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Decorative chrome plating can be called "nickel-chrome plating" because it involves electroplating nickel onto the item before plating the chrome. Nickel plating provides the smoothness, much of the corrosion resistance, and most of the reflectivity. The chrome plating is exceptionally thin, measured in millionths of a cm rather than in thousandths.

When you look at surface that has been decorative chrome plated , such as a wheel or vehicle bumper, most of what you are seeing is actually effects of the nickel plating underneath. The chrome adds a bluish cast (compared to the somewhat yellowish cast of nickel), protects the nickel against tarnish, minimizes scratching, and symbiotically contributes to corrosion resistance. That said, without the nickel undercoating, you would not have the reflective, decorative surface.