The Magic Gold by Hublot

This new alloy is set to revolutionize the characteristics of precious materials and may possibly be the material of choice for the high-tech industry. With this innovative material, Hublot literally demonstrates the “art of fusion” in watchmaking and even brings it to the next level. What they unveiled is actually a brand new alloy of gold and ceramic, dubbed Magic Gold. This is the world’s first scratch-resistant and inoxidable gold, graded 18 carat by the Central Office for Precious Metals Control.

The new alloy is twice harder than the ordinary gold. Whereas standard 18-carat gold reaches 400 Vickers on the hardness scale, Hublot’s gold rates around 1000 Vickers. To illustrate how robust this new material is, let me note that the hardest steel rates somewhere around 600 Vickers. The only way to scratch the Magic Gold would be to use a spike made of diamond!


Jean-Claude Biver, Hublot's CEO, creating Magic Gold in Hublot Manufacture

The components made from this material are produced in a process where boron carbide powder is formed by cold isostatic pressing in moulds and then hardened at very high temperatures. In the next step, molten liquid gold is injected under the high pressure to fill the pores in ceramic and fuse with it forming a new material. This 18-carat Magic Gold is composed of 750 parts pure gold out of 1000. Picture below shows the first photo of the material, which is still a prototype. Hublot is still refining the process and the final material may vary in color and the texture. First watches made from Magic Gold will be presented at BaselWorld 2012.


Magic Gold - First photo of the material


Author: Marina Milojević
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