VIDEO: Letīs scratch it / 7CARBON hardened case back and NON-hardened bracelet

[H2O Watch]

I have this demonstration video of the 7CARBON hardened case back and Staib mesh bracelet laying around for quite some time. I think scratching a watch and bracelet is always worth a look.

Only the watch case and back were hardened by H2Oīs process 7CARBON and the bracelet has been made from NON-hardened standard 316L.

But let the video speak for itself.



Is there a better way to protect your watch for the next decade?

[primerak]

Clemens - how many times harder is that compared to untreated 316? Is it as hard as the Sinn sub steel?

[H2O Watch]

We are using a very similar process like Sinn and even using the same contractor, which is the market leading company in Germany. You wonīt get any better hardening result from any other company or process. The hardened 316L steel is about 7 times harder compared to non-hardened 316L. This fact gives our hardening process its name: 7CARBON

We are working also together with a German university

- to harden materials which were not possible to harden ever before (like Titanium with highly increased scratch resistance)
- to increase the corrosion resistance of steel up to the level of titanium
- to change the physical material properties as you require them to be (like bronze becoming harder than stainless steel)

Even it sounds like a wishlist of a physicist, it will become true within the next 12 months. The process and technical equipment are in development stage. We will disclose more details when the first products become available.

[primerak]

Thanks for the explanation looking forward to both the 7Carbon Orca and other offerings down the line - no more battle scars from desk diving!

We are using a very similar process like Sinn and even using the same contractor, which is the market leading company in Germany. You wonīt get any better hardening result from any other company or process. The hardened 316L steel is about 7 times harder compared to non-hardened 316L. This fact gives our hardening process its name: 7CARBON

We are working also together with a German university

- to harden materials which were not possible to harden ever before (like Titanium with highly increased scratch resistance)
- to increase the corrosion resistance of steel up to the level of titanium
- to change the physical material properties as you require them to be (like bronze becoming harder than stainless steel)

Even it sounds like a wishlist of a physicist, it will become true within the next 12 months. The process and technical equipment are in development stage. We will disclose more details when the first products become available.

[totorol]

I think I have made a right choose on 7carbon hardening!

Nice job, Clemens!

[J.D.B.]

Is this a surface-hardening process or does it work deeper into the material? I ask because,a s I understand it (or not) stainless steel is hardened by compression or impact, not by heat-treating.

Josh

[H2O Watch]

Is this a surface-hardening process or does it work deeper into the material? I ask because,a s I understand it (or not) stainless steel is hardened by compression or impact, not by heat-treating.

Josh

Of course it goes deeper into the material! A DLC coating is laying on top of the material, but the 7CARBON hardening is going only into the material. There is absolutely no change in dimensions. 7 CARBON is diffusion process which is adding CARBON atoms into the outer layer of the 316L steel. This is increasing daramatically the hardness by factor 7 and also improved the corrosion resistance from 316L!

Normal black steel could be heat-treated (for example damascus steel for knife blades), but 316L could not be hardened by heat threating. Hheat-threating would also have the risk of changing the dimensions slightly by chance and is therefore in my opinion no way to go.

[xo96]

Is it possible to do a hardening process on top of the raw stainless, let's say over a PVD or TiCN finishes? Problem with lots of folks are the PVD finishes get desk dived and can't be "repaired" to its initial color. It would be awesome if the hardening process can work along with the aforementioned finishes.

[H2O Watch]

Is it possible to do a hardening process on top of the raw stainless, let's say over a PVD or TiCN finishes? Problem with lots of folks are the PVD finishes get desk dived and can't be "repaired" to its initial color. It would be awesome if the hardening process can work along with the aforementioned finishes.

Thatīs impossible due to the nature of the hardening and the coating process!

Coating: Every coating (DLC/PVD/TiCN etc. ) are always laying on top of the material and increasing the dimension of the underlaying part by about 2-5 nanometer. These coatings could be very hard, but they are thin. The underlaying material are softer SS or Titanium for example. The limiting factor is here the underlaying soft material, because scratches are going through the hard DLC layer into the watch material. Itīs the so called "egg shelf effect".

__________________________________________________ _ PVD/DLC COATING on top of the material
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SS 316L
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SS 316L
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SS 316L

Hardening: The hardening process is only working INTO the material. CARBON atoms are diffused in a long lasting process of up to two weeks under pressure and higher temperatures into the 316L SS base material. Itīs not changing the dimensions of the watch case, because the atoms are going completely into and not on top of the material.

X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X SS 316L & 7CARBON HARDENING
*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X* SS 316L & 7CARBON HARDENING
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X SS 316L & 7CARBON HARDENING
*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X* SS 316L & 7CARBON HARDENING
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X SS 316L & 7CARBON HARDENING
...

To answer your question: Itīs impossible to first PVD coat and harden in second step to get a better toughness of the coating!

BUT:

If the hardening is done first and the coating in second step this will improve the toughness of the coating A LOT! Because the scratches have less chance to go through the coating as the underlaying material as same as hard as the coating. There is NO "egg shell effect" anymore.

We are already in contact with some specialists in Germany regarding black DLC coating and together with our 7CARBON hardened cases this will be the perfect match.

[Eric L.]

Excellent work Clemens. I am glad I ordered the hardened case and bracelet for the Orca.