Superconductor — Automatic watch LWPSC

On this dial there is a piece of the machines built to probe matter.

Superconductor is a cross-section of superconducting magnet cable. Inside a copper matrix, thousands of niobium-titanium filaments, each one finer than a human hair, were drawn together over kilometres to feed very high field electromagnets: particle accelerators, medical imaging scanners. CERN’s Large Hadron Collider alone holds around 1,200 tonnes of it. The billets that reach the workshop come from that supply chain.

The pattern is revealed, not applied. The cable is sliced across, polished, then taken to an acid bath: the copper recedes, the niobium-titanium filaments stand proud. The honeycomb on the dial is the real cross-section of the conductor, at full scale. The density of the network, the orientation of the cells and the balance between copper and alloy change from one billet to the next.

Niobium-titanium becomes superconducting at around 10 kelvin, or −263 °C. At room temperature it is simply a rare metal.

In raking light the copper glows salmon pink while the filaments stay cold grey; head on, the dial closes up and the network tightens into a dense weave. The bezel is cut from the same billet, so the pattern runs unbroken from centre to edge. Brown leather strap.

The case is 316L stainless steel machined from solid, closed by six screws, with sapphire crystal above and below. Inside, a Japanese Miyota 8215 automatic movement: 21 jewels, 21,600 vibrations per hour, around 42 hours of power reserve, automatic and manual winding. It can be watched working through the caseback.

43 mm across, 13 mm thick. The wrist photograph in the gallery is taken on a 19.5 cm wrist. Limited to 200 numbered pieces: your watch will not carry the pattern shown in the photographs.

Key specifications

• Japanese automatic movement Miyota 8215 — 21 jewels, 21,600 vibrations per hour
• Power reserve: around 42 hours — automatic and manual winding, quick date setting
• Dial, bezel and crown in superconductor — niobium-titanium filaments in a copper matrix
• 316L stainless steel case machined from solid, caseback secured by six screws
• Sapphire crystal front and back — movement on show
• Water resistance 5 ATM (50 m)
• Display: hours, minutes, seconds, date
• Diameter 43 mm · Thickness 13 mm
• Adjustable genuine leather strap, folding clasp
• Material salvaged from superconducting magnet cable, limited supply
• Limited to 200 pieces, each one numbered
• Assembled and inspected in France — 2-year legal guarantee of conformity

Care

A soft dry cloth is enough. The copper matrix may patinate over time and darken: that is normal behaviour for the metal. Avoid abrasives and silver polish, which would attack the relief of the network.

Further reading (in French): our guide to superconductor in watchmaking.