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jcbiver
[Hublot Emeritus]
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answer to your questions

Here are a few answers:
why was the gold infused, instead of a powder-metallurgic approach (e.g. like the Böker Cera Titan, ZrO+TiC+Ag or the 254SMO steels)?
In the powder technology, it is impossible to sinter the ceramic. The strength of Magic Gold is the sintered porous structure of Boron Carbide surrounding the gold. This is not possible in powder metallurgy.
 
Why was casting preferred to Digital Laser Metal Sintering of the BN matrix, e.g. with an etchable pore filler?
We tried to use SLS to sinter the ceramic. The idea was to produce near-net-shape performs with well controlled pores content. But Boron carbide is very refractory and sintering starts at about 2100C, very difficult to achieve with a laser.
 
In the photo the surface seemed brushed, is it polishable to brilliance?
The first watches will be all polished. The visual aspect is special and unique.
 
An addition of copper may produce a warmer hue at cost of hardness?
Addition of cooper will produce another color effect. We use almost pure gold, only few percent of alloying elements are possible. The amount of copper allowed is very low, but the change in color may be significant. To be discovered in Basel.
 
Does the addition of Boron nitride and especially of metallic aluminum decrease the corrosion resistance to acids (sweat) and bases (soap), i guess that Aluminum was used to increase brightness/reflection and as a surfactant between the metallic and ionic phases?
The use of almost pure gold and the Boron Carbide (we use boron carbide, not boron nitride) increases the stability of the material compared to traditional 18 carat gold alloys. Standard 18 carat gold is not stable because of the “high” amount of unstable alloying elements, copper, silver, etc. We still have to decide if we will use a small amount of aluminum in our gold alloy before infiltration, its main role is the increase of hardness.