zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

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Re: Steel *LINK*

In Response To: Re: Steel ()

: Not to start a whole new thread, but the
: question of the type of steel that Rolex
: versus Omega uses has been discussed to
: great length already.I think that the final
: conclusion was that in the real world, there
: really were not any valid differences.

"What grade of steel is used in modern OMEGA watches?

OMEGA uses stainless steel 1.4435 or 316L. Rolex uses stainless steel 1.4439 or 904L which is slightly different from 1.4435. Steel 904L and 316L have the same grade of hardness.

The grade of nickel discharge with 904L is slightly higher, causing an increased chance of allergic reaction when worn by people sensitive to nickel.

While technically, 904L has a slightly higher resistance to corrosion, this is only noticable under extreme conditions that a wristwatch should never face. Where this is mainly of concern is in industrial applications using steel in equipment for handling chlorides, sulfur dioxide gas or other toxic materials.

The differences for use in wristwatches is quite nominal. Almost no watch manufacturers except Rolex consider it worth using the 904L steel, especially given that the price for 904L is approximately three times that of 316L."

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