It was the star of the show at SIHH 2012. Richard’s RM056 was a ghost of a machine as it appeared to levitate in the display case. Almost without exception, the reaction was one of awe. How could this be! How, with a complex three part case, could the cas...
g To undertake the project, Richard turned to Switzerland’s (and possibly the worlds) foremost crystal firm: Stettler Sapphire. A privately held, family run firm, it is the typical example of a Swiss specialisation. Stettler produce the sapphire crystals ...
[The crystal sapphire case – from the RM056 at SIHH – in its constituent parts] The watch is absurd on one level – why? Why would you want to produce a watch case that could shatter? You do not have to worry about hair-line scratches on the case, but if y...
knowledge capital in all of this. The problem with the sapphire case is first, it is liable to break if a large shock hits the case. Second, the cost of the manufacture, even taking aside the physical and human capital investment is large, and you need a ...
Your last pic of the sapphire back is FANTASTIC! I wonder how scared or cautious I would be if I were to own and wear one of these RM056's. Then again, if I were able to buy one of the 5 pieces, money would probably be no object so I probably wouldn't be ...
be given the case and trusted with the task of assembling both movement and watch. And yes, I am sure they will be aware of the risk factor. Thanks Andrew H
Is it accurate that during the time the factory makes these casses none of the 60,000 or 120,000 crystal faces could be produced? Is that factory really going to work exclusively on the 56 case for a year? Thanks again,
production, that is essentially machine driven, out to Mauritius! The more specialised work will now take place in Switzerland. The special case for the RM056 will occupy half of the Swiss facility for the next year! Thanks Andrew H
how they made such things. I knew ultrasonic milling existed, but had never seen the limits of it until now. I live for technical articles like this, and I was a machinist working with monocrystaline diamond tooling before I became a watchmaker, and so I ...
contact details, I am happy to pass on some names and email addresses. I found the people at Stettler very knowledgable and enthusiastic about their work. It does not hurt to talk to them! Thanks Andrew H