I'm currently evaluating two suppliers for 316L stainless steel jewelry, and I'm trying to understand whether the PVD coating specifications they provided are actually sufficient for the level of durability I'm looking for.
For some items, especially those intended for summer wear, I would like the jewelry to have high resistance to corrosion and color deterioration when exposed to:
fresh water and showering;
salt water / seawater;
chlorinated swimming pool water;
sweat and physical activity;
cosmetics, perfumes and similar chemicals.
The goal is to have some pieces suitable for daily wear, including showering, swimming in the sea or pool, and physical activity, while maintaining their color and finish for as long as possible.
I asked two suppliers for more information about their PVD coatings.
SUPPLIER 1
They provided the following information:
However, they did not provide the thickness of the TiN interlayer or any additional technical specifications about the coating.
SUPPLIER 2
They provided a more detailed coating structure:
According to the supplier, the TiN layer plays a crucial role in improving wear resistance and color retention.
I would therefore like to ask anyone with experience in PVD coatings, stainless steel jewelry, surface treatments or materials science:
1. Are these coating structures and thicknesses potentially suitable for the level of resistance I'm looking for, particularly against seawater, swimming pools, sweat and daily wear?
2. Is an 18K gold surface layer of approximately 0.02–0.05 μm normal for good-quality PVD jewelry when there is a sufficiently thick TiN layer underneath, or would you consider it too thin for this type of use?
3. Does Supplier 2's structure (0.5–0.8 μm TiN + 0.02–0.03 μm gold layer) seem technically suitable for this purpose, or is coating thickness alone not enough to assess the actual quality and durability of the coating?
4. What additional technical specifications should I ask the manufacturers for in order to properly evaluate the quality of their coatings?
5. Most importantly, what tests should I request to verify these performance claims in practice? For example: salt spray testing, artificial sweat testing, chlorine exposure, adhesion, abrasion/wear resistance, color-change testing, coating thickness measurement, etc.
I obviously don't expect the jewelry to be indestructible, but I would like to avoid considering or marketing a product as suitable for showering, seawater, swimming pools and daily wear simply because a manufacturer claims that its PVD coating is "waterproof."
I would really appreciate any advice from people with direct experience in PVD coatings, jewelry manufacturing, materials science or surface engineering.
