Know anything about chroming process?

[WyrreJ]

In my quest to pile up even more mods for my vx in my spare bedroom instead of actually installing them, I decided I'd like to get a set of wheels elctroplated with black nickel instead of the standard chrome.

So, I looked up electroplating in bigbook.com and found bazillions of local places that claim to do electroplating of one form or another. The thing is, I don't know jack about the process, so I can't ask the right questions. I've seen websites selling chroming services specifically for wheels that claim they also have some super-secret-sauce finishing layers that protect the metal. But I can't tell if that is just BS marketing, or a good idea.

So, is anyone here familiar with electroplating and in particular anything unique to automotive wheels and/or a black nickel finish instead of the standard chrome finish? If so, I'd really appreciate even a summary of the process and any caveats.

Thanks

[Hotsauce]

If you want a balck finish that will really last get PVD(physical vapor deposition) in black, or hardcoat anodize(M16 finish)

John C.

[WyrreJ]

Can PVD produce a shiny finish or is it only matte? I really like the black nickel finish that I've seen on furniture like cabinet handles, it is black with kind of subtle iridesence.