Lost Wax Casting

The case, dial and buckle of this watch were made using the lost wax casting technique.

The Art of Lost Wax Casting

Lost wax casting is a precision casting process that creates a metal sculpture from a wax model. This ancestral technique is more than 6000 years old. The main stages of this technique are as follows: The piece is sculpted and modeled by hand in wax. This wax is then trapped in refractory plaster. We put the plaster in the oven. The wax melts and leaves its mark. This imprint is filled with precious metal. The workshop is fully equipped to carry out these different stages internally.

 

 

Small illustration of the process in pictures:

I. The prototype is made by sculpting and/or modeling the wax

II. A casting cone is added to the wax prototype

III. We cast the prototype in refractory plaster

IV. The mold is heated so that it hardens and the wax melts

V. The molten metal is introduced into the mold

VI. The mold is broken to release the metal prototype

VII. The casting cone is cut

VIII. We will then do all the rework: Filing, welding, drilling, polishing, adjusting, etc.

Between the end of stage I and stage VII, it takes 12 hours to make a quality foundry. It is possible to cast several pieces at the same time, however for complex pieces I prefer to use only one per mold for optimal results.