off.