Rolex and TED meet at the crossroads of Technology and Design. A proud sponsor of TED, Rolex honors the traditions of craftsmanship and beauty while striving for constant innovation.
Rolex has always been relentless in the pursuit of technical perfection. In 1910, the company received the first official chronometer certification ever awarded for a wristwatch. Rolex revolutionized watchmaking in 1926 with the world's first waterproof case, and again in 1931 with the perpetual rotor, the automatic winding mechanism. Today, Rolex upholds this rich tradition of innovation, combining craftsmanship and technology for unprecedented watchmaking.
Over the coming weeks, Rolex and TED will bring you inside the fascinating world of watchmaking with a series of web videos, highlighting Rolex's passion for perfection.
904L steel: Some steel is more ambitious than others.
Rolex constantly strives to go beyond watchmaking's traditional techniques and materials. Looking for a superhard alloy to make its steel Oyster cases, Rolex's material researchers focused in on 904L, a super alloy usually found employed in the chemical industry, where maximum resistance against corrosion is essential. Corrosion resistance stems from 904L's higher chromium content, which forms a thin, impervious barrier on the alloy's surface when exposed to oxygen. In the event of a scratch, the chromium oxide barrier fills and immediately protects it, effectively reducing the scratch's propensity for rusting. 904L steel is so hard that Rolex even had to develop special equipment to machine it. A mighty 250-ton press is necessary just to stamp out a single Oyster case from a solid block of 904L. When it comes to ensuring the lasting beauty of your watch, no measure is too extreme for Rolex. See for yourself:
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The blue Parachrom hairspring: The guardian of time.
In a mechanical movement, the oscillator is the heart of the watch. Consisting of a hairspring and a balance wheel, it is the regulating organ that determines the precision of the watch by the regularity of its oscillations. For its Parachrom hairspring, Rolex found a unique metal alloy to guard against a very modern annoyance -- magnetic fields -- as well as everyday bumps and shocks.
A watch is only as precise as its oscillator is regular. Conventional oscillator hairsprings are made of ferromagnetic alloys, leaving them vulnerable to magnetic fields and shocks. After five years of research, Rolex created the blue Parachrom hairspring. Crafted from a paramagnetic alloy, it is not affected by magnetic fields and is 10 times more resistant to shocks. Historically, the unique blue colour of the hairspring has been a sign of prestige reserved for only the most accurate timepieces. Today, it guarantees the accuracy of your Rolex. See for yourself:
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Everose gold: Alchemy by Rolex.
In a lovely melding of design and technology (with a dash of the perennial TED question "What Makes Us Happy?"), Rolex dove into a long and painstaking research process to produce something perfectly pink. Watch the video below and dive into Everose gold.
The challenge: How to make pink gold stay pink forever? Pink gold contains copper, the only red metal chemical element. Over time, the alloy loses copper as it is exposed to the environment, particularly chlorine found in the sea, swimming pools and even drinking water. To preserve the beauty of its watches, Rolex put its foundry to work, creating and patenting its own pink gold alloy: Everose gold. The 18 ct Everose gold beads pictured below contain 76% gold and more than 2% platinum, the most noble chemical element. The platinum locks in the copper, and thus the colour.The exclusive colour of 18 ct Everose gold marries perfectly with the steel of Rolesor models. Tests specifically developed for this new alloy all prove the same thing: that your Rolex will remain as beautiful as the day you first set eyes on it. See for yourself:
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Ceramic bezel: How does Rolex inscribe its scratch-proof ceramic bezel? Atom by atom.
Some design innovations are driven by amazing materials and techniques. Given a ceramic of extraordinary durability, what might be created?
The bezel of a watch can deteriorate when exposed to sunlight, chlorinated water or scratches. This is why Rolex has created a special bezel with a Cerachrom disc. Made from extremely hard (1200 Vickers hardness) ceramic material called yttrium-stabilised zirconia, it has excellent corrosion-resistant properties, its colour is unaffected by ultraviolet rays and it is virtually scratch-proof. To inscribe numerals on this hardest of materials, Rolex even developed and patented a unique process. The numerals and graduations are carved before the ceramic hardens at 1500C; the Cerachrom disc is then covered with either yellow gold or platinum, atom by atom, through cathodic magnetron sputtering. Finally, it is polished until only the precious metal in the numerals and graduations remains, permanently. It takes 40 hours to produce a ceramic bezel. At Rolex, no measure is too extreme in the pursuit of enduring beauty. See this process from start to finish:
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Look for a new feature from Rolex -- and another astonishing video -- coming soon!
