In the world of luxury watchmaking, brands are oriented towards consumer demand and offer distinctive products. The most special case is, of course, a unique orphan timepiece designed for a single customer. But for ordinary collectors, such treasures can be described as "neither meet nor demand". So how can watchmaking brands attract customers through the uniqueness of their products?
Smart brands have learned that carbon fiber composite materials are an effective way to achieve this goal, especially the latest types of composite materials. Some brands have even gone further and developed patented carbon fiber composite materials. In the production of this composite material, the specific type of carbon to be used, the stacking angle of the fiber layer, and the way the polymer and resin are bonded are all highly flexible. Most importantly, the case made of a single piece of carbon fiber composite material has a unique structure and texture, each one unique.
There are other reasons why carbon fiber is suitable for making a watch case. This material is three times stronger than titanium, but only half as heavy. In fact, carbon fiber composite materials are widely used in F1 racing and sailing competitions, and can also be seen in sports equipment such as tennis rackets, golf clubs and fishing rods. These are the areas that men are familiar with. Therefore, the design of carbon fiber watches follows the preferences and needs of men, and most of them maintain the black appearance of composite materials, or matte or gloss. Of course, major watchmaking brands have also patented innovations to give carbon fiber composites a variety of effects, including luxurious gold.
The only disadvantage of carbon fiber is that it is much stronger than other materials and therefore much more difficult to process. The milling process takes longer, and the CNC machine tools used for milling parts wear faster and must be replaced more frequently. This means that carbon fiber watches are much more expensive and expensive than metal (such as steel or titanium) watches.
Bell & Ross BR 01-92 Carbon Fiber Watch
The earliest introduction of carbon fiber in the watchmaking industry was purely for the manufacture of watch cases. But soon, the brand expanded the use of this composite material to other components. For example, Bell & Ross's iconic BR 01-92 is equipped with a black carbon fiber case and dial.
BVLGARI Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon Fiber Watch
BVLGARI goes one step further in the Octo Finissimo collection, with a carbon fiber case, a carbon fiber dial, and a carbon fiber bracelet to create the world's thinnest minute repeater watch.
Despite processing difficulties, carbon fiber has even entered the world of mechanical watch movements with micron tolerances, functionality and aesthetics. For example, RICHARD MILLE's first watch, RM 50-03, launched in collaboration with McLaren. The movement weighs only 7 grams, and together with the barrel and tourbillon bridge, it supports the horizontal movement of the entire cage Made of TPT carbon fiber, and some bridges are also made of this material. The horizontal holder is attached to the middle of the case, which eliminates the need for a case ring and achieves a perfect fusion of the movement and the case.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Carbon
In 2017, Roger Dubuis introduced the Excalibur series of Spider Carbon carbon fiber watches. The RD509SQ movement also contains many carbon fiber parts, including the main board, bridge, and even the tourbillon upper frame. Most of Roger Dubuis' watches are certified by the Geneva Hallmark. This certification has strict requirements on the retouching of the movement (including manual finishing). The use of carbon fiber inside the movement brings the brand A daunting challenge because composite materials are really difficult to process.
But what exactly is carbon fiber and how is it used in watch case manufacturing? Carbon fiber itself is rarely used until it is woven (the more complex the woven structure, the stronger the composite), and then heated or pressed to form a composite with the plastic polymer. Today, there are many watches on the market made of different types of carbon fiber composites. Below, we list some of the main types of carbon fiber composites used in the watchmaking industry.
Forged Carbon Composite
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi
The history of forged carbon composites dates back to the mid-2000s and was developed by Lamborghini (trying to reduce the cost of composite parts), Callaway Golf, and the University of Washington. Carbon fiber is filled with resin in the sheet layer, while forged carbon composites are made from uncured plastic, added with chopped, randomly arranged carbon fiber filaments, and then mixed with the resin to form a paste into the mold. Need shape material.
Audemars Piguet is one of the earliest (2007) brands to use forged carbon for case manufacture. Its work is a special edition Royal Oak offshore watch with the color of the Swiss America's Cup Alinghi sailing team. Since then, this composite has been used by many other watchmaking brands to produce regular collections and custom models. For example, the Monaco Bamford watch, developed in collaboration with TAG Heuer by Bamford Watch Department, is based on the legendary Monaco chronograph and features a forged carbon case with an iconic black appearance. In addition, TAG Heuer also offers a number of carbon case watches from the Calera and Diving Series.
Athens Watch Whimsical Series FREAK X Watch Carbon Anion
Carbion is a new generation of material derived from the French aviation industry. It is composed of two-thirds of medium-modulus carbon fiber and one-third of high-temperature epoxy resin. It has a unique aesthetic sense. Aerospace-grade carbocation materials are mostly used in the manufacture of the latest generation aircraft fuselages and wings. It weighs about one-half of aluminum, and is twice as environmentally friendly as traditional carbon composites, because carbocations are not made from raw materials. Instead, 95% are carbon by-products from aviation. The significance of sustainability is significant. The innovative process for reusing this aerospace-grade carbon material is based on three patents owned by French startup Lavoisier Composites.
More important to the watchmaking industry is that carbocations are aesthetically attractive. This material is processed under high temperature and pressure, which can highlight the organic structure of carbon fiber and can be combined with other metals and pigments. For example, carbocation gold is a "fusion" of 7 micron carbon fibers and gold particles dispersed in a thermoset matrix.
Panerai PAM616 LuminorSubmersible 1950 Carbotech Watch
Carbotech is a composite material based on carbon fibers. In addition to providing excellent technical performance, Carbotech also has an uneven matte black appearance that will vary depending on how the material is cut. Carbotech sheet is made of carbon fiber sheet and high-tech polymer PEEK (polyetheretherketone), which is compressed under high pressure at a specific temperature, making the integrated composite material stronger and more reliable.
This material was first seen in the 2015 Luminor Submersible 1950 Carbotech 47mm 3-day power reserve automatic professional diving carbon fiber watch. Panerai is the first watch brand to use Carbotech for case manufacture and has this special Carbon composite trademark.
Girard Perregaux Laureato Laurel Collection Absolute Rock Watch
Glassy carbon is a form of pure carbon with excellent resistance. Unlike any other type of carbon manufacturing process, the glass carbon manufacturing process requires extremely high air tightness. The biggest feature of glassy carbon is that it is 100 times stronger than steel, but the density is only close to 1 (the density of steel and titanium is as high as 8 and 4.5 respectively), which means that it can float in water.
From an aesthetic point of view, glassy carbon is also different from other carbon composites in that all surfaces have a consistent texture, smooth and smooth. Adding colored glass fibers during the manufacturing process will also enhance the color sense of the case material.
Girard Perregaux introduced glassy carbon materials in 2019. The theme was "Skywalker". The color combination of black and blue had a significant impact on the entire series. The Laureato Laurel Collection Absolute Rock watch uses glassy carbon material with blue glass fiber.
RICHARD MILLE Rafael Nadal RM27-02 Tourbillon Limited Watch
NTPT carbon is made of extremely thin (30 micron) carbon fiber layers, with a 45 ° stagger between the layers. When processing a single piece of material, it presents a unique structure that differs from the woven appearance of carbon fibers or the dense appearance of forged carbon.
The application of this composite material marks the beginning of cooperation between Richard Mille and North Thin Ply Technologies. In addition to providing parts for high-tech demanding sports such as F1 racing and sailing competitions, NTPT opened a new specialized workshop for RICHARD MILLE last year to supply all high-tech materials used in the brand's watches, including TPT Quartz. This is a breakthrough quartz fiber prepreg material that debuted with the RM 27-02 Rafael Nadal watch released in 2015.
RICHARD MILLE RM50-03 McLaren F1 Ultralight Two Second Chasing Tourbillon Chronograph
Graph TPT is the result of a collaboration between the University of Manchester, McLaren Applied Technologies, and NTPT. This new material is an evolution of Carbon TPT. It consists of 600 layers of carbon fiber (each layer is only 30 microns thick) that make up a composite material. It is filled with graphene-containing resin. It is solidified by heating in a kiln at 120 ° C under pressure.
Graph TPT was first seen in the RICHARD MILLE RM50-03 McLaren F1 ultralight two-second chase tourbillon chronograph. The watch weighs less than 40 grams (including strap) and is the lightest tourbillon watch ever.