Because of its appearance and chemical properties white bronze is an ideal substitute for nickel and silver. Also, because white bronze is highly resistant to corrosion and breakdown, being solderable, non-magnetic, smooth, and virtually non-porous, it also has one advantage over silver, it will not tarnish.

There are certain situations when white bronze cannot be used as a substitute for silver, it is not used to replace silver in jewellery made only of silver because then it would not be silver. It is used as a barrier between a base metal and gold plating in gold plated jewellery. A perfect example would be gold plating a copper ring. White bronze would first be electroplated onto the copper before the gold to act as this barrier. Without this white bronze layer the copper atoms would diffuse into the gold layer and eventually affect the gold colour. This process can take anywhere from months to several years.

White bronze is actually very attractive, despite its low cost, meaning that in some jewellery it can be used as the final layer. White bronze usually has a thickness of about 1 to 2.5 microns when used internally as a barrier layer. One micron is only 1 – 1/1000th of 1mm.

Certain companies, from the late 1800s, were using white bronze for grave markers. Though, this type was mostly zinc (sold as “White Bronze”) giving the impression of a more luxurious and expensive metal, rather than the mainly tin alloy it was. Grave markers made of this material usually had a pale blue appearance due to the metal finishing process they underwent called “steam bluing”.

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Adding a nickel plate is by no means an easy task. It can prove to be a challenge just to ensure that the added nickel has a uniform thickness and it does not help that many objects that are to be nickel plated have irregular shapes and sizes. As a favorite plating material, nickel tends to be deposited heavily on external corners and protruding areas of an object, while it is difficult to deposit in internal corners. To compensate for this drawback, master craftsmen use anodes or terminals that are shaped according to the object that needs to be nickel plated.  But it must be pointed out that using these specialized anodes can drive up costs.

Still, nickel is one of the most popular materials used in electroplating. Just like gold, it can give any object a very attractive appearance. As a matter of fact, nickel plating can overlay imperfections found on the surface of base metals. For best results, a very thin layer of chrome is also added to ensure that the brilliant appearance of a nickel plated object will not wear out easily. For total protection against corrosion, craftsmen also use two different varieties of nickel. This process is known as duplex nickel plating.

The most extensive use for nickel can be found in the automotive industry. Because of this metal’s durability, it is used for plating wheels, bumpers, and even decorative exhausts. Car restoration also makes heavy use of nickel plating. Whenever you see bright metal finish in motorcycles and even bicycles, it is a good bet that there is nickel plating involved. Indeed, whenever you want to achieve that bright metallic finish, you can rely on nickel plating to do the trick. But more than just the appearance that it provides, nickel is also known to last longer than other metals.