A complete restoration of the original coating is only possible at disproportionate effort and is hardly economically justifiable. However, a new rhodium coating (alternatively palladium or platinum) can be applied through professional electroplating: for this, the nib is disassembled, cleaned, the gold parts not to be coated are masked with lacquer, then rhodium-plated and the lacquer removed again. Earlier nibs were, incidentally, never coated with silver but with metals of the platinum group (rhodium, ruthenium, palladium, platinum); commonly rhodium is used, which is particularly scratch-resistant and hard. Collectors disagree as to whether a restoration is sensible — traces of use are partly seen as part of the value.