In order to investigate the corrosion resistance of the commercialized hard coatings in decorative application, the standard optimized process developed in Hauzer's advanced controlled cathodic-arc (ACA) plasma deposition system for mass production was employed to fabricate ZrCN coatings on mechanical-polished brasses with or without electroplated Ni/Cr multi-layers. The cathodic polarization analyses were carried out in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solutions to study the corrosion resistance of ZrCN coatings. From the polarization curves, it can be concluded that both the high-quality ZrCN coating and the smoothness of the base materials are crucial to reduce the corrosion.