Watch material and polished texture

The difference between stainless steel and titanium alloy

The two most commonly used materials for wristwatches on the market are stainless steel and titanium alloys. It is also a synthetic material, but the price of watches using titanium alloys is often higher than that of stainless steel.

First, titanium alloys are lighter than steel, about 55% lighter than steel. Secondly, titanium alloys are more resistant to corrosion and hardness, and will not rust.

Many aerospace technologies also use titanium alloys to make components for rockets and missiles. Thirdly, titanium alloy is more environmentally friendly than stainless steel, and will not cause metal allergic reactions to the human body. At the same time, it also has memory characteristics and is more suitable for human skin. Therefore, although titanium alloy watches are slightly more expensive, they are actually more cost-effective.

The difference between rose gold and red gold

When looking at the material of precious metal watches, many people often see the words 18K rose gold and 18K red gold. Are the two the same?

Because pure gold is very soft and easily deformed, it is not suitable for making a watch case, so people choose to add a small amount of other precious metals to increase the hardness of the gold.

The reddish gold case is mainly made of gold and copper. Adding 25% of electrolytic pure copper to 75% of gold is red gold. The 18K gold formed in this ratio is the reddest.

When silver is added, the color becomes lighter, and the more silver is added, the lighter the red. When the content of silver in 18K gold increases to 10% and copper returns to about 15%, the color will be more pink, and it will become rose gold. Therefore, in fact, the difference between red gold and rose gold is not big, but the color is more red.

Guilloché

The word "Guilloche" is derived from the French guillochis. Its original intention is to create a precise and regular engraving process containing straight lines and circular patterns created by machines.

Making a guilloche dial is very complicated, and the engraver's hands must operate the engraving tools on the engraving lathe; one hand is assisted by the lathe to rotate the gold disc, while the other hand presses the engraving tool to control the tip, which is on the surface. The plate is engraved with a finely designed machine-cut pattern.

As the cam rotates, moving the milling head in different directions, and the dial moves back and forth on the lathe, the beautifully engraved pattern is born. No small mistakes are allowed in this whole process, even a small step is enough to destroy the entire dial. Therefore, the guilloche watch is more flexible and luxurious.

Grinding pattern other than Geneva pattern

The competition of high-end watches is common in the movement used. In order to show the exquisite craftsmanship, watchmakers often perform superb manual polishing on the movement, making the original ordinary movement rich in edges and corners and patterns, increasing the beauty.

The most commonly seen is the "Geneva pattern", which is named after the surface of the sparkling Lake Geneva. The Geneva pattern is further divided into striped, annular and radial waves.

Among them, the strip corrugations often occupy a large area of the plywood and automatic oscillating weight of the movement, and are also dotted with red and sapphire.

In addition to the Geneva pattern, there are many more delicate sun patterns. The sun patterns have a radial shape and are often installed on the outermost ring of the splint or on various connecting shafts of the movement.

The pearl pattern is very similar to the fish scale pattern, but compared with the fish scale pattern, the overlapping area of the pearl pattern is smaller and the pattern is more uneven. Now it is only used in a small part to assist the creation of the movement layering.

Gooseneck trim

In the introduction of Glashütte watches, we often see "gooseneck fine-tuning". What role can gooseneck fine-tuning play?

Gooseneck fine-tuning exists to adjust the speed needle, avoiding the unavoidable large deviation of the speed needle. The main principle is to use the elasticity of the metal sheet to clamp the speed needle, and then use a small screw to finely adjust the speed needle deviation. After the adjustment is done, the speed needle is firmly fixed.

Because the shape of the device resembles the graceful curve of the neck of a swan, this fine-tuning device is called gooseneck fine-tuning.