The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Well see...this is what happens when I try to post all my findings after a long day, before going to sleep, for fear I'll forget them the next day. I think I'll take the latter portion of my last post out, since it's only going to confuse people, including me. Thanks for the clarification, Tom.

Edit: From the Omega website: "Zirconium is an important constituent part both of the Liquidmetal® alloy and of the ceramic material which is made of zirconium dioxide (Zr02)."

I think this is where I was getting confused. Am I to understand that Liquidmetal has zirconium as a constituent part, but not zirconium dioxide?

Oh man, now you are getting into chemistry and metallurgy. Waaaaay over my head.


I also came across some real misinformation on TRF - supposed differences between the composition and construction of the Sub C bezel vs the GMT IIc bezel. The gist was the Sub had actual inlaid platinum whereas the GMT was ion applied and covered smoothed over with "cerechrom." That's just silly. Anyone who has had both or just felt both, looked with the naked eye and especially a loop knows they are the same - bombarded with either platinum or gold particles. Or maybe Rolex changed it somewhere around 2010. I doubt it.

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SHARKMAN

Me too. Last chemistry I had was in high school, and I was never that good at it. That said, a little research reveals zirconium is a chemical element, symbol Zr, and is a metal. When a Zr atom is bonded with two oxygen atoms, we get ZrO2, or zirconium dioxide, which is a chemical compound, and not the same thing as pure zirconium. Zirconium is a constituent of the Liquidmetal alloy; zirconium dioxide is a constituent part of the ceramic bezels.

All well and good, but the takeaway from all of this is that the bezel inserts are ceramic, not aluminum, and the scaling is chromium nitride, not Liquidmetal. On paper and in pictures, the new SMPs look like they're going to be great. I can't wait to see them in person.

I think that you'll find that Zirconium Dioxide is the ceramic, not a constituent part.

Liquid metal is an allow of zirconium, copper, beryllium, nickel and titanium.

Sheesh...I should have quit while I was behind. It says right on the page Tom linked to, "Zirconium is an important constituent part...of the ceramic material which is made of zirconium dioxide (Zr02)," which clearly makes the point that ZrO2 is the ceramic, as you say. Conversely, Wikipedia says ZrO2 is, among other things, a refractory element in ceramic glazes, which is why I thought it was only a part of the overall ceramic mix. I trust you and Omega are right. At any rate, I'm just glad the new bezels are ceramic; the rest is academic.

Correct. Without getting too deep... Generally any metallic element in oxide form (xxOx) is considered a technical ceramic, e.g. the outermost surface of aluminum reacts with oxygen to give aluminum oxide (Al2O3).

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Steelfish GMT LE (white)

Thanks for the info. Where were you when I was getting all this sh*t wrong?