Crystallised titanium — Automatic watch LWPCT

This is not a texture applied to the metal. It is the metal showing how it solidified.

Every metal is made of grains — small crystals welded to one another, each oriented in its own direction. In ordinary titanium they measure a few tens of microns and stay invisible to the naked eye. Here the material is taken very high in temperature then cooled by only a few degrees per minute, over several hours: the grains have time to grow past a hundred microns and become visible.

An acid bath then removes the oxide skin and the machined layer, laying the structure bare. The drawing that appears is the map of the crystals formed during cooling; it is set by that descent in temperature, and so belongs to each plate.

“Crystallised titanium” is a workshop term, not a standardised grade: it describes a surface state obtained by a treatment, not a particular alloy.

On the wrist the dial does not shine as one block. Each grain returns the light according to its own orientation: the surface sparkles in patches, goes out and lights up again as the arm turns, and the boundaries between crystals draw an irregular network that recalls frost on a window. It is the most mobile dial in the collection, and the most discreet from a distance. Black leather strap.

The case is 316L stainless steel machined from solid, caseback secured by six screws, sapphire crystal front and back. Japanese Miyota 8215 automatic movement: 21 jewels, 21,600 vibrations per hour, around 42 hours of power reserve, quick date setting.

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: two plates cooled side by side do not give the same network.

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 crystallised titanium — large grains grown by slow cooling, revealed by acid
• 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
• A structural pattern, neither printed nor engraved
• Limited to 200 pieces, each one numbered
• Assembled and inspected in France — 2-year legal guarantee of conformity

Care

A soft dry cloth. The surface is matt and micro-textured: it holds fingerprints more readily than a polished dial, and cleans with clear water and immediate drying. Avoid polishing pastes, which would smooth the relief of the grains.

Further reading (in French): our guide to crystallised titanium.