EP0335251B1 - Watch with a filamentary decoration - Google Patents

Abstract

The watch comprises a decorative covering which covers at least a part of its outer casing, especially the middle part/bezel (9). The decorative covering has a plurality of metal wires (5, 6) partially overlapping one another. The decoration is applied onto a bed, especially a solder, which serves as means of fixing the wires on the outer casing. The wires may be twisted in pairs or interwoven in order to form a metal fabric. The covering is suitable for pieces of jewellery and is produced preferably with gold wires. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a watch in which at least part of the clothing serves as a substrate for a decorative coating, said coating having a plurality of metal wires covering the substrate.

Watches have already been proposed for a long time topped with a decorative coating. For example, a mosaic look is given to the dial or to the bezel of a watch by making it undergo a guilloche operation which consists in decorating the dial with engraved lines, hollowed out and crisscrossed. The guillochage is mainly applied to parts manufactured in large series and leaves a monotonous impression ill suited to high-end watches.

Document FR-A-1002236 presents a watch strap with an invisible dial. For this purpose the dial is formed or decorated so as to continue the bracelet or appear to continue it. The inventive idea of this document consists in giving the dial an appearance similar to that of the bracelet, so as to give the impression that the movement is placed inside a bracelet in one piece. However, nothing indicates in this document the search for a high-end decorative coating with a relief, such as a mosaic, or the means to achieve it.

More elaborate is the decoration proposed by the disclosure of invention CH-A-39471. This document relates to a pocket watch case having a bottom formed by a metal plate in which are formed depressions filled with a metal other than that of the plate, these metals being able to be chosen so as to obtain effects decorative similar to those of the watch case backs decorated with honeycombs. Here the paving stones forming the mosaic are contiguous to each other by partitions which completely fill the interstices between the paving stones and do not give the impression of relief which is the characteristic of a real mosaic.

To remedy this state of affairs, the watch described in application EP-A-0294661 presents a watch of which at least part of the clothing is surmounted by a mosaic-type coating. comprising a plurality of pavers juxtaposed and arranged on a bed serving as a means of fixing said pavers on said clothing, the upper part of the interstices separating said pavers being left empty. In the case where the pavers are made of gold and cover clothing made also of gold, the bed is a paste of gold on which the pavers are placed and which is melted to weld the pavers to the clothing.

If the aesthetic appearance of the watch which has just been described is of the most beautiful effect and brings to this watch an aspect of high workmanship, the fact remains that this effect is achieved only after '' a long-term job, the paving stones being placed piece by piece on the object to be decorated.

Thus, the present invention aims to overcome the disadvantages of high labor cost related to the coating described above and to ensure geometric regularity for each coating, as well as from one coating to another, by using a way of doing things that is better suited to industrial manufacturing, while giving the watch a high-end aesthetic with relief that can resemble a mosaic.

The subject of the invention is therefore a watch of the aforementioned type, characterized in that each of the metal wires serving as a decorative coating has a substantially helical shape and is interlaced longitudinally with at least one other of the said wires, the latter being partially embedded in a bed disposed on said substrate so as to form an essentially regular arrangement, said bed also serving as means for fixing said metal wires to said substrate.

The result of this invention is a decorative coating suitable for high-end and can be manufactured industrially. This decorative coating thus has a relief structure resembling a mosaic forming an essentially regular pattern. Depending on the level of the bed, we obtain a bas-relief, a half-relief or a high-relief.

• Les figures 1a et 1b sont des vues de dessus de cadrans de montre décorés selon l'invention et selon deux arrangements différents,
• La figure 2 montre comment sont réalisées les torsades qui décorent les cadrans des figures 1a et 1b,
• La figure 3 est une coupe selon la ligne III-III de la figure la et selon un premier mode d'exécution,
• La figure 4 est une coupe selon la ligne III-III de la figure la et selon un second mode d'exécution,
• La figure 5 est une vue de dessus d'une montre selon l'invention où le revêtement décoratif recouvre la carrure-lunette de ladite montre et
• La figure 6 montre une autre façon d'exécution du décor selon l'invention, où ce décor se présente sous la forme d'un tissu métallique.

The invention will now be explained with the aid of the description which follows, with the aid of the drawings which illustrate it by way of example. In these drawings:

• FIGS. 1a and 1b are top views of watch dials decorated according to the invention and in two different arrangements,
• FIG. 2 shows how the twists which decorate the dials of FIGS. 1a and 1b are produced,
• FIG. 3 is a section along line III-III of FIG. 1a and according to a first embodiment,
• FIG. 4 is a section along line III-III of FIG. 1a and according to a second embodiment,
• FIG. 5 is a top view of a watch according to the invention in which the decorative coating covers the middle-bezel of said watch and
• Figure 6 shows another embodiment of the decor according to the invention, where this decor is in the form of a metallic fabric.

Figure 1a is a top view of a watch dial 1 decorated according to the invention and according to a first arrangement. The dial has an opening 2 for the passage of the axes carrying the hands and hour markers 3. According to the invention and as shown in Figure la, the decorative coating has a plurality of metal wires 5 and 6 partially interleaved with the others. In the arrangement of FIG. 1a, the wires 5 and 6 are twisted two by two as shown in FIG. 2 which shows a twist 4.

Several twists are prepared 4 which are then placed side by side on a bed which will serve as means for fixing the wires on a plate forming the substrate of the dial, as will appear in FIGS. 4 and 5. Once the twists are fixed to the substrate, the dial is cut out in its final form shown in FIG. 1a.

As the decoration of the present invention finds its main application in pieces of jewelry, the wires 5 and 6 forming the twist 4 will preferably be made of precious metals, for example gold. The wires 5 and 6 can be made of gold of the same color and thus present a uniform decoration. But it is understood that the wire 5 could be in yellow gold and the wire 6 in white gold, thus creating an alternating decor. The invention is not limited to twists comprising two wires only, these twists being able to comprise three or four wires for example.

The present invention is however not limited to the use of wires made of precious metals. It could be other materials, for example steel, titanium, etc.

The figure shows that the twists 4 all have the same inclination, that is to say that they are all wound in the same direction. Figure 1b shows another arrangement which shows the juxtaposition of twists 4 and 4 ′ where the twist 4 is wound in one direction and the twist 4 ′ in the opposite direction. We thus obtain another design and, consequently, another aesthetic effect.

Figure 3 is a section along line III-III of Figure 1a. As already mentioned above, the covering made of partially intertwined metal wires 5 and 6 rests on a bed 7 which serves as means for fixing the wires on the clothing 8 which is to be covered. In the case where the wires 5 and 6 are made of gold and the clothing 8 is also made of gold, use will be made of a solder paste commonly used by goldsmiths and itself containing gold. The clothing 8 is coated to be coated with this paste forming the base bed 7, then the wires are deposited on the paste. The object is then placed in the oven at a temperature of the order of 800 ° C., which welds the wires on the substrate. It is understood that the weld can penetrate the interstices existing between the wires so as to partially drown these wires in the paste serving as a bed. Thus the threads are held relative to each other. FIG. 3 also shows that the weld bed does not reach the top of the wires 5 and 6. In this way, the wires appear as roughness on the exterior surface of the decoration, a surface which then takes on a grainy appearance giving the watch has a particularly beautiful aesthetic.

Figure 4 is a variant of what has been explained in connection with Figure 3. Here the surface of the decoration is flattened by grinding the top of the wires 5 and 6. The surface is thus made more regular while retaining the grainy appearance research. In this variant, it could be advantageous to use sheathed wire where the core would be of one color and the sheath of another color. By grinding then the top of wires 5 and 6, we would then make appear more colors than if we had single wire.

Figure 5 is a top view of a watch where the decoration according to the invention covers the middle-bezel 9 of this watch. We find here threads 5 and 6 which were discussed above. However, such a covering will preferably be achieved by means of the metallic fabric which will be presented below. In this case, the welding bed of which we have spoken is deposited on the middle part 9, the fabric of metal wires is applied to this bed, the solder is melted to fix this fabric on the middle part. After solidification of the weld, the fabric is cut according to the desired annular shape. Figure 5 shows a dial without decoration. It will however be understood that the dial could also be covered by the coating of the invention.

Figure 6 shows another way of executing the decor according to the invention. Here the wires making up the decoration are intertwined to form the metallic fabric 10. Each wire 11 to 16 is wound in a spiral. The wire 11 is interlaced with the wire 12, the wire 12 with the wire 13, the wire 13 with the wire 14, etc. This gives a relatively tight fabric composed of metallic wires of the same color or different colors. The fabric can be placed as it is on the bed above the substrate. It may also have undergone a crushing operation before welding. Such a fabric is known, for example under the name of Milanese fabric and is used to make bracelets. Descriptions can be found by consulting certain documents such as, for example, documents EP-A-0040504, CH-A-497150 or even CH-A-629657.

In all the embodiments described above, it will be understood that the wire used can be of any cross section: round, triangular, square, star, etc.

The decoration according to the invention is not limited to the watch itself, but could also take on the links making up the strap of this watch.

The watch obtained in the manner just described gives the impression of a very rich object both by the materials used and by the texture obtained in bas-relief. As already mentioned, the decoration described lends itself particularly well to industrial production.

Claims (10)

1. A watch of which at least a part of the exterior (1, 9) serves as a substrate (8) for a decorative covering, such covering exhibiting a plurality of metallic threads overlaying the substrate, characterized in that each of said threads (5, 6, 11 to 16) has a substantially helical form and is longitudinally interlaced with at least one other of said threads, these latter being partially immersed in a bed (7) arranged on said substrate so as to form an essentially regular arrangement, said bed also serving as means for securing said metallic threads onto said substrate.

2. A watch as in claim 1 characterized by the fact that it includes a dial (1) covered by said threads.

3. A watch as in claim 1 characterized by the fact that it includes a caseband-bezel (9) covered by said threads.

4. A watch as in claim 1 characterized by the fact that said threads exhibit at least two different colours.

5. A watch as in claim 1 characterized by the fact that said threads are of precious metal.

6. A watch as in claim 5 characterized by the fact that the bed (7) serving as means for securing the threads onto the exterior is a precious metal solder.

7. A watch as in claim 1 characterized by the fact that said threads (5, 6) are twisted two-by-two, and the twists (4) thus formed are juxtaposed.

8. A watch as in claim 1 characterized by the fact that said threads (11 to 16) are interwoven so as to form a fabric (10).

9. A watch as in claim 1 characterized by the fact that said threads are sheathed threads, each thread exhibiting a core of one colour and a sheath of another colour, the core being rendered partially visible by grinding.

10. A watch as in any one of claims 7 to 9 characterized by the fact that the surface of the decoration is partially flattened so as to define an upper plane for relief.

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