PVD or powder coat:
a straight
comparison
Both can be champagne. Both can be black. They are not alternatives to each other — they are answers to different questions.
Drawn from jobs run in 304 and 316L on our own factory floor in Foshan, not from a style guide.
- Reading time
- ~6 min
- PVD thickness
- 0.2–1 µm
- Powder thickness
- 50–80 µm
- Repairable
- Powder only
The difference in one sentence
PVD deposits a metal film about half a micron thick onto the stainless, so you still see metal. Powder coat sprays a polymer layer about 60 microns thick over it, so you see paint.
Everything else follows from that: how it wears, whether it can be repaired, whether an edge still reads as metal.
Five things that differ
| Property | PVD | Powder coat |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness | 0.2–1 µm | 50–80 µm |
| Edge | Still metal | Coated, softened |
| Repair on site | Not possible | Touch-up possible, visible |
| Hides substrate flatness | No | Slightly |
| Colour batches | One per colour, sensitive | More forgiving |
When to use PVD
When the metal has to read as metal. A champagne lift front, a bronze column casing, a black feature wall where the edge should still catch light. PVD on a folded edge keeps the edge crisp, which powder coat cannot.
It is also the finish to use when the surface will be touched: there is no polymer layer to wear through, so a hand-held edge does not go dull in a year.
When to use powder coat
When the colour matters more than the metal, or when the surface is genuinely inaccessible for maintenance. Powder is more forgiving of substrate variation and can be touched up, imperfectly, without dismantling anything.
It is the wrong choice for any edge you want to read as a metal edge. On a 1.5 mm folded return, 60 microns of polymer visibly rounds the corner.
How to decide
- Does the edge need to read as metal? If yes, PVD.
- Will it be touched daily? If yes, PVD.
- Is a site repair likely? If yes, powder, and accept the edge.
- Is it exterior? Neither, without checking the exposure — go to 316L and a plain finish first.
Both need one batch per colour per job. The batch rule is not a PVD quirk; it is about how any coating line behaves.
Got a drawing
that contradicts
one of these notes?
Send it. We will tell you what we would do with it, whether you order or not. The 48-hour question list is free.