Most stainless steel alloys soften as they approach 1,000☌, whereas tungsten carbide withstands nearly thrice that.īecause of its extreme hardness, shaping hardmetal into intricate shapes is a difficult proposition. It rates the same as sapphire, for example, on the Mohs hardness scale. Tungsten carbide is usually used for drill bits and other components that must endure high temperatures and pressures without deforming. What Is A Tungsten Carbide Or Hardmetal Watch? This was apparent in 1976’s Dia 67 Glissière, a square watch with a nearly edge-to-edge sapphire crystal over its face. Sapphire watch crystals had been around since the 1950s, however, no one had yet embraced them like Rado. Together with a sapphire crystal, this case protects an automatic ETA mechanical movement with a date display.Ī sapphire crystal protects the DiaStar 1’s dial, which is not unusual today, but was rare at the time. The case of the original DiaStar, still available today, is made from golden or silver-colored tungsten carbide, also known as hardmetal. This was distinct from “scratch resistant,” since the hardest case materials in watches at the time were typically steel alloys.Īlthough steel is harder than gold and silver, it is soft and ductile next to what Rado had in store.
When this watch came out, the company touted it as “the world’s first scratchproof watch.” Where the brand truly took off, however, was with 1962’s DiaStar 1. The DiaStar: The First Scratchproof Watch Out of these, the Green Horse and 18K gold Golden Horse that came afterwards are the best-known today.
VINTAGE RADO DIASTAR AUTOMATIC SERIES
This was a water resistant watch sold especially to Asian countries, where it performed well.īecause of the Green Horse’s success, other Horse series watches soon came out: Purple Horse, Silver Horse, and Golden Horse. Its first successful watch in this era was the Green Horse, a variant of the Exacto Oceanmaster. Surface Treatments The Rado Way: The V10Kĭuring the 1950s, Schlup & Co.The DiaStar: The First Scratchproof Watch.Use the links below to jump head or scroll down to keep reading: The latter of these, however, was difficult to copyright in Spanish-speaking countries. focused chiefly on ébauche, the creation of movement blanks to serve as the basis for assembled watches.ĭuring the next few decades, Schlup & Co began releasing watch collections of its own.Īlthough there were many of these, the most popular were Rado and Exacto. in their parents’ Lengnau, Switzerland home in 1917. Similarly to many other Swiss watchmakers, Rado’s very beginnings are in a family home business.īrothers Fritz, Ernst and Werner Schlup began Schlup & Co.
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