Pen Plating Descriptions

Pen Plating Basics

Imperial Penworks, LLC has evaluated the pen making world for common pen plating materials.  There are many plating options for creating a huge variety of superior quality wood pens, pencils and other items to fit any need.  We’ve taken the liberty of selecting the highest quality of plating sources, narrowing choices has enabled us to concentrate on a smaller number of styles, therefore enhancing quality.  

This section is designed to help you choose the right pen and the right plating.  You will be able to read the descriptions of plating and the styles of pens we offer that fit into that category. 

Each type of plating is assigned a wear resistance rating to indicate durability and longevity of the plating type.  A Five-Star rating indicates the plating and durability is such that it will not wear off at any time for any reason.  We adapted this scheme commonly used by manufacturers to give you a visualization of the individual ratings.  The scale is 1-5.  Understand the gold rating appears “inverse” to the ratings seen on the market.  The more gold, the lesser the wear resistance; the less gold, the more content of other metals, and a higher wear resistance.

Rhodium Plating – Platinum Plating                                                                    Rating: 

Rhodium, also known as platinum, is possibly nature’s most brilliant and durable precious metal.  It is used around the world by the premium pen manufacturers to plate their very finest pens.  Pens hand crafted of Rhodium plated or Platinum Plated parts are unmatched in brilliance, durability, hardness and beauty.  It resists tarnish and is very resistant to scratching and acids.

Some higher end pens are available as Rhodium with 22K Gold or Rhodium with Black Titanium.  These are accents or insets on certain pens.  Look at the description of the pen for this wording.

Imperial Penworks, LLC guarantees the Rhodium plating or Platinum plating on all our pens to last a lifetime or your money back.

Titanium Plating – Gold & Black                                                                          Rating:  

Titanium offers superior wear resistance, and is available in both gold and black.  Look at the ordering words carefully because some wording might trick you.  Here is what the words mean!

Titanium Plated – Darker “Gold” similar to 10K Gold

Black Titanium, or Gun Metal Plating – “Gray’ish” brilliant appearance.  For pen plating purposes, Black Titanium and Gun Metal are commonly used interchangably.

Titanium Nitride / Gold Titanium – Brilliant 24KT appearance, yet absolutely permanent

Chrome Plating                                                                                                     Rating:  

A striking plating is chrome plated.  Chrome plating is highly rated for wear resistance.  

10KT Gold                                                                                                             Rating:    

10KT Gold is a popular pen plating that blends hard nickel and the beauty of gold together to form a brilliant pen plating option that is both durable and affordable.

SatinPlating                                                                                                         Rating:  

The Satin series undergoes a special plating process that produces a matte-like finish that features a slight texture that looks and feels great.  As with other plating types, different words are used by our sources for pens.  The wording to look for is Brushed Satin, Satin Pearl, or Satin Nickel.  

24KT Gold                                                                                                            Rating:  

24KT Gold Plating gives your pen a rich and luxurious look.  The plating process features a durable epoxy coating on top of the gold finish that increases wear resistance.  24KT Gold plating is available on the Gatsby Series of Pens.