About German silver
On the lange's official website, it said the plates and bridges are made of untreated cross laminated German silver. Anyone could explain the 'Cross-Laminated' process? why ALS use this method to produce plate and bridge and what are the benefits for this...
Crystalline structure of metals/alloys is the reason
As German Silver is quite soft it has to be cross laminated to compact the cristals of each metall in the alloy better. The result is a harder, as more dense, metal. You can compare it to forging. I would assume that Lange is commissioning this service ra...
German silver is harder than brass
i be told the German silver is harder than brass since there are amount of nickle in it (more than 15%, if this is correct). the reason people said it is soft since its oxide-layer is easy to remove. however, the brass is common material for movement and ...
That is correct ...
it is harder than brass. I did not compare it to brass, however. Any treatment like cross lamination is called betterment. What is clear is that a process like cross laminating is increasing the density of a metal, hence the sturdyness, hardness. That mig...
Rhodium-plated
i got a chance to see 5959 in person, its German Silver is Rhodium-plated, and except ALS, the most brands give their German silver Rhodium-plated. the main reason is easy to assembly, since German silver is easy to leave a finger-print on its surface whi...
German Silver has to be chromed first ...?
As I said: judging by pictures the surface looks pretty dark, not shiny like rhodium. German Silver has to be chromed first for a rhodium coating. Not sure that Patek uses chrome as it is not a precious metal and not really used in jewellery making. But o...
Montblanc
the Villeret series in montblanc use the German silver, and i don't know how they treat them, on the website, only mention Rhodium-plated.
Aaah ... the Minerva chrono :-)
An awsome movement and piece! They really put a lot effort into that movement. If you have the chance to see the 5959 again: if it is rhodium plated (not plated actually ... more galvanised) have a closer look again and see if it is shiny or dark. And let...
5959 picture, and i think your right
the movement is not shining as Rhodium-plated。...
A very nice picture. Thanks
And the bridges do also not look any near like German Silver, judging this picture. Best Moritz
You have to thank Rik for this topic, lieber Freund.
I read this cross laminating also just the night before, honestly, as I was investigating more about the DS and went on the homepage again. Nice that Rik brought this into discussion and initiated some thoughts about German Silver again. Alles Gute Moritz
My pleasure~~
i am so happy to discuss with you guys, i hope you feel the same way. by the way, what means DS?
ALS said it is a mistake!!!!
They will correct this error on ALS website. oh my god.....
in fact , i don't think this is a simple mistake
i found some ALS official watch documents, they always mention 'cross-laminated' in movement section.
I'm afraid there's a lot of misinformation....
...in that thread. Hi, firstly, I can only guess, but believe that the term "cross-laminated" in the context of German silver is some sort of "lost in translation" My closest guess here, maybe sourcing form "damascened German silver" - which in turn could...
Reading the thread had me thinking it sounded somewhat like Damascus steel.
Has it ever been used in a movement? Sorry - I realise the question is somewhat off topic.
I know of dials, but probably used for some...
...other parts as well. Not sure though - but certainly it would make sense for decorative purposes only in a watch. Best regards Suitbert
Lange did.......
According to ALS, they used this process for some years, but they don't use it anymore today. any one can guess the reason? i am not sure.......
Hi, Rik,...
...did you get this info from ALS Germany directly? I'm really curious, as I can't make out any sense in why would one like to do something like "cross-laminated" German silver. Most companies use great care and effort in preparing their movement plate bl...
Yes, it came from ALS
i think the main purpose is they want their materials outstanding. but anyway, they don't use it anymore and they didn't mention any reason. by the way, which kind of raw material does ALS use for plate? Sheets or Bars? most of brass movement come from br...
You can get, what you'd like to ....
...have - it all depends the quamtity. But for a company of this size it's certainly no issue. You can even opt for a certain alloy - again if quantity is right. I know of certain makers who like to work off the bar (mainly because of the mentioned tensio...