Here you can learn about some of the case materials and coatings used for watches, their characteristics, advantages and shortcomings.
Stainless Steel
This material is relatively cheap, very durable and very common. The Stainless steel is a type of steel that is very resistant to rust. It is not easily affected by moisture or sweat.
Skin irritation is also not that common with stainless steel. Therefore it is used in a lot of jewelry. Stainless steel had varying standards of quality. This depends on the purity of the stainless steel. The upmarket watch brands use 316L stainless steel. This ensures high quality watches. Watches made from stainless steel offer high quality for an affordable price.
PVD
‘’Physical Vapor Deposition’’ and it is an efficient way to strengthen stainless steel and other materials. The coating is often indicated with IPG, for watches with a gold color, IPS, a silver color ad IPB, a black color.
The advantage of the coating is that the watch does not change its color during the test of time. Vostok Europe applies this technology to improve the quality and the appearance.
Titanium
Titanium watches have slightly different shade than stainless steel. They are lighter in weight, and machined slightly differently. Titanium has become popular in recent years in the watch world due to its lightweight and high tensile properties. This allows for a lighter watch, in comparison to the equivalent stainless steel counterpart.
The most commonly used type of titanium is Ti-6Al-4V, better known as Grade 5. Typically used in aerospace, spacecraft, and missile applications, Grade 5 titanium is an extraordinarily resilient metal. It is very durable to adverse affects from heat, magnetism, and abrasion, making it perfect for watches.
Bronze
It is perhaps the most common out of all the copper alloys. Bronze usually comes in a reddish gold color. It is harder and less malleable than brass, which is the reason why it was preferred for tools. However, for common uses it has been surpassed by stainless steel, which also is cheaper to produce.
However, bronze excels for its natural resistance to corrosion, that has been perfected with modern and contemporary formulas. For this particular reason, it has been for long a preferred material for sailing equipment, as the seawater could put a serious strain on anything it comes into contact with on a regular basis. That is the reason Vostok Europe uses it for some of its divers watches.
