For sure the platinum bearing is more quiet than the gold. I prefer the plat over the gold since I like my yoyos whisper quiet (I play in the office during coffee breaks)
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âŚWell, so much for the resale value!!
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Well I thought it was funny just fyi! lol 
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Im new and not 100% how YYE appropriate it was. Ive had a comment get deleted before and I dont want to be a nuisance lol.
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Doesnât the gold or platinum (or whatever it is) plating only get applied to the outermost portion of the bearing? You know, the part the string comes into contact with? I would assume that the balls and inner channel walls are still stainless steel. Plating those parts seem like a bad idea to me, as it would merely provide opportunities for material to flake off under stress and interfere with its smooth operation. As such, the outer plating material should have no impact on how quiet the bearing is. Only lube would.
But perhaps Iâm misunderstanding something fundamental about (these) bearings?
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Itâs my understanding that the gold ones are played even for the steel balls.
The platinum ones are not plated at all. Itâs just called that to differentiate it from the SS version and the platinum one just has a special chemical treatment to it rather than a plating process. Donât think it has anything actually to do with platinum
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I guess you are right. There are 3 bearings: ss ârawâ, gold plated and platinum ones
I have the stainless steel DS Bearing, which I got from the Diffusion (since YYR packages it in that yoyo). I also have the gold and the platinum, which were bought separately some time ago. From what I can tell, the stainless steel version of the DS Bearing has a slightly ârawâ/unrefined surface unlike what I see with the platinum and gold. Itâs also apparent when we look at the images in the YYE site. Iâm not sure if itâs because the plat is more polished, or may have some kind of coating, or maybe a slightly different treatment. Though I doubt if itâs real platinum (or real gold for that matter for the 'goldâs bearing). For sure, the plat and gold are more quiet than the regular stainless steel. When I swap all three against a particular yoyo, stainless steel is the noisiest (but still quiet and long spinning compared to my stock bearings), then gold, then plat with having the least noise. It appears that the inner bearing of the gold and plat are the same. The outermost bearing where the balls come in contact with is where its different.
Some people claim the gold coating flakes out, which could cause you to hear more grit coming from the bearing. Though I havenât gotten my gold to flake out yet (or maybe I need to take it out and look more carefully), since Iâve replaced all of my yoyos with the platinum version.
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From my limited understanding, I am told that the YYR DS stainless steel bearings are not manufactured by NSK Micro. Itâs only the Gold and Platinum ones that are.
Also Gold ones are also stainless steel but only gold plated but in actual gold.
Platinum bearings are in fact not platinum but chemically treated stainless steel variants.
I could be totally wrong however.
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No. Itâs the whole piece that the outer race is part of. The balls and inner race are stainless, AFAICT.
Right
Okay, that makes a bit more sense to me.
I would still be a little concerned that the non-stainless material of the outer race could degrade in such a way as to get particulate into the business portion of the bearing and create friction and noise, necessitating a good cleaning. This degradation of material would also ostensibly reduce the âextra quietnessâ of the bearing over time, making me question the long-term value of this plating process.
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As I have heard they are pretty durable
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I think it comes down mostly to a value issue, then. The benefits of these plated bearings seem very subtle to me, and for $30 I personally would rather have 5 Boss Rage bearings than one gold NSK bearing. 
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I think they are $17.
Also the platinum one isnât plated but just a special chemical treatment that is suppose to maintain the original smoothness and quietness for as long as possible. Apparently.
Also the gold ones are 18k plated. So in this example I agree with you for the same price between the two I would rather have the special treated platinum than paying for the 18k plating.
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I mostly feel the same way, but Iâm probably going to get one of the NSK gold center-traks eventually because the CT bearing design is the most efficient version of centering bearings to me but the quality seems highly variable. Iâd love to have a more premium version.
$20 here on YYE. Not $30. For some reason I thought I remember $30 bearings from them.
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I have a billion of these things and Iâve never had a problem. I have two where the gold is finally wearing, and theyâre basically just (very) slowly turning into the second best bearing in the world instead of the best.
Iâve seen them with the gold worn through to steel and theyâre still great performers.
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I decided to try a gold NSK once. I put it in my Edge Beyond and I canât say with any honesty that it sounds any quieter, or performs any better than any other good (stainless) Center-Trac bearing I have. I mean, itâs a good bearing, and itâll stay in the Edge Beyond, but Iâm certainly not motivated to buy another.
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Just got my Navigator and Sherpa in the mail today! lol I was totally going to wait until Christmas morning to open the packageâŚbut so much for that plan!
The color of the Navigator took my breath away! Iâve seen images and a video of itâŚbut dang! Itâs SO beautiful in person! I tried but I canât quite capture itâs true color with my camera!
I havenât played with either yetâŚjust got back homeâŚbut woot! 
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