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View Full Version : Hublot introduces unscratchable Gold



rage2
12-15-2011, 10:24 AM
If you've ever owned a gold watch, you know how easily they scratch. Hublot has solved that problem by inventing a 75% pure 18K gold ceramic alloy. Note that the watch is just a test case they build, that's not a watch that will be available. The best 18K gold ranks 400 on a hardness scale, the new Magic Gold alloy rates at nearly 1000 (close to Titanium). Not as strong as their pure ceramics (rated at 6000) but good enough where you're not going to get dings from daily wear.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ABFoBdFrD3k/TuoDmhQw7AI/AAAAAAAANG4/4a4ImMQnyZI/s640/magic2.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BfODrJxNVhY/TuoDl-_arZI/AAAAAAAANGw/W-VrqbcJwl0/s640/magic4.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_7k9QXuaNCI/TuoDmCz1j0I/AAAAAAAANG0/Q28vJ3sIBIM/s640/magic5.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YgdwyMmsAUc/TuoDpiA_uXI/AAAAAAAANHI/dyjP5eOjqDQ/s640/magic1.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/541A0495F33CADF/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/DA1E0F002818461/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/FABD36B05C33ABF/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/BBD096E96B26EE4/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/F28D59325522F61/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/1519578593937D7/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/EF9B757D93F0A09/standard.jpg


Hublot presents new alloys for watchmaking and jewellery, developed in collaboration with EPFL.

On Thursday 15th December, in the Metallurgy department of the Hublot Manufacture in Nyon, Jean-Claude Biver, Hublot's CEO, and Andreas Mortensen, a Professor at EFPL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne) unveiled a range of brand new alloys which are set to revolutionise the characteristics of precious materials and may also pave the way for new alloys to be used in the high-tech industry.

This presentation focused on a genuine "fusion" of 24-carat gold (the finest of the noble materials and a natural product) and the very latest in high-tech materials expertise. Almost three years of collaboration and research have gone into achieving this impressive result: a completely new type of noble gold, with patents pending and graded 18 carat by the Central Office for Precious Metals Control. Hublot's 18-carat gold is the world's first scratch-resistant gold, and as such eliminates the age-old vulnerability of gold and its alloys.

Hardness is a measure of a material's resistance to indentation; doubling a material's hardness means doubling the force required to produce a given indentation. Whereas "standard" high-quality 18-carat gold can reach 400 on the Vickers hardness scale, Hublot gold has a hardness rating of almost 1000 Vickers (most hardened steels are up to 600 Vickers). This makes Hublot gold the hardest in the world, and by some margin: it can only really be "scratched" by diamond.

Components made from this material are produced using a complex process: boron carbide powder is formed by cold isostatic pressing in moulds very close in shape to that of the finished part, e.g. watch cases, bracelets, bezels, etc. This ceramic - one of the hardest in existence - is also highly refractory: the preforms are then hardened at very high temperatures to create a rigid, porous structure without altering the shape. After this, molten liquid gold is injected under very high pressure. This operation is performed under inert gas pressure, at a sufficiently high temperature and pressure to ensure that the molten metal fills the pores in the ceramic, causing the two to "fuse" into a single new material.

The resulting 18-carat Magic Gold must, like other 18-carat alloys, be composed of 750 parts pure gold out of 1000, but the inclusion of ceramic makes this gold scratch-resistant, unlike traditional 18-carat gold.

Hublot has now passed the experimental stage for its new gold and acquired the means to produce the new material entirely in its own Manufacture, thanks to a high-tech foundry enabling processes such as refractory ceramic sintering and high pressure metal casting. The first watches made from Magic Gold will be presented at BaselWorld 2012.

Sugarphreak
12-15-2011, 10:29 AM
...

Scat E46
12-15-2011, 10:29 AM
I'm not sure about "unscratchable".

I see a lot of titanium watches, and they do get scratched easily and need to be polished.

Very cool though.

rage2
12-15-2011, 10:35 AM
Originally posted by Scat E46
I'm not sure about "unscratchable".

I see a lot of titanium watches, and they do get scratched easily and need to be polished.

Very cool though.
I agree. My KP F1 is Zirconium (rated ~900), and I've managed to get a few scratches on there, but it does take quite a hard knock to do it. Where as a normal gold watch, you'll scratch it resting it on a table haha. It's definately a huge improvement.

Cos
12-15-2011, 10:42 AM
:eek: I cant even afford a normal Hublot. Not sure how I can afford this one but I so want it.

legendboy
12-15-2011, 02:07 PM
I think thats about 100 rockwell. super hard

wonder if its super brittle

Mibz
12-15-2011, 02:40 PM
18-carat Magic GoldBILLY MAYS HERE, ARE YOUR WATCHES SCRATCHING AS YOU WALK PAST DOOR FRAMES, HAND RAILS AND TOUGH TO REMOVE RED WINE STAINS?! WELL FRET NO MORE THANKS TO MAGIC GOLD. MAGIC GOLD IS A SPACE AGE ALLOY DESIGNED TO KEEP YOUR WATCH LOOKING ITS BRIGHTEST EVEN AFTER THE WORST OF SCRAPES AND SPILLS! WANNA LOOK BOLD? MAGIC GOLD!

Euro_Trash
12-15-2011, 03:11 PM
Pretty cool that a watch company looks into this kind of stuff rather than waiting for the high-tech industry to come up with it.

Mar
12-15-2011, 03:19 PM
Jay-Z released this alert in his song Otis. Big faced Rolies? He's got 2 of those.

hurrdurr
12-15-2011, 03:19 PM
Originally posted by Mibz
BILLY MAYS HERE, ARE YOUR WATCHES SCRATCHING AS YOU WALK PAST DOOR FRAMES, HAND RAILS AND TOUGH TO REMOVE RED WINE STAINS?! WELL FRET NO MORE THANKS TO MAGIC GOLD. MAGIC GOLD IS A SPACE AGE ALLOY DESIGNED TO KEEP YOUR WATCH LOOKING ITS BRIGHTEST EVEN AFTER THE WORST OF SCRAPES AND SPILLS! WANNA LOOK BOLD? MAGIC GOLD!

This is fucking clever

ME GUSTA

statick
12-15-2011, 06:11 PM
Originally posted by legendboy
I think thats about 100 rockwell. super hard

wonder if its super brittle

This is typically my concern with ceramic as well. Either way, innovations such as this are always great!

EG6boi
12-16-2011, 04:33 AM
How much does Hublots go for on average?

Cos
12-16-2011, 07:32 AM
Originally posted by EG6boi
How much does Hublots go for on average?

$15k - $40k for normal ones.

rage2
12-16-2011, 09:21 AM
Originally posted by EG6boi
How much does Hublots go for on average?
For mens sizes, Classic Fusion $5-15k, Big Bangs $10-$30k, Aero Bangs $14-30k, King Powers $18-40k. After that you move into the tourbillons, which starts at around $150k.

benyl
12-16-2011, 10:53 AM
Shit, I can't even afford the cheapest classic fusion. Beyond ballers FTW. lol :rofl:

rage2
12-29-2011, 05:25 PM
How to make Magic Gold:

UNKQnRBFrsE

Mibz
12-29-2011, 05:53 PM
1. If you take a trip through a nuclear reactor core your wrist will likely be the last area to get cancer.
2. Is there actually a chemical bond going on here or is it just literally gold mixed with boron carbide?

EDIT: I'm now reading about exactly what constitutes an alloy and my world has tip turned upside down. I have no knowledge of chemistry :P

triplep
12-29-2011, 11:07 PM
doesn't Rado already do this?

I have a rado and supposedly it is rated at 1200-2000 and their high tech diamond series is rated at 10000

But I guess if its gold, thats kinda cool.

Canmorite
12-30-2011, 04:29 PM
Originally posted by rage2

After that you move into the tourbillons, which starts at around $150k.

Googled it and...there are some great looking watches.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/9184/hublotkingpowertourbill.jpg

rage2
12-30-2011, 04:46 PM
Originally posted by triplep
doesn't Rado already do this?

I have a rado and supposedly it is rated at 1200-2000 and their high tech diamond series is rated at 10000

But I guess if its gold, thats kinda cool.
Yea, everyone does ceramics already. This is a true 18k gold alloy that has ceramic's unscratchable properties. That's been the biggest problem with gold jewellery, it's very susceptable to nicks and scratches.