[8min reading time]
Hard and light, scratch-resistant and unbreakable: When it comes to the watch case, demands are plentiful and just as diverse as the materials from which the cases are built. Until the 1970s, brass with a layer of chrome or gold was the material of choice, while luxury watches were made entirely of gold.
Today, the considerably harder, but also more difficult to process stainless steel is the go-to material in case manufacturing. It meets the high demands on surface homogeneity, robustness and durability. Nowadays however, a variety of other materials are routinely being worked to create cases and other watch components, some of which are ceramics, carbon fiber or bronze.
Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe were the first manufacturers to make the use of steel in the luxury sector socially acceptable when they released the Royal Oak and the Nautilus. Cases and bracelets today are usually made of an alloy containing steel, chrome, nickel and molybdenum, which is called 316L. One of its main advantages is the high resistance to corrosion and relative toughness. While most brands mainly use different variations of 316L Steel, Rolex cooks up their proprietary 904L alloy, which is more corrosion resistant to acids, but is similar to 316L in hardness and thus scratch-resistance.
The base material of stainless steel is ordinary iron ore or recycled steel. In order to refine it, the carbon content must be reduced and impurities such as phosphorus, sulfur, silicon, oxygen, and manganese must be eliminated from the alloy. To this end, the iron ore is smelted in a blast furnace and supplemented with coke and limestone, both of which bind the aforementioned impurities, which then either escape in gaseous form or collect into pool of slag that floats on top of the molten iron and can be drained. The temperature at the bottom of the furnace reaches well over 1’650 °Celsius (over 3’000 °Fahrenheit). In total, there are more than 200 types of stainless steel, which are alloyed depending on the intended use.
Stainless steel forms a very good basis for being esthetically modified: In some cases, cases and bracelets are coated with carbon in a so-called DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) or PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) process. These treatments can change the color and the physical properties of the top layer of the base material, which can increase the scratch-resistance.
Porsche Design and IWC were the trailblazers when it comes to titanium, a metal that also emerged in watchmaking in the 1980s. Titanium is light - about half as heavy as steel - tough, non-magnetic, corrosion-resistant and anti-allergic. The most commonly used watch case titanium alloy is Grade 5, an alloy of 6 percent aluminum and 4 percent vanadium. Titanium is tough, but not hard: scratches quickly form, which are very noticeable at first. The natural oxidation, however, changes the color again and makes the scratch almost invisible after a while.
Ceramics go one step further: a rich deep shine, incredible scratch-resistance, and a light, comfortable wrist presence characterize the material. Hallmark of Rado, the first brand to produce watches made of this avant-garde material in large quantities, high-tech ceramics made their first watch-related appearance in the 1980s after one of the first applications was in the heat shield of the Spaceshuttle. The starting material for high-tech ceramics is ultrafine zirconia or titanium carbide powder with a particle size of about one-thousandth of a millimeter or one-fifth of the thickness of a human hair. This powder is pressed into shape with a steel mold and then sintered. One critical aspect to be mastered by the manufacturer is the considerable shrinkage the component experiences during sintering. Depending on the thickness of the workpiece, it can shrink in size by up to 20 percent. This has to be taken into consideration when engineering the steel molds in order to be able to keep to the micro-tolerances customary in watch case production. In addition, ceramics are expensive to work with due to the high wear of machining tools during further processing and the abrasive diamond paste used for the finishing touches. As a rule of thumb, something around 30 percent surplus components must be produced to make up for the subsequent “weeding out” of esthetically defective pieces during intermediary or final quality control. This is the only way to meet the extremely strict visual and functional quality demands of luxury watch brands.
At a temperature of almost 1’500 °Celsius (about 2’700 °Fahrenheit), the material is sintered into scratch-resistant ceramic parts. The color can be influenced by adding high-purity, harmless color oxides when mixing the material. Nowadays, manufacturers are using state-of-the-art Ceramic Injection Molding (CIM): In this process, the ceramic powder is homogenized, turned into granulate, processed by injection molding, sintered and then machined. Using different materials to create a case can be very elegant: a basic stainless steel case with a ceramic bezel not only looks beautiful but also effectively protects the particularly exposed bezel from scratches.
Carbon fiber is enjoying increasing popularity in the watch world. It is light, scratch-resistant and has an interesting structure that is immediately recognizable as carbon, making each watch unique. However, the processing is complex. Carbon is made from synthetic resin threads with a small diameter. Tiny carbon fibers with a diameter of just seven-thousandths of a millimeter are incorporated into the resin. Carbon fibers weight less than 2.6 grams per cubic centimeter - extremely light, but extremely resilient due to the orientation and coherence of the grain in the final product.
Robust and lightweight, carbon fiber is a material that unites the best properties found in metals and ceramic: It is almost unbreakable, quite scratch-resistant, not prone to corrosion and hardly knows any limitations in everyday life. Even allergic people won’t encounter any problems while wearing a watch made out of this spectacular material.
Raphael Granito, CEO Formex Watch SA
In practice, a carbon fiber case is 50 percent lighter than one made of titanium! Fiber-reinforced plastics are thus becoming a key technology for lightweight construction and in some cases to complete assembly modules of aircraft or vehicles are made of this material. The processing of carbon fibers, however, poses substantial challenges, and the processes conceived in the aeronautical industry cannot be transferred 1:1 into the watch industry. The difficulties include almost catastrophic tool wear and high rejection rate during production.
One of the common ways of shaping carbon fiber for watches parts is to “forge” them: Carbon fibers are heated to high temperatures and pressed into stainless steel molds with up to 300 kg per square centimeter: it’s basically an oven with very high pressure. What's left when the pressure is released is pure carbon fiber. In this process each piece is aesthetically unique, because the individual fibers don’t set in a particular order during baking.
The last few years saw the rise of a new trend in watchmaking, which is everything but indifferent to outside influences. We are talking about the mixture of copper and tin, the first man-made alloy. It boasts excellent resistance to salt water, which is why it has been used in marine-related engineering from the early days. Bronze is also antimagnetic, low-wear, elastic, but little more brittle compared to its ferrous sibling, stainless steel. The specific weight is about ten percent higher than that of steel.
A particularly sought-after characteristic among watch nerds, is the way bronze reacts with oxygen. It forms a layer of oxidized copper, which looks very "old", but actually protects the material below. The watches turn into a unique object that to some tells a tale of the time passed on the wearer’s wrist. However not every watch fan likes the aged look of a patina, which can be removed, albeit with the help of some chemical agents.
Moser & Cie., a Swiss manufacturer of high-end timepieces - has taken the material game to the extreme: The case of the "Swiss Mad Watch" is made of genuine Swiss cheese, a Vacherin Mont d'Or médaille d'Or. A binding agent ensures that the cheese neither stinks nor melts in the heat but remains rock hard and thus stable. Nevertheless, the model has no future: only one piece was made.
With so many options to choose from, one question arises: Which material best suits you? First and foremost, that is a matter of taste - bronze with a green patina is not for everyone, and weight may be a critical element for some watch aficionados. Many of us, when wearing a high-quality watch, like to feel some substance and heft, to be reminded of the substance of what we are wearing. For this and many other reasons, stainless steel will probably remain an eternal classic - a material that can be brought alive by the skillfully achieved interplay of matte, brushed and polished surfaces. It can be repaired in the event of damage, and is very robust in everyday life. Carbon, on the other hand, is something special: The lightness of an ultramodern timepiece with a mechanical movement certainly creates fascination and tends to be more than a conversation starter for any type of engineering, aeronautics, sailing or racing enthusiast
When taking a look at my own collection of watches, stainless steel dominates. But watches made of carbon fiber, titanium and even aluminum are also represented, with even a few rare pieces in gold making an appearance on even rarer occasions. The bronze watch had to go: it was beautiful when new but I rather quickly found out that patina doesn’t really work for me. I’ve always been a fan of the masterful combination of materials. A watch with a ceramic bezel on a steel case for instance, evokes in me a feeling of symbiosis.
Once you start building a watch collection, you're eventually going to want something to safely and securely store your timepieces and maybe even to show them off at the same time. Watch boxes, cases, and rolls enable you to access all or part of your collection without the need for frequent opening and closing of the watches' individual packaging, and they can provide a more compact method of transporting multiple watches while you travel. Who makes the best watch boxes on the market today? Here we spotlight 10 notable brands, as chosen by our team and our loyal followers on Instagram, and showcase a favorite item from each, with an emphasis on including options for various budgets and collections of any size. Most all of the makers listed here offer many other similar products in additions to the model featured, and all are worth exploring.
Founded in 1834 by German silversmith Philip Wolf, Los Angeles-based Wolf is now in its fifth generation of family ownership and continues the mission of its founder, who set out to make “fine quality cases” to protect precious possessions such as jewellery and timepieces. Perhaps at least as well known these days as one of the leading purveyors of high-tech watch winders, Wolf still produces an array of luxurious boxes and cases, holding as few as five watches and as many as 15, including this 10-piece British Racing cabinet with a quad-angled, paneled lid, gold hardware, suspended watch cushions, a smartwatch USB port, and a vegan leather exterior.
Swiss design firm Kross Studio, launched in 2020 by former Hublot product development head and Romain Jerome CEO Marco Tedeschi and his team, works with established purveyors of pop culture, such as Disney-owned DC Comics and Lucasfilm, to produce co-branded luxury items aimed at discerning collectors. Sci-fi fans will appreciate this colorful series of individual leather watch rolls paying homage to famous characters from the Star Wars franchise: Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, Yoda, Darth Vader, the Mandalorian, and an Imperial Storm Trooper. Each one comes in vegetal tanned leather with a soft polyester microfiber fabric interior. (https://kross-studio.ch/en)
Another multigenerational family firm, Rapport of London began In 1898 when 20-year-old Maurice A. Rapport built his first timepiece, establishing the company as a world-renowned leader in clockmaking. Today, four generations later, its accumulated knowledge and expertise in the fields of cabinetmaking, horology, and electrical engineering continues to produce quality watch winders as well as collector boxes and carrying cases for watches and jewelry. The Heritage model comes with a lustrous Burr Walnut or Macassar veneer finish, achieved with five layers of lacquer. The box closes with a gold-plated lock and key and features a sumptuous suede inner lining with adjustable cushions to fit any size of watch. (https://www.rapportlondon.com/)
Molequin, which was founded in 2016, is the passion project of “watch guy” Michael Luther and “leather guy” Sidney Grzclaczk, and is primarily known (and highly regarded) for its leather watch straps, all of which use skins sourced from French farms that adhere to sustainable methods and practices. Referring to itself as a “French-Belgian Affair” (the products are made at an atelier in France; the company is based in Brussels), Molequin applies the same environmental standards to its watch carrying cases like the one here, with a Hunter Green calfskin exterior, with tone-on-tone stitching, and an interior in Pecan Alcantara, a more durable alternative to suede. The six 12mm-deep recesses inside will fit watches up to 46mm in diameter, which are held by snap closures. (https://www.molequin.com/)
With a mission to revive manufacturing in the city of Detroit, Shinola hit the American watch scene in 2011 and quickly established itself as a major player in its price category. The company, launched by Fossil Watch co-founder Tom Kartsotis, quickly branched out into other items as well with an emphasis on “American Made” nostalgia appeal — bicycles, leather goods, eyewear, jewelry, wall and desk clocks, and knives, to name just a few. As one would expect, Shinola also makes handsome carrying and storage cases for its timepieces, including this Watch Collector’s Box, made of oak with a monogrammable leather insert and featuring four separated leather cushions that are ideal for just about any sized watches. (https://www.shinola.com/)
If you’re looking for rugged robustness over luxurious presentation in your watch storage, consider one of the options from To The Hour, which sources its cases from Peli, a world-renowned producer of ultra-resilient carrying cases made from Copolymer Polypropylene with an open cell core and solid wall construction. Peli cases are waterproof, dustproof, crushproof, and virtually indestructible, utilizing elements like an O-ring seal to protect precious cargo from the elements, double-step latches that allow firm shutting as well as easy opening, and an automatic pressure release valve to keep the air inside the case flowing normally in the event of a change in external pressure, such as when you’re bringing your watches on a flight. The smallest model, the Enigma, holds a single watch, while the largest, the Vault, can accommodate up to 21. (https://tothehour.com/)
U.K.-based Holme & Hadfield is relatively new to the scene, founded in 2018 by two school chums who apparently decided to quit their jobs and start a business “after one too many beers on a beach in Brazil.” The company’s signature Watch Deck is a stylish option for those who like to store their timepieces and show them off at the same time. Combining the features of a traditional watch organizer with those of a valet tray, its four round wooden posts hold your watches under a clear acrylic lid; with an added drawer below for other accessories, the entire ensemble makes for an attractive presentation as the centerpiece of any table or shelf top. (https://www.holmeandhadfield.com/)
An Australian-based brand with strong British roots, Tawbury’s founder hails from a working-class coal mining town in the U.K. and credits his journeys to London as a young man with inspiring the designs and names of the company’s high-end watch storage units. The Bayswater, named for one of London’s most cosmopolitan areas, holds 12 watches in its soft velvet-lined interior and displays them under a clear glass window top. The box has a premium vegan leather-treated exterior with chrome-finished hardware and includes a lower drawer with dividers to hold additional accessories. (https://tawbury.com/)
Before starting Bosphorus Leather, Adem Arslan worked with both his father and uncle at a leather shoe making factory in Istanbul. Since 2012, Arslan has been the head craftsman and team leader at Bosphorus, personally selecting all the high-quality leathers, dyes, and other materials for a selection of handmade products ranging from shoes to wallets to briefcases to watch rolls. The Galata Montana roll can accommodate up to four watches in its velvety suede interior with its snap-secured, easy-to-separate cushions. The exterior is Natural leather, with silvered brass snaps for opening and closing, and each roll can be individually customized with the owner's initials. (https://www.bosphorusleather.com/)
David Innocente and his wife Tania Ingerson established Innocente in Adelaide, South Australia, in 2006. The company’s handmade watch and jewelry boxes combine powder-coated sheet metal with rare timbers such as Huon Pine, English Elm, American Black Walnut, Californian Redwood, White Ash, Mahogany and Black Heart Sassafras. The interiors are velour and the hinges are chrome-plated brass. Each box — including the “Best of Both Worlds” edition showcased here, which combines California redwood with hand-rolled sheet metal and holds 10 watches — is individually numbered and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. (https://www.innocente.com.au/)