Gold Plating:  Gold plating is ultimately not durable when exposed to abrasion.  There just is no "free lunch".  Gold plating can be made more durable depending on the method used to plate, additives to the gold and techniques employed during plating.  However, no matter what is done to the alloy, ALL gold plating will wear off over time when abraded.  This is simply a fact of physics.  Platings other than gold can be very durable.  The following is an explanation of the various platings used by my choice of kit manufacturers.
Upgrade Gold:  All gold plating used on my pens are 24k "upgrade gold".  Upgrade means that the parts are plated using the rack method and that small amounts of cobalt or palladium are added to the plating chemicals.  This enhances the durability of the gold plating.  This plating does not last forever but it wears a lot better than standard 24k plated parts.

Titanium Gold:  Titanium plating produces an extremely durable and the most durable finish.  The process uses what is called PVD (particle vapor deposition).  Titanium oxide matched to the color of the gold is molecularly bonded to the part and the 24k gold is bonded (sputtered) on the parts to achieve a color match to the other gold parts.  The parts are again re-plated after this step.  The final result is that the parts will virtually never show wear.  

18k Swiss Rose Gold:  This is a very rare and unusual plating.  Copper and gold are combined in such a way that they both plate with their atoms equally mixed together.  The parts to be plated are specially treated before plating and the plating is deposited in a very thick layer.  Not only does this produce a beautiful sumptuous look but is it very durable.  It has been indicated that there are only two companies in the world able to do this plating and that under regular careful use the plating should hold up for several years.  The copper in the alloy can cause Swiss rose gold can tarnish but it's beautiful luster can be brought back by lightly buffing the surface.  

Chrome:  This is an extremely durable plating.  Under normal use this plating should hold up for many years.

Platinum:  This is also a very durable hard plating.  My pens have real platinum rather than rhodium and it should be expected to hold up under normal careful use for many years.

Black Titanium:  This is a titanium oxide molecularly bonded (PVD) process.  This plating is unbelievably hard and durable and much tougher than titanium nitride.  It will last for many, many years.

Sterling Silver:  Just about all of my pens feature this plating.  The parts receive a restaurant grade 20 micron plating to ensure the beauty lasts for many, many years.