Industry warms up to sustainable carbonium alloy

Beyond the trusted menu of gold, steel and titanium, watchmakers are now looking to more unusual alloys and other high-tech materials for design inspiration.

Among them is carbonium, a cutting-edge carbon composite first introduced into watchmaking by Swiss brand Ulysse Nardin in 2019. Since then, it has been steadily gaining popularity as other makers seek alternative ways to elevate their watch design.

Invented and produced by Lavoisier Composites — a French start-up that specialises in the development of eco-friendly composites and parts — carbonium is formed from repurposed by-products from the aerospace industry and epoxy, a high-temperature polymer resin. It possesses similar mechanical properties to other forged carbons — but the use of upcycled materials in its production reduces the environmental impact of carbonium by 40-50 per cent.

“The logic of carbonium was really to inspire designers,” says Esteban Villalon, co-founder and president of Lavoisier Composites. “[Carbonium] is the most advanced carbon used in the market for composite parts, with a higher rigidity compared to conventional carbon fibre.”

Clients expect a cool watch with a cool design and technical content that is unique

Three times as rigid as titanium with half the weight, carbonium also offers an intriguing aesthetic: it has a black to anthracite hue with marbled veining that, in recent years, has inspired a smattering of special models from top watchmakers.

Most recently, Ulysse Nardin tested carbonium’s versatility by featuring it in two new watches launched in May: the Diver Net Ops and the Diver X Skeleton Ops. The Diver Net Ops features a 44mm case of recycled steel and Nylo (upcycled fishing nets), with carbonium used for the sides and the caseback. The Diver X Skeleton Ops, meanwhile, features the composite on a concave unidirectional rotating bezel and on the barrel cover at 12 o’clock.

Jean-Christophe Sabatier, chief product officer for Ulysse Nardin, says the company introduced carbonium as part of a wider sustainability push. “We had in mind, already, that any new material should be taking into consideration environmental principles,” he says. “We had done a deep study into our environmental footprint, with the aim of reducing the presence of precious metals in our development.”

It was also its lightness that attracted Sabatier to carbonium. “Our clients will always expect from us a cool watch with a cool design and technical content that is unique,” he says. “It was very difficult to find a composite material that offers the right balance of aesthetic properties and the mechanical properties that we wanted to find. It’s really a material we believe in.”

Romain Gauthier, an independent Swiss watchmaker founded in 2005, has also experimented with carbonium for its Insight Micro-Rotor Squelette, introduced to mark the brand’s 15th anniversary. Based on the Insight Micro-Rotor — Romain Gauthier’s interpretation of an automatic three-hand watch — the open-worked timepiece features a 42mm case, dial, crown and buckle made of carbonium, combined with a titanium movement, bringing the watch to a total weight of just 31.31g.

Creative uses of carbonium have been cropping up in high jewellery, too. Lugano, a Californian company known for celebrating unexpected materials, has pioneered the use of carbonium in its one-of-a-kind designs set with spectacular stones. Its carbonium paraíba cuff, for example, combines white gold and carbonium with more than 15 carats of marquise and round-cut white diamonds, and a nearly 68-carat cabochon ocean-blue paraíba tourmaline. One of its high-jewellery necklaces features a wreath of leaves crafted in carbonium, zirconium, titanium, and white gold, accented with more than 73 carats of diamonds.

“You can take big diamonds and put [them] in a carbonium setting, and it really brings it down to something that’s much more wearable,” says Moti Ferder, chief executive of Lugano, of the material’s informal appeal. “You can wear it with jeans and a T-shirt, or you can wear it to a black-tie event. I think that’s the major allure of the material in our experience.”

Designing with carbonium is not without its difficulties, however. “It requires a tremendous amount of work,” says Ferder. “A lot of thought goes into the mechanism of how you attach it to other materials, whether that’s titanium, zirconium, gold and so on.”

Paola Brussino, an Italian jeweller who has also elevated carbonium for use in high jewellery, reports a similar experience when working with the material — notably on her sculptural Nouvelle Vague cuff bracelet. It sets a scattering of white diamonds against the composite material’s dark colouring. “Gold is undoubtedly more pliable,” she says. “Carbonium must be handled like the marble of a sculpture, shaped entirely by hand, piece by piece by expert artisans.”

In spite of these challenges, though, Sabatier expects more high watchmakers and jewellers to embrace carbonium — attracted by its unconventionality and sustainability. “It’s a snowball effect,” he says. “The silicon revolution took 20 years. It’s the same for carbonium. It will be a 20-year revolution.”