By Vasily Kharitonov
In 2013, Minsk Watch Plant (brand name ‘Luch’) is to begin production of corrosion resistant casings, explains Acting Chief Engineer Vasily Filin. Black protective and decorative coatings in diamond-like carbon will give increased wear and corrosion resistance, hardness and smoothness. The technological process of applying the nano-material coating to the bodies of watches in brass and stainless steel has been developed by the Physico-Technical Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, as part of the New Materials and Technologies-2015 programme. The black protective and decorative coating has been sprayed by the scientists on a batch of watches. Later, they will help the plant to upgrade equipment for spraying coating of nano materials.
According to Mr. Filin, the innovation is in use nowhere else in the CIS. He explains, “Leading watch manufacturers worldwide have been using similar coatings but we are the first within the CIS. Designer versions of watches and the classic black colour make them very attractive, especially as ours rival foreign brands at a cheaper price,” notes the Acting Chief Engineer. The diamond-like carbon coating is comparable to that used by such brands as Rolex, Messina, Citizen, Panerai, Audemars Piguet and others.
In 2010 the Government of Belarus and the Swiss Company Franck Muller International BV signed an investment agreement to implement their Upgrading of JSC Minsk Watch Plant Production project. The Swiss currently own 80 percent of shares in the plant.
