Nowadays, after the bottleneck of the development of Swiss watchmaking technology, watchmaker brands begin to attach great importance to the material of watches. Following the fine steel and precious metal materials, new materials such as ceramics, sapphire glass and titanium metal have appeared in the watchcase materials. The use of these materials to make watchcase is also a watchmaker’s attention to the excellent attributes of these materials, such as ceramic is very wear-resistant, titanium metal is very light and so on.
Titanium metal as a category of metal materials, its appearance has improved the previous lack of watchmaking materials, watchmakers see the super performance of this material, designers also love its avant-garde texture, with the continuous progress of technology, titanium watches have become a new favorite in the watchmaking industry. Titanium is similar to stainless steel at first glance. It has silver gray luster. It keeps its color for life at room temperature. It is not easy to blacken. It has strong acid resistance and high hardness. It was widely used in aviation and marine diving before it became the material of wrist watch. Titanium alloy is lighter and more resistant to corrosion than pure steel. Compared with steel, Titanium alloy has the advantages of low density and strong corrosion resistance.
Before the mid-1970s, more than 85% of the titanium produced was used in the aviation industry. Unique properties: Titanium has half the density of steel, excellent strength retention (up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit), and much higher environmental corrosion resistance than other metals. This makes it an ideal material for building engines and aircraft frames for jet aircraft, rockets and spacecraft.
* Wrist watch relies on it to lose weight
In recent years, wrist watches are popular with large surface diameter. If they are made of pure steel or precious metal, the weight of the case plus the weight of the machine center can be imagined to be lighter than ordinary people can bear. In view of this, the weight of the wristwatch must go the other way. Therefore, the lightweight titanium metal is welcomed by all fans. The weight of titanium is 47.90 atomic scales, which is nearly 50% lighter than steel. Therefore, the titanium watch is only half the weight of the same pure steel watch, which is undoubtedly a good choice for large watchers.
* compressive deformation
The hardness of titanium is 30% higher than that of steel, and its texture is very hard and firm. In addition, the excellent compressive strength of titanium makes it one of the favorite materials for professional diving watches, so that it will not deform even if it dives deep into the sea.
* Super anti-corrosion
Titanium metal has super anti-corrosion performance. When exposed to air, it will form a compact and tough film on its surface, which can resist many corrosive metals. Especially for seawater, the anti-corrosion effect is the best. So many professional diving meters turn to titanium metal one after another.
* Variety of colours
Although the above three characteristics are not easy to be destroyed, titanium metal can also change into various colors under the action of electric current. The original silver-white titanium metal can change into thousands of colors, showing a variety of shapes.
* It is difficult to process.
The advantages of lightweight, toughness and corrosion resistance make the titanium metal firmly hold the throne of the noble metal. However, it is relatively difficult to popularize because of the complexity of refining and the high technical difficulty, resulting in the price of the titanium metal wristwatch will be higher than that of the pure steel.
Titanium metal as watches material has very good advantages, summed up is:
- Titanium alloy watches are quite comfortable to wear because they are surprisingly light.
- Titanium is anti-allergic. It does not contain nickel. It is comfortable to wear even when the skin is sweating.
- Titanium watches are more durable because they are harder than steel.
- Corrosion resistance makes titanium especially suitable for diving meters.
Can titanium alloy be used as the core material of mechanical watches? Unfortunately, it’s impossible. Compared with steel, titanium alloy has the main advantages of low density and strong corrosion resistance, but its absolute hardness and strength are not as good as steel, and its processability is very poor. It is not suitable for internal parts of watches, but it has its advantages to make watchcase. The problem is that it has low brightness and is easy to scratch, and it needs to be protected by coating (plating) layer. Many small holes on deck are very small, and irregular cutting requires higher cutting tools. If the splint is of high strength, it will be more difficult to process. In addition, the hardness of the splint material is not required by the watch machine center. At the same time, the wear resistance is ensured by Gemstone bearings. Of course, some small parts have high strength materials, but small parts are easy to be processed regularly. 。 Therefore, copper alloy is more suitable for splint material. Copper is rusty and wear-resistant, but it is cheap and easy to cut. It can be solved by coating, lubricating oil, ruby bearings, steel parts and other components in a relatively “low cost” way.
Titanium is not a rare metal, it ranks ninth in crustal reserves. The supply of titanium ore can last at least 10,000 years. It has been found in meteorites, moon rocks, the sun and other planets. However, the extraction process of titanium is relatively slow and expensive, which makes it expensive. For many years, high prices have limited the use of titanium in military and aviation fields.