I know what you mean Lion, I have a set of Gold Lewis and the natural version too, both exactly the same darts but the gold, when new does look nicer IMO.
The wear is only slight at the front nose of the barrel but it doesn't really bother me, yeah sure they look a bit 'aged' but I find they feel slightly more grippy than the natural set due to the gold coating.
It would seem the gold is not made to last, although I have found the Target Zirconium seems a tougher coating that the Unicorn and McCoy gold, and maybe sales ploy, they look nicer, therefor players will but the nice gold darts, the gold wears off and the player comes back a few months later and buys another set - whereas with natural you could have a set for years and still be very happy with the look of them.
My answer would be, if the wear to the gold coating bothers you to the extent where you no longer want to use the dart (the dart is still in perfect condition aside from the coating has worn) and feel the need to buy a new set everytime the coating wears then maybe just go for the natural version, cheaper and no distractions due to the darts looking a bit shabby.
