3,732 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 28, 2001
Most of us know the benefits of titanium for cases and bracelets: light, sturdy, nice to the skin. As Martijn pointed out a while ago, there is a new material, roxolid, which is an alloy of titanium and zirconium. Googling roxolid I found a site stating that roxolid was developed (specifically?) for dental implants. Some presentations were given at the start of this year about it in the Netherlands, Martijn knows about this. At a search on titanium and zirconium another site claimed that both materials are very fit to produce wedding rings from it: apparenty this site believes these materials are beautiful enough for this kind of use, although I am a bit more traditional and stick to gold.
When building big watches, weight may be an issue. Using new materials may be a challenge. I wonder if there are any dentists around here to answer my question: would roxolid be a material fit to build not only watch cases but also the big parts of movements? For cases it must be beautiful enough, the movement parts must be produced reliably to the micrometer or so, and be stable under all kinds of conditions I cannot fathom right now. In short, would roxolid be a feasable material for both cases and movements?
Kind regards, Paul
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
2,129 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 22, 2001
Hi Paul, Although I don't know any of the specific physical characteristics of Roxolid (as in the numbers), I can tell you that dental implants are produced to extremely exact tolerances, and they are very strong. The one question I might have would have to do with is whether the material is brittle when not surrounded by bone.
I would imagine it (like zirconium or titanium by themselves) would be great as watch cases and parts- just look at what Mille is doing with these different materials.
Since IWC was so successful using titanium and zirconium in the past, let's hope they resume with these, or with other new alloys.
I have no knowledge about Roxolid, but keep in mind that the issues involving any new movement material involve other considerations, including costs vs. benefits. Even if it is a pretty, strong and light material if it costs more to fabricate it might not improve a movement's performance or durability. Or even if marginally might (which I'm guessing may not be the case) that might not translate into sales. Most production issues are economic.
That said, please also keep in mind that this isn't a general watch discussion forum. I'd suggest this type on enquiry can best be discussed elsewhere. I think most people come here to discuss IWC specifically, and IWC would prefer that their products be a specific topic. Thanks for your understanding here.
3,732 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 28, 2001
MF Wrote:... keep in mind ...
IWC builds quite some big and heavy watches, quite intentionally so. My question being put in the "technical details" department was also done intentionally. I hoped to stir up some interesting discussions about materials, in future, present and past. Thank you Nelson for your reply, maybe Martijn may chime in about the brittleness of this new material. Reading about it suggests that there may be no problem there. I understood that Roxolid is far more easy to work with: taking this a bit further could mean that in the end the production of parts could be done more cost effective.
Taking this to the watches in production right now, the ceramic Da Vinci Chrono has a special titanium bezel. This could be a start, a bezel is of course a small and fairly insignificant part of the watch. If only the resistance to scratches was the issue, it could be solved by a ceramic bezel too, so here the looks department came in. However, that special titanium used might share some characteristics with Roxolid, which leads to the follow-up question about this titanium: what is the special part about it, has zirconium be added here too? Some forum member (correct me if I am wrong about the name, I thought it was Sean Li) suggested IWC might take titanium seriously again and use it on some watches in the not too far future. It would be interesting to know if that has to do with that special titanium used on the bezel, maybe as some kind of test.
Looking out of the window makes me keep in mind that summer is almost over: time flies, also on IWC watches and its riddles.
Kind regards, Paul
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
If the question is should IWC should use new materials and if so what materials might those be, that's fine. If the question is "let's discuss the properties of new materials for watches generally (or a specific material for watches generally)" that really is a general watch topic and could be posted on <u>an</u>y watch forum --which is not what I have in mind here for the IWC forum. I really want to keep the discussion as IWC-centric and appreciate your respect of that position even if you might disagree or would moderate differently if you could .
If you wish, kindly start a new string on this subject in the context of what IWC might do relative to this or other innovative materials, and do not reply here.
When building big watches, weight may be an issue. Using new materials may be a challenge. I wonder if there are any dentists around here to answer my question: would roxolid be a material fit to build not only watch cases but also the big parts of movements? For cases it must be beautiful enough, the movement parts must be produced reliably to the micrometer or so, and be stable under all kinds of conditions I cannot fathom right now. In short, would roxolid be a feasable material for both cases and movements?
Kind regards,
Paul
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
Last edited: 23 October, 2011 - 13:31
Although I don't know any of the specific physical characteristics of Roxolid (as in the numbers), I can tell you that dental implants are produced to extremely exact tolerances, and they are very strong. The one question I might have would have to do with is whether the material is brittle when not surrounded by bone.
I would imagine it (like zirconium or titanium by themselves) would be great as watch cases and parts- just look at what Mille is doing with these different materials.
Since IWC was so successful using titanium and zirconium in the past, let's hope they resume with these, or with other new alloys.
Nelson
Last edited: 15 February, 2011 - 20:21
That said, please also keep in mind that this isn't a general watch discussion forum. I'd suggest this type on enquiry can best be discussed elsewhere. I think most people come here to discuss IWC specifically, and IWC would prefer that their products be a specific topic. Thanks for your understanding here.
Regards, Michael
mfriedberg@iwcforum.com
Last edited: 5 April, 2012 - 19:53
IWC builds quite some big and heavy watches, quite intentionally so. My question being put in the "technical details" department was also done intentionally. I hoped to stir up some interesting discussions about materials, in future, present and past. Thank you Nelson for your reply, maybe Martijn may chime in about the brittleness of this new material. Reading about it suggests that there may be no problem there. I understood that Roxolid is far more easy to work with: taking this a bit further could mean that in the end the production of parts could be done more cost effective.
Taking this to the watches in production right now, the ceramic Da Vinci Chrono has a special titanium bezel. This could be a start, a bezel is of course a small and fairly insignificant part of the watch. If only the resistance to scratches was the issue, it could be solved by a ceramic bezel too, so here the looks department came in. However, that special titanium used might share some characteristics with Roxolid, which leads to the follow-up question about this titanium: what is the special part about it, has zirconium be added here too? Some forum member (correct me if I am wrong about the name, I thought it was Sean Li) suggested IWC might take titanium seriously again and use it on some watches in the not too far future. It would be interesting to know if that has to do with that special titanium used on the bezel, maybe as some kind of test.
Looking out of the window makes me keep in mind that summer is almost over: time flies, also on IWC watches and its riddles.
Kind regards,
Paul
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
Last edited: 23 October, 2011 - 13:31
If you wish, kindly start a new string on this subject in the context of what IWC might do relative to this or other innovative materials, and do not reply here.
Thank you again
Regards, Michael
mfriedberg@iwcforum.com
Last edited: 5 April, 2012 - 19:53