Black Watches
From Vintage Antique Watches to Designer Diamond to Titanium and
Stainless Steel
Black watches eptomize demureness. Black seems to be the essence of
allure in watches as in all things. Black could very well be the most
common among watches of all styles from designer diamond to vintage
antique watches. When considering black as it pertains to watches,
you’ll find watches with black casings and bezels; watches with
black dials or straps; and you’ll fine watches with black rubber
straps- even on luxury watches of the highest caliber. Perhaps this
is because black looks good on all metals. The color is equally as
arresting on a high end luxury watch as it is on a contemporary or
traditional watch. The color is as attractive to men and women alike
as black generates that particular urban street style that is so popular
today.
We all have seen and appreciated the beauty of precious metals
of various kinds in titanium, platinum and gold. Because of modern
technology, techniques exist today that can conjure these metals
as black. Not the black coatings found on the watches of yesteryear,
which used to crack chip and peal, but black that is embossed into
the metal on a molecular level. Recent developments include an ionization
process that affects the surface structure of the steel. Titanium
is a good example. This is a metal that is choice for the process
of turning metal watches into black watches.
Titanium has many accreditations. It is light, durable, non-corrosive
and very strong. This metal is even non-allergenic for those who
have nickel related allergies. Although it is ideally suited for
use in diving watches, titanium is also marred easily, because of
its relatively low surface hardness. To overcome that, a specialized
process has been developed. It is called physical vapor deposition
or PVD. Some manufactures refer to it as IP or ion plating. After
the metal is heated to above 400° C, it is sprayed with the
molecules of the desired material, which then in turn, bonds molecularly
with the metal itself. The process originated in the eighteen hundreds.
Today it is used in a variety of applications, including watchmaking.
The PVD process results in creating a micro-thin coating tightly
bonded to the base metal. This can also be accomplished via a chemical
process called chemical vapor deposition or CVD. So the whole titanium
nitride hardening process, accomplished by CVD and the molecular
bonding of PVD which is sprayed on, brings to us an entire new realm
of black watches.
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