Ceramic element inlaid with at least one composite ceramic decoration
AssigneeThe Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
InventorsMaria Fernandez Ciurleo, Juliette Muller, Stewes Bourban
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing an inlaid ceramic element for a timepiece including: a) forming a ceramic or cermet body; b) etching at least one recess in one face of the ceramic or cermet body, each at least one recess forming a pattern cavity for a decoration; c) changing a surface state of a bottom of the at least one recess to increase contact surface thereof; d) filling the at least one recess with a composite ceramic to form the decoration; e) flattening the composite ceramic so that the composite ceramic remains only in a hollow of the at least one recess.
Claims20
A method of manufacturing an inlaid ceramic or cermet element for a timepiece or for a piece of jewellery comprising:
- forming a ceramic or cermet body;
- etching at least one recess in one face of the ceramic or cermet body, the at least one recess forming a pattern cavity for decoration;
- changing a surface state of a bottom of the at least one recess to increase contact surface thereof;
- filling the at least one recess with a composite ceramic to form the decoration;
- flattening the composite ceramic so that the composite ceramic remains only in a hollow of the at least one recess,
- wherein the filling includes:
- filling the at least one recess with an organic matrix comprising ceramic particles, and
- crosslinking and densifying the matrix under a controlled atmosphere to form the composite ceramic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.