A rotary joint and a method for making a rotary joint are disclosed. The rotary joint includes a cylindrical core having an external surface including at least two circumferentially oriented groove regions and a partition region intermediate the groove regions. At least a portion of the surface of a groove region is electrically conductive and at least a portion of the surface of the partition region is electrically insulating. A method for making the rotary joint includes molding the cylindrical core from a plateable resin and molding over at least some of the plateable resin with a non-plateable resin. A conductive material is plated over the plateable resin to form a rotary joint of unitary structure, eliminating the numerous components and assembly steps associated with conventional rotary joints.
