More durable and transparent sapphire.
Those who still keep track of the race to develop new materials in watchmaking will appreciate a new model launched by Aventi called Wraith A15-01 Saphite Paraiba. It's becoming increasingly difficult to surprise fans of cutting-edge solutions.
There are semi-transparent cases and even bracelets made of sapphire crystal with added tones of color. There are even cases that can change color. But watchmakers won't give up that easily. Aventi is the first to use Saphite for a watch case and claims this material has advantages over its closest competitor — sapphire crystal.
Aventi Wraith A15-01 Saphite Paraiba
Saphite is even less prone to scratches. Apart from that, the material looks more transparent thanks to its lower refractive index of 1.65, as opposed to sapphire’s 1.76. Another of its claimed advantages is the ability to take on the most diverse spectrum of colors.
The watchmakers demonstrate this quality in their choice of one of the rarest and most expensive tourmalines for the color Paraiba Blue (the Paraiba is named after the Brazilian State of Paraíba where the stone was first discovered in 1987).
Similarity with the mineral is emphasized by the faceted shape of the case, which has 92 faces and 124 vertices. It measures 49 mm × 44 mm. The list of innovations doesn't end with materials in the Aventi Wraith A15-01 Saphite Paraiba.
The watch houses a manually wound skeletonized GT-01S movement made of black titanium. It includes a tourbillon modified for Aventi, where the construction of the traditional tourbillon with 40 or so components has been rethought and all unnecessary parts have been scrapped. The result leaves us with 18 elements.
The watch may look like a precious stone with an exquisite movement encased inside, yet it doesn't cry out to be handled with care. While Saphite resists scratches, the movement can resist shocks of up to 5000 G and withstands magnetism of up to 2000 gauss.
The watch owner probably won’t be able to expose the timepiece to such conditions, so power reserve is a more important spec: it's also impressive at 105 hours. Aventi claims the watch is accurate to ± 4 seconds per day.