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DLC Coating Bracelets


Guest avitt

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Guest avitt

A few days ago, Jake48 posted some pictures of his Breitling Blacksteel wearing a bracelet which I DLC coated for him:

http://www.rwg.cc/members/Skyland-Blackste...C-B-t94198.html

I wanted to add some additional information, to answer a few of the questions that have come up.

Since I started with DLC coating services, I have resisted coating bracelets. The main reason is that I am concerned that the customers won't be satisfied with the results. Bracelets are difficult to coat. PVD is a line-of-sight process. This means that parts that are touching or overlapping in the coating chamber will not be completely coated. So, to fully DLC coat a bracelet, each link should be disassembled and coated individually...and this is usually not possible.

This is the reason why I've made the general statement that I don't coat bracelets...But then Jake48 asked me very nicely. :D Since he was aware of the difficulties and limitations, and willing to accept the results, I figured I'd give it a shot.

The challenge with a Blacksteel bracelet is matching the color of the case, which is very, very light. My first step was to seek guidance from the coating center. When I showed them pictures of the genuine Blacksteel, they recommended AlTiN PVD coating. After I applied a brushed finish to the bracelet, Jake48 and I decided to run 1 link in DLC, and 1 in AlTiN, to see which would be the best match. Here are a couple of shots of the results (DLC is on the left, and on top in the following photos):

img4917.jpg

img4920j.jpg

Jake48 made the call to go with DLC. He based his decision not on depth of color (light/dark), but rather on the hue. When viewed under various lighting, Jake48 felt the DLC matched the color of the Blacksteel better.

We decided to coat the bracelet in just a few sections, with minimal disassembly. The results of the DLC coating were actually excellent. All of the visible surfaces were evenly covered:

img4875ewm.jpg

img4892i.jpg

img4890b.jpg

img4898e.jpg

As expected, there were some uncovered areas in the shaded areas between the links. In normal use, these areas are not too noticeable, but they do become evident when the bracelet is flexed at extreme angles:

img4864l.jpg

img4887j.jpg

img4888e.jpg

On The Watch

As shown in Jake48's thread, the bracelet is not a perfect match to the shade of the Blacksteel replica...But is does look fantastic:

img4935.jpg

img4961.jpg

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As Jake48 mentioned, the bracelet appears to match differently under different lighting conditions. As an example, the following two pictures were taken from the same angle:

img4931n.jpg

img4933u.jpg

The bottom line...

This was a fun and interesting project, and it has been a pleasure to work with Jake48. However, I am not completely satisfied with the color match.

Thanks for reading. :)

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  • 8 months later...

What would happen if you applied your DLC over the existing DLC of a BlackSteel? Just curious...

DLC can be layered...So theoretically, it should be possible to apply DLC over the factory coating of a Blacksteel.

The downside is that the risk of delamination increases with the number and thickness of the layers.

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Avitt

Is the colour match the only reason you wouldnt do another bracelet?

If say you had the whole watch body and bracelet would you consider doing it again?

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Avitt

Is the colour match the only reason you wouldnt do another bracelet?

If say you had the whole watch body and bracelet would you consider doing it again?

I no longer have the "no bracelet" policy.

Shortly after posting this last March, I caved in to popular demand, and starting taking bracelets. Since then, I've probably coated a couple dozen, all with excellent results.

I'll coat most bracelets now, if the owner understands and accepts the limitations and risks (of incomplete coverage between the links, etc).

Those bracelets with open spaces between the links are most suitable for successful DLC coating.

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