patrick_y
[PuristSPro Moderator]
33705
It is definitely a marketing stunt.
I don't think steel resonates with people - so I think it's a failed marketing stunt. And also, watch companies don't really pay that much importance to the steel. They generally order the steel off a catalogue if they make their own cases. Or they let their case supplier order the steel off a catalogue.
Recycled steel can be a cost cutting move. And relative to the whole thing, steel is so cheap - and they only order 20 tonnes of it... It's not a lot of money at all to Chopard. Let's say typical 304 stainless steel is around $3000 USD a tonne. And let's say this A223 steel is 10,000 Euros a tonne. 20 Tonnes, is only 200,000 Euros. So it's really small potatoes to a company that probably does hundreds of million Swiss Francs in revenue a year.
Nevertheless. I like the attention spent on it. Chopard probably didn't do very much - they probably just said to their steel supplier, "we want a whiter steel that looks more jewelry-like, and ideally it should be more scratch resistant, and we have a green initiative - if it can pollute less that'd be an added benefit." And their steel supplier/brokers probably found a good solution. And honestly, they did a good job. The steel being harder is a real practical benefit to the end user.
The Best Steel Material? The Chopard Lucent Steel A223
Moderator Patrick_y explores the advantages and disadvantages of the Chopard Lucent A223 steel in a frank mini-review. Here's a question nobody has ever asked. Who makes the best steel case and bracelet material in a steel watch? Chopard Lucent A223 steel...
It's important to note.
Generally, most companies order their steel off a catalogue. 316L or 904L. Chopard and Seiko probably got slightly involved with the steel foundry and specified a steel that met their needs; both from a performance standpoint (hardness, aesthetic polish q...
Grand seiko everbrilliant steel
GS has made ever-brilliant steel which is whiter and more corrosion resistant. Also GS high intensity titanium when Zaratsu polished, eg on evolution 9 family watches, looks very refined. Otherwise titanium by default looks industrial. I too am not a big ...
Thanks for detailing the advantages of lucent steel.
There’s just one thing that I can say, unfortunately, owning a regular 41mm grey dial Alpine Eagle: it is quite prone to scratches. It would maybe be even worse with an other steel (I don’t have enough experience with steel watches) and maybe some part of...
Uh oh!
I'm very careful with my watches, so I generally don't have a problem. Even my 316L steel watches still look in good shape. Overall, the design of the Alpine Eagle bracelet with the polished bits sticking out is just asking for scratches on the most visib...
My Eagle only flies!!! The Fleurier Quality test has a running component as part of the test!
While the 96 movement was developed to pass the FQ test, I don't know which movement you have in your Eagle. I don't wear watches when I am doing sporty things.
The caliber of my regular 41mm AE is the 01.01-C.
It's a 4 Hz COSC caliber. And, yes, I take this watch swimming and hiking (not running: this activity isn't mechanical-watches friendly and the watch is too heavy on the wrist). credit: omniluxe ...
I don't think any versions of this movement has ever been tested with the FQ test.
But yes, very nice watch. And yes, very bad to go running with your watches. I once met a lady with a Rolex who did kickboxing. And she did it with her watch on! Needless to say, the watch showed its displeasure by not running well.
Like Patrick, I’m extremely careful with my watches.
Despite the risks of scratches, I love the design of the Alpine Eagle bracelet: ...
I like this bracelet too
and don’t mind the light scratches as wearing this watch casually is more important for me than being super careful. I don’t wear my gold watches the same way: even if I wear them daily, obviously I don’t do sporty activities with them.
Thanks!
A lot of steel is generic. Some people think Rolex invented 904L steel - they did not. And most steel is ordered off a catalogue - the watch company just buys it (or their case supplier just buys it). Chopard, Seiko, and a few other brands probably got sl...
You're mostly correct! Almost all brands use 316 or 304 stainless steel. After that, it's 904L.
I don't know what Seiko uses. But Seiko does have a special steel for some of their watches.
Thank you for reading!
Nicer steel is probably not a big deal to most. But I'm just hoping more consumers pay attention to it so this way more watch companies realize consumers are paying more attention it and the watch companies themselves start paying more attention it. Watch...
Steel is cheaper and lighter than PT and white gold...
...I prefer it in almost all cases unless it is a very slim, very dressy watch...
I'm okay even with thin watches in steel...
I've got some ultra-thin watches in steel, gold, titanium, and platinum. I like them all. I don't own the Vacheron Constantin though. Sadly. ...
Interesting read, but the judgement will be out on the superiority of this particular alloy in twenty years time.
Personally I think it’s mostly a marketing stunt(which is okay), but I still swear by the 904L all day everyday. As for the sourcing, personally don’t care, as long as is not Lithium or Diamond, sourced from Congo, Zimbabwe or Botswana. If memory serves m...
It is definitely a marketing stunt.
I don't think steel resonates with people - so I think it's a failed marketing stunt. And also, watch companies don't really pay that much importance to the steel. They generally order the steel off a catalogue if they make their own cases. Or they let th...
Thanks Patrick for this informative post on steel!
Personally, I prefer steel over precious metal. I’m on the hunt for a potential dress piece in steel. Unfortunately, most that truly sing to me are in precious metal.😔
I do like precious watches too.
I just hope they put steel sleeves in the bracelets. If it's gold pins in the bracelet, with hollow links, then they sometimes don't endure wear and tear well.
After my experience with GSOTM
I sometimes wonder if I will ever go back to steel again. So much progress has been made with injecting ‘flex” molecules into ceramic that you essentially have a tough enough case that is for all practical purposes scratch proof. When I wear GSOTM almost ...
It seems to be getting overlooked that 316L & 904L are already specialty steels.
Formulated to meet specific end use requirements that exceed anything a watch is likely to encounter. Still, it would be interesting to know what Chopard is doing to formulate Lucent, rather than piling on adjectives.
I tired on the high beat version in titanium today...
...It was a very nice watch. Pleasantly surprised...
Lucent steel manufacturing process
Here's an informative video that covers how Lucent steel is manufactured: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2i5y00RUP8"
You're welcome
It's really nice to see the thought process that went into making that specific steel type