Osmium Jewelry
Osmium jewellery is offered by more and more jewellers. Osmium is treated the same way as diamonds and gemstones. Each jeweller and jewellery manufacturer has the opportunity to order almost any shape.
The shapes can be very creative. Manufacturing guidelines need to be followed when fitting osmium.
Shapes
Classically, osmium is sold in flat geometries. Osmium diamonds and stars are small, flat elements with a circular or star-shaped geometry. Osmium discs are used as semimanufactured material if flat shapes are intended to be cut out. When cut by wire cutting, there may remain cut out parts that cannot be used further as they are already crystallised. This material is taken into account when the price of processing flat structures is calculated.
Recently it has become possible to crystallise three-dimensional objects. Almost all shapes from pearls to small three-dimensional cats are possible.
Individual cuts or bespoke three-dimensional objects have a price mark-up between 25 and 100 percent, depending on the exact shape, complexity and crystallisation time.
Bespoke shapes
In case a bespoke shape is requested, the following process is to be followed.
For two-dimensional objects a cut-out design is submitted. The jeweller calculates how much osmium will be lost during the wire cutting process and how many cut out parts that cannot be used further will have to be processed back into osmium granulate.
For three-dimensional objects a technical drawing is required. Subsequently, a carbon object is created on which the osmium is crystallised. The amount of osmium used is comparatively low in this process, but the preparation effort is very high.
All shapes can be requested from Partners or ordered directly via Internet. For the calculation two days are needed.
Processing
Osmium is easy to work with if it is set like a diamond on a ring or in a piece of jewellery.
Osmium can also be glued or soldered. When soldering, it is important to stay within a temperature limit of 400 °C to prevent the formation of osmium tetroxide, which is volatile and thus spreads over the air.
When working with osmium, the solder directly reduces the osmium tetroxide back to the element and releases the oxygen. If a pungent smell is noticed, work needs to be suspended and the room needs to be ventilated.
Processing guidelines are found on www.osmium-academy.com. What’s more, virtual classes for sales and manufacturing can be easily attended from home.
Hublot
Hublot says:
"A CLASSIC FUSION BEARING THE MOST PRECIOUS OF ALL PRECIOUS METALS"
If luxury equates to rarity, then no precious metal is as opulent as osmium. For the first time ever in the world of watchmaking, Hublot has incorporated osmium, one of the rarest metal elements on our planet, into a watch: the Classic Fusion Firmament.
Osmium is found in platinum ores and is so rare that approximately 10,000 tons of platinum ore will yield a mere 28 grams of osmium. Platinum is a rare enough metal, and yet when comparing global reserves, there is approximately 13’000 tons of platinum, as opposed to around 200 tons of osmium. In fact, Osmium is the least abundant stable element in Earth's crust with an average mass fraction of 50 parts per trillion in the continental crust.
Because osmium is fairly volatile in its pure metal state, Hublot uses its crystallized form in the Classic Fusion Firmament, formed from a unique process developed by a team of scientists and researchers in the neighboring Swiss canton of Valais. This process enables the osmium metal to reach its melting point of 3’033°C degrees, changing its structure and transforming it into Osmium crystal, a much more stable form of the element.
Housed in a 45mm polished and satin-brushed black ceramic or entirely polished platinum case, Hublot have gone so far as create not only a dial made of osmium, but also a movement in the Classic Fusion Tourbillon Firmament where the metal crystals are incorporated into the skeleton tourbillon movement; providing a mesmerizing contrast against the anthracite ruthenium-treated bridges visible on both sides of the movement.
Casting silver and blue reflections from its crystals that vary in size from a mere 10th millimeter to just a few millimeters, the osmium elements that can be likened to a clear, star-filled night sky, which is where the name “Firmament” comes from. The term is used to denote the heavens or the sky as a tangible mass, a notion that was widespread among many ancient civilizations.
