OP483 Chronograph is the only watch ever made of extreme ZR01 metal. Three times stronger than stainless steel with a remarkable Vickers hardness of 483. Crafted using patented technology and laser beam melting with a ultra sharp focus of 55 µm.
Atomic level engineering
Designed to withhold the highest standard in every environment, the OP483 watch cases and pods are crafted from the zirconium-based metallic alloy ZR01 — appertain to amorphous metals used by NASA as mirrors on satellites in space.
In contrast to other metals, ZR01 has a disordered atomic structure giving it unique properties in strength, hardness and wear resistance. The amorphous structure also provides excellent haptic and isotropic behaviour and is non magnetic.
Strength through supercooling
The ZR01 metal is 3D-printed as blanks by Heraeus Amloy, one of the worlds leading manufacturer of amorphous components. During normal metal casting, nuclei of crystals are formed and the grain size, shape, orientation and distribution depend strongly on the cooling conditions. Imperfections of the structure is common and impurities along grain and phase boundaries can weaken the protection against corrosion and affect fracture toughness.
To avoid this supercooling is used for ZR01, resulting in a structure with no imperfections or impurities. This creates a perfect material with an extreme hardness of 483 on the Vickers scale. Four times higher than aircraft grade aluminum and three times stronger than stainless steel.
ZR01 space metal for the toughest of missions
Due to its high corrosion resistance in extreme environments NASA uses amorphous metals for gears and drilling heads for moon rovers as well as mirrors on satellites in space. ZR01 is three times stronger than stainless steel with a remarkable Vickers hardness of 483.
Meet ambassador and astronaut Christer Fuglesang. Awarded twice with the NASA Space Flight Medal, professor in Space travel and one of the world’s most experienced astronauts in spacewalks.