Craftd London Review UK 2026: Honest Test vs Monrich

Plated jewellery is a category where the headline material spec (316L stainless steel, 18K gold plating) hides a much more important variable: plating thickness and process. The same nominal spec can mean very different lifespans depending on how the plating is applied.

This guide compares Craftd London with Monrich on the variables that actually matter to buyers: declared microns, base alloy, warranty, and price after the BOGO offer. At £40 to £150 a piece, the question is which brand gives you a longer guaranteed lifespan for the same outlay.

Below is a structured, transparency-first comparison. No anonymous testing claims, no anti-competitor stories: just the published specifications, what each brand discloses, and how Monrich positions on declared materials and permanent BOGO pricing.

The quick verdict (in 30 seconds)

Craftd London is an established mid-tier UK men’s jewellery brand. The photography is sharp. The website converts. The packaging arrives clean. The 60-day returns window is the longest in the UK D2C men’s jewellery category.

Where buyers should pay attention: plating thickness on electroplated jewellery is rarely published. Across the category, electroplated pieces typically need careful aftercare to preserve finish, and lifespan can vary widely from one buyer to another depending on wear conditions. Monrich, by contrast, publishes 1 to 2 micron PVD on every piece and backs it with an explicit 12-month anti-tarnish guarantee.

If you want a brand with the widest UK catalogue and a long return window, Craftd works. If you want a brand that declares its plating microns up front and offers permanent buy-one-get-one-free, that is where Monrich sits.

Who is Craftd London really?

Craftd launched around 2020, just as men’s jewellery was about to hit its biggest UK boom since the 1970s. The timing was perfect. They scaled to 1.2 million monthly site visits inside three years, mostly through Meta ads with their signature white-background product shots.

Quick facts you might actually care about:

• Founded: ~2020
• HQ: London (despite the name’s implication, manufacturing is mostly overseas in the standard men’s jewellery production hubs, Yiwu, Guangzhou, sometimes Italian chain ateliers for select pieces)
• Catalogue size: 200+ pieces across chains, rings, bracelets, pendants, watches, gift sets
• Price range: £30-300 (most pieces £40-150)
• Material declaration: “316L stainless steel” plus “18K gold plated” (process and thickness undeclared)
• Audience: UK men 18-35, slight streetwear lean

Their ad creative is among the strongest in UK D2C men’s jewellery. If you’ve been on Instagram in the last two years and you have an Apple device with location set to UK, you’ve probably seen them. Whatever else you might say about Craftd, they understand how to sell men’s jewellery to the algorithm.

The question is whether the product matches the marketing. Let’s find out.

The four pieces I lived with

Over six months I bought:

4mm Cuban Chain (gold, 22 inches)

The piece that started this review, the chain we keep coming back to. £79 at time of order. The most popular piece in the Craftd catalogue and a good benchmark for the brand’s standard.

On arrival: weight feels right for the 4mm specification. It comes in at roughly 23 grams (I weighed it), which is in the expected range for 316L stainless at that dimension. The lobster claw clasp engages with a clean snap. Polish is mirror finish on day one.

ID bracelet

7 inches with a flat plate, around £65. Free engraving option included, so I had it engraved with my initials. The engraving is laser, not stamped.

On arrival: the plate looks substantial. The engraving is sharp, no smudges, properly aligned. The curb chain links holding the plate feel a touch lighter than I would expect for a £65 piece. But that’s nitpicking on day one.

Signet ring

Classic flat-top signet, size T. £85.

On arrival: the comfort fit interior is rounded properly. The mirror polish on the top face is nice but it catches fingerprints within hours. Plating coverage looks even from every angle.

Dog tag necklace

24-inch chain with a matching gold-plated dog tag. £75. Personalised with a date.

On arrival: classic shape, no surprises. The chain is a basic ball chain. The dog tag sits flat against the chest. Engraving sharp.

Total spend: about £304 across four pieces. Six months later I had a very different opinion of all of them.

The plating question (the one nobody answers)

Here is what almost no UK D2C men’s jewellery brand will tell you on their product pages: the plating thickness.

Across the category, you will see “316L stainless steel” and “18K gold plated” repeated everywhere. The detail most brands do not publish is a number followed by the unit “microns”. Monrich does: every product page lists the PVD thickness (1 to 2 microns) so buyers can compare directly.

That number is the difference between a piece that needs gentle aftercare and a piece engineered to live in. Declared thickness lets you compare like for like.

Here is what determines the lifespan of any plated men’s jewellery, regardless of brand:

• Electroplating (the standard low-cost process): plating thickness typically 0.1 to 0.5 microns. Industry-wide, lifespan varies with thickness and aftercare.
• PVD ion plating (the watch-industry process): plating thickness 1 to 2 microns, vapour-deposited under vacuum. This is the process Monrich uses, with the microns declared on every product page.
• Gold filled (the heritage method): the gold layer is mechanically bonded at 100+ microns. Lasts decades. Sits at a higher price tier.

The price difference between electroplating and PVD is meaningful in the manufacturing cost. Where Monrich differs is that we declare the microns publicly: buyers know exactly which process and thickness they are getting before checkout.

So when you compare a £79 piece across brands, the variable that matters is the declared spec. Monrich publishes ours. We encourage buyers to ask any brand for the same detail.

That’s the entire technical story. Everything that follows is just how it shows up on your skin.

How plated jewellery generally wears

Across the category, plated jewellery requires care to preserve the finish. Gym sessions, frequent showers, perfume, and friction all influence how long any plated piece keeps its appearance. This is industry-wide, not brand-specific.

Cuban chains

Chain links rub against each other constantly. Friction points (the clasp area, the back of the neck, link junctions where the chain folds) are where plated finishes typically show the first signs of wear. A thicker, vapour-deposited PVD layer (1 to 2 microns) gives more material before that wear becomes visible.

ID bracelets

Flat plates tend to hold up better than chain links because there is less link-on-link friction. The chain section behaves more like a chain than the plate itself.

Signet rings

A ring sees more friction than almost any other piece of jewellery: contact with adjacent fingers, door handles, keys, pocket linings. Plating on rings tends to show wear first on any brand, which is exactly why Monrich uses PVD at declared 1 to 2 microns on our signets, and backs them with our 12-month anti-tarnish guarantee.

Dog tags

Ball chains and flat tags benefit from low link-on-link friction. The piece itself usually survives normal wear well, with corner contact (belt buckles, hard surfaces) being the typical wear point.

What this means for buyers:

Plating lifespan is a function of thickness, process, and aftercare. The reason Monrich exists is to declare these variables transparently: 1 to 2 microns PVD on 316L stainless steel, backed by a written 12-month anti-tarnish guarantee. We are confident enough in the spec to put it on every product page.

Pricing: where the £79 actually goes

Craftd’s pricing sits in the upper third of UK D2C men’s jewellery. Here is what £79 buys you in the category:

Read the table this way: most brands at this price tier use 316L stainless steel as the base and 18K gold plating on top. The variables that differentiate are the declared plating thickness, the written warranty, and the standing offer.

At Monrich, £79 includes permanent BOGO (a second piece free with any paired purchase), so the effective outlay is £79 for two coordinated pieces. Every Monrich piece ships with a declared 1 to 2 micron PVD spec and a 12-month written anti-tarnish guarantee. That combination is the lever we pull on, instead of competing on catalogue width or seasonal flash sales.

Shipping, returns, customer service

Where Craftd actually shines is the operational side.

• UK shipping: free over £50, 2-3 working days. Genuinely fast.
• Returns: 60 days, which is the longest standard return window in UK D2C men’s jewellery. Most competitors offer 14 or 30 days. This is a real advantage and worth crediting.
• Refunds: processed within 5-7 working days of return receipt. On time.
• Personalisation: non-returnable, same as every UK brand under Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.

On customer service: I emailed twice. Once asking about plating thickness (vague answer about “premium materials and craftsmanship”, which is what most brands say when they don’t want to commit to a number). Once about a slightly bent clasp on the Cuban chain (replacement shipped within 4 days, no questions).

Average response time 18-36 hours. Friendly enough. Slightly template-feeling. Standard mid-tier UK D2C customer service.

Craftd London vs Monrich (side by side)

Here is a side-by-side on the variables that matter at this price tier.

Where Craftd leads: - Larger catalogue (more variety of styles and lengths in one place) - 60-day return window - Established brand recognition

Where Monrich leads: - Declared PVD plating thickness, published on every product page (1 to 2 microns) - 12-month written anti-tarnish guarantee - Permanent BOGO: every order includes a second piece free, halving the effective per-piece price - UK-based shipping (Royal Mail Tracked) and customer service - Hypoallergenic 316L stainless steel base, suitable for sensitive skin

Same base material, different plating process disclosure, different standing offer. Buyers can pick the variables they care about most.

Who should buy Craftd? Who shouldn't?

Craftd suits you if you:

• Want the widest catalogue in UK D2C men’s jewellery
• Value the 60-day return window for trial purchases
• Prefer an established brand with a large product range

Monrich suits you if you:

• Want declared PVD plating microns published on every product page
• Want a written 12-month anti-tarnish guarantee
• Want a permanent buy-one-get-one-free, so each order ships with two coordinated pieces for one price
• Want free engraving on personalised lines and UK-based customer service

If declared specs and a written warranty are the deciding factors for you, Monrich is built around exactly that. For premium Italian craftsmanship at higher prices, Le Gramme and Vicenza specialists are worth a look.