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As we all know and have seen on the net, the DLC /diamond like carbon/ coating have come in color shades between pencil lead black to charcoal black color. Well there is so much more to the general perception the community have been sharing for some time, about in what color the DLC coating can come into. We all know what is the contemporary DLC look, therefore, over a month ago or so, my partners and I decided to step away from the contemporary DLC color perception and dive into experimenting to see how far we could go. The results were very exciting to the extend where we couldn't believe our eyes. Many of you may thing that modification in the actual DLC application does the magic, but guess what... The DLC application process HAS NOTHING TO DO with the color of your watch and it never has. The 2 key elements that matter, not only for the color of the end product but also for the coating hardness are: first, the substrate /in our case the watch case material/ and second, the more important element in the equation "the sand/bead blasting technique". To some this statement may sound odd but it is the truth. The way the watch gets finished is crucial for the final look you get out after the DLC coating... Stick to this quote when you ever ask yourself again the following question, which BTW has never never been answered completely by any of the DLC service providers you are familiar with... " In what color the DLC finish can come into..." The color of the DLC coating depends on one factor and one factor only: The finish of the substrate /watch case/; meaning that the glossier the finish of your watch before the DLC coating, the darker the DLC color will be after the coating gets applied. The same thing apply the other way around; the more mate finish of the substrate/ the lighter/grayer the DLC color will be after the coating gets applied. So, DLC color you may anticipate to get on your time piece may vary from light grey to stealth black. However, with every good thing that has a simple explanation, there is still one unknown in the equation. If you are looking to get a specific grey or black color from the diapason, the mission will be close to impossible. The reason why is because adjusting one little thing in the blasting process changes the dramatically the color of the end product, so it is more like trial error until one gets it right. Well this approach is an extremely cost inefficient way, even for us who provide this service; unfortunately this is the only way and we are taking the bullet, knowing that at the end many answer will be given variate of choices to choose from will be offered. There is a solution to that... we will perfect several different color shades between grey and black, one of which is ready for a launch and it will blow you away... we called it DLC ceramic like color or Ceramic like DLC color The following picture will give you an idea what I am talking about. Three watches were used for this pictorial... Factory 286j, DLC coated 212, and DLC coated 286j in ceramic like color. You will notice some very impressive properties of this finish... mainly how it plays with the sunlight and its fine matte finish. Enjoy.... Factory PAM 286j /untreated/ DLC coated PAM 212 /generic look/ DLC coated 286j in ceramic like color with fine matte finish Under direct sunlight... All 3 against each other I hope this thread was somewhat informative for those of who have always wondered about the DLC color shades. And here are some teasing photos... A subject of my next thread...