OMEGA AND WORLD-PREMIERE LIQUIDMETAL® TECHNOLOGY
When OMEGA launched its Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal® Limited Edition, the world was introduced to the very first watch to bond ceramics and Liquidmetal®, a zirconium-based alloy.
Swatch Group researchers collaborating with OMEGA’s product development team created a striking ceramic bezel whose numbers and scaling, made of the Liquidmetal® alloy, appear in stunning silvery contrast to the black ceramic background. The colour of the ceramic dial perfectly matches that of the bezel. The result is an aesthetic wonder only made possible by several new and innovative processes.
Liquidmetal®: seamless bonding, remarkable hardness
The Liquidmetal® alloy is an amorphous metal – a metallic material with a disordered, non-crystalline atomic structure. Its fusion temperature is half that of conventional titanium alloys but when it is cooled, its hardness is three times as great as that of stainless steel. Its amorphous structure allows it to bond seamlessly with the ceramic bezel.
A bulk metallic glass like Liquidmetal® can, by virtue of its low critical cooling rate, be formed into a structure with a thickness of more than a tenth of a millimetre. Zirconium is an important constituent part both of the Liquidmetal® alloy and of the ceramic material which is made of zirconium dioxide (Zr02).
The final, perfectly smooth bezel is particularly resistant to scratching and corrosion because of the hardness of the two components.
Redefining longevity in the watch industry
The OMEGA Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal® Limited Edition, which has a stainless steel case and bracelet, is driven by OMEGA’s revolutionary Co-Axial calibre 2500. These movements, which have been heralded for their long-term chronometric performance, are perfectly complemented by the robust, corrosion-resistant ceramic and Liquidmetal® alloy components. The result is pure OMEGA: a design premiere which will retain its appearance indefinitely, blended with innovative Co-Axial technology
