Already in the 19th century watchmakers learnt to produce durable and reliable movements which could work for decades. If something was wrong you could always clean the movement or replace one or two worn parts. But watches couldn’t be called eternal because of their covers or cases. Gold and steel are rather soft metals so their surfaces are quickly covered with small scratches. To fix this defect is much more difficult and expensive then to fix the movement. What should we do then to prevent this defect and make our watches look as if they are new? The answer is to replace traditional materials with something more solid and durable.
Different sciences use different methods to identify solidity of materials. The easiest one is Mohs’s scale (or system) which is used to identify solidity of minerals. This scale systematizes 10 minerals in such a way that each following can scratch all previous.
Bore for Time
In 1962 Rado manufactured its DiaStar watch which became the world’s first scratchproof timepiece. Its case was made of solid alloys on the basis of tungsten and titanium carbide – materials used for manufacturing boring heads. Since that time many watchmaking companies have been making separate models of scratchproof watches. But only RADO made usage of unconventional materials the basis for its marketing policy and today it is an acknowledged leader in the sphere of design and production of watches made of super-solid materials.
The technology of manufacturing a watch made of tungsten and titanium carbide includes several complicated operations. The powder is pressed under the pressure of 1000 atmospheres. Parts of the watch are shaped in special furnaces at a temperature of 1450 °С. Several additional operations and final grinding with diamond dust makes the parts smooth and shiny.
Today more and more often watchmakers use MIM technology (Metal Injection Moulding – insufflation of metal powder into the from under high pressure), which allows to make part of a very complicated shape.
Tungsten carbide is very scratchproof and abrasion-proof. Its only disadvantage is its heavy weight. Besides RADO watches of tungsten carbide are made by other companies, for example Candino.
Ceramics
In the 1980s RADO’s engineers drew their attention to one more material, which had never been used in watch or jewellery making before: high-tech ceramics. Unique qualities of ceramics are proved by the fact that it is used for elements of thermal protection of space shuttles.
High-tech ceramics is generally made of zircon oxide or titanium carbide powder. It is pressed into the forms during the annealing at a temperature of 1450 °С and is transformed into the scratchproof ceramic components. Shine of ceramics is achieved due to the diamond dust polishing.
In comparison with tungsten carbide ceramics is very light and feature high heat conducting. Combination of these two features makes ceramic watches very comfortable for wrists: the watch seems to be light and warm as silk. At the same time ceramics is more fragile and can be broken in the result of a shock.
Today ceramic watches are produced by many companies but again RADO is the leader in this sphere. Ceramic watches can be seen in the collections by Chanel.
Well Done!
As we know that the most solid material is diamond. But the idea of making a watch from a monolith diamond seems to be crazy. Engineers found another solution and in 1996 the world witnessed the birth of RADO Concept 1 and then RADO Vision 1 – watches that were registered in Guinness book as the most solid watches.
The case of Vision 1 is made of polycrystalline diamond. At a temperature of 1500 °С under pressure of 50000 atmospheres particles of diamond powder are baked into one part of the highest solidity. To make such a timepiece watchmakers need 4000 diamonds whose diameter is 1 mm (16,5 carat). Further treatment is possible only with the help of diamond instruments.
As the result such a watch is absolutely scratchproof and unchangeable.
Finally all watches made of super solid material are equipped with sapphire crystal. Sapphire yields in solidity only to diamond.
Eternal Values?
Can we say then that watches made of super solid materials can live forever? They are really scratchproof though you can actually scratch them: in the composition of many artificial materials used in construction or manufacturing of furniture (e.g. artificial granite) there are particles of material that are more solid than sapphire. And these particles can scratch the watch which claims to be absolutely scratchproof.
What is more a 100% solid watch doesn’t exist yet. Any of “scratchproofs” contains details made of common steel, plastics, titanium, etc. So it’s probably useless to expect a watch to live forever.
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