Technological Leap By forging ahead to create this watch
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Technological Leap By forging ahead to create this watch, Rado has taken a technological quantum leap in both durability and materials innovation. Several years ago Rado made the record books—literally—by successfully making a watch case out of crushed and superheated diamonds. These pieces were called Concept 1 (1996) and Vision 1 (1998). The Vision 1 required the use of 4,000 diamonds each measuring 1mm in diameter. They were ground into powder and sintered at temperatures of 1,500° Celsius (2,730° Fahrenheit) and under enormous pressure. (The pressure needed, 50,000 bar, is the equivalent of the weight of a jetliner on the surface area of a coin.) For that model, the crown and the bracelet elements were made from the diamond product. Not surprisingly, few were made. “In total, three pieces of the Vision 1 were produced,” says Streule. Because of the amount of diamonds used in this process, the consumer price would have been 500,000 to 600,000 Swiss Francs (more than $380,000). The Vision 1 was honored by an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
But this was just the beginning, says Streule. A note in the record books is nice, but creating a similar timepiece that can be made into a production model is the next logical step for a watchmaking firm like Rado. After six or seven years of research with specialists in nanotechnology, Rado engineers have now reached production capacity with the v10k. The technology is complex, but in brief it utilizes CVD (chemical vapor deposition) processes. It transforms carbon into nanocrystalline diamond particles, creating what is essentially man-made diamond. The CVD results in a 100 percent diamond layer bonded onto the shaped tungsten carbide (hard metal) components. The result: absolute hardness and the inalterability of diamond. Three international patents protect the processes and the design of the case.
“As we work with this technology, any imperfection in the results means we need to start again,” notes Streule. “This is expensive but is required for such a material.” Caseback and bracelet clasp are in antiallergenic titanium. As already with the Rado eSenza, the crown has been omitted from the v10k for design reasons. The time can be adjusted on the caseback by using the supplied magnetic contact element.
By luxury watch standards, the v10k is not pricey, retailing at $4,900. Production, however, is limited to between 1,000 and 2,000 pieces per year. But the firm’s engineers, based in its Lengnau, Switzerland, headquarters, are working to increase this output, says Streule. And, thus far no method has been developed to place gemstones into this material. Better yet, for those in the know, the gemstones are the material.
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