WATCHCASE MATERIALS
Figure 22. Hublot 2018 Big Bang Red Magic Ceramic
Gold: The percentage of pure gold versus the percentage of base metals is expressed in karats 18 karat gold is 75% pure gold and is standard for watch cases. Yellow cold is pure gold alloyed with other metals. White gold is pure gold alloyed with silver, palladium, or rhodium and pink/rose gold is pure gold alloyed with percentages of copper. The more copper added, the darker the hue. A small percentage of silver or zinc can be added for a desired tone Silver: Silver is similar in appearance to stainless steel or platinum. It is naturally nonreactive and resistant to decay. Unfortunately silver easily tarnishes. True silver watches are very rare. Watchmakers will instead use silver mixed into the gold alloy to create yellow and rose gold watches. Bronze: Bronze watches are also innately anticorrosive, anti-magnetic, long-lasting, resistant to seawater, and harder than stainless steel and iron combined. Brass watches develop a rich patina over time. 34 | Jansher Aidan Bakhshi Nongrum | Product Design
Platinum: Platinum is a natural white metal that produces silver colored watches. It is Incredibly hard, durable, and scratch-resistant. Platinum watches can almost always be refinished to look new again. Palladium: Palladium is a natural white metal that produces silver colored watches. It is lightweight, hypoallergenic, and easy to finish and polish. A few companies, such as Ulysse Nardin and Moser & Co, use palladium for cases and bracelets. However, due to the high cost, it is incredibly rare to find a palladium watch. Stainless Steel: Made of iron-carbon alloy mixed with chromium and nickel, Stainless Steel is fairly lightweight, affordable, highly corrosion-resistant. Aluminium: Aluminium is silvery white in color and is low in density, resistant to corrosion, and flexible. Widely used in watches because it’s readily available and inexpensive.
Tungsten Carbide: Tungsten carbide is a chemical compound containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms. In its most basic form, tungsten carbide is a fine gray powder, but it can be pressed and formed into shapes through a process called ‘sintering’ for use in industrial machinery, cutting tools, abrasives, armor-piercing rounds, other tools and instruments, and jewelry. Tantalum: Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosionresistant. Carbon Fibre: Carbon fibers are usually combined with other materials to form a composite. When impregnated with a plastic resin and baked it forms carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (often referred to as carbon fiber) which has a very high strength-to-weight ratio, and is extremely rigid although somewhat brittle. Carbon fibers are also composited with other materials, such as graphite, to form reinforced carbon-carbon composites, which have a very high heat tolerance.
