The case, dial and buckle of this watch were made using the lost wax casting technique
The Art of Lost Wax Casting
Lost wax is a precision casting process that produces a metal sculpture from a wax model. This ancestral technique is over 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 for carrying out these different stages in-house.
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 a 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 in order to free the metal prototype
VII. The casting cone is cut
VIII. We will then do all the repeats: File, weld, hole, polish, adjust, etc.
Between the end of stage I and stage VII, it takes 12 hours to build a quality foundry. It is possible to melt several pieces at the same time however I prefer for the complex pieces to put only one per mold for an optimal result.
