Once my friend makes some final tweaks to the file I’m going to order my first ever 3d print soon, an icon for a personalised laptop, which be giving as a (rather late) Christmas present. I’m probably going to use i.materialise as I saw something suggesting their metal prints have a smoother surface than Shapeways.

It will be a thin stylized lotus flower, around 60mm across by 0.5-1mm thick. The idea is it will be epoxy glued onto the laptop to cover the manufacturer’s logo.

I’m probably either going to make it out of brass or gold plated brass. It's costing crazy amounts already and pure precious metal is out of my price range. I guess the laptop will probably mainly be used at home but might go into and out of a soft laptop case a few times a week.

Would gold plating likely last a few years under this sort of usage or would it probably rub off? I’m not asking for a guarantee, but an estimate of whether the gold plating would probably last and be safe to use or not from people more familiar with it.
Lotus brass.jpg