PVD vs. DLC Coating - How to choose your black watch
Black DLC Watches Vs. Other Black PVD Watches
PVD vs. DLC, all you ever wanted to know about your black timepiece. A genuine sports watch must be reliable, robust enough, and efficiently perform its assigned chronometric functions without any physical damage while engaged in extreme activities. This principle is also applicable to the exclusive watches used in military operations, search and rescue missions, firefighting, sailing, diving, science and research, exploration and adventures, engineering and industrial sectors, aviation, space, etc. In these times, the extreme timepieces have also become a chief attraction of gentlemen’s wardrobe as stylish wrist companions.
You may wonder what DLC is?. To attain a black steel watch demanding characteristics, carefully selecting the most suitable materials and the proper production techniques is necessary. The familiar materials used in manufacturing sports watches are stainless steel, titanium, ceramic, bronze, and some specific gold alloys. Comparatively, 316L stainless steel tops the list. PVD stands for physical vapor deposition. The "D" in DLC stands for diamond and not 'deposition.'
Usually, the watch case's aesthetic features and other external parts are enhanced by using different finishing techniques like brushing, polishing, sandblasting, etc., or using powdering or electro-plating techniques. However, these methods are purely decorative, and they merely provide any considerable enhancement in the physical strength of watch parts.
Black PVD Coating Explained
At present, luxury Swiss watches brands can choose new-generation thin-film coating techniques like PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) or CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) for enhancing aesthetic features and physical characteristics of the extreme sports timepieces. For example, you will never find Rolex watches with a PVD coating.
Vacuum Deposition is an industrial procedure used to deposit layers of a material atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule on a solid surface. Both PVD and CVD are primarily two different types of Vacuum deposition technologies used in the thin-film coating. Compared to powdering and electroplating techniques, PVD and CVD coatings are thinner and provide longer life, improved scratch resistance, hardness, more durability, superior corrosion resistance, and better wear resistance. The PVD process makes it possible to manufacture watch cases and other external metal parts in various color shades like yellow gold, rose gold, bronze, blue, black, etc.
From £468 GBP / €534 Euros / $640 USD
The First Choice Black DLC Coating for Watches
DLC is an acronym for Diamond-Like Carbon. The DLC coating is an advanced thin-film coating method using either PVD deposition via Arc and Sputtering or PACVD (Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition). This method can produce thin films that combine the distinctive properties of two carbon allotropes: Diamond and Graphite.
Diamond is one of the hardest known materials in the universe with a hardness of 10 Mohs scales (Equal to 10000HV Vickers), whereas Graphite is soft, slick, and endures a hardness of only 1.5 on the Mohs scale. Therefore, the thin-film coating produced by DLC combines the hardness of diamond and the lubricity of graphite. According to specific demands, DLC coatings can be customized by utilizing process parameters and varying the diamond or graphite properties.
With DLC coatings, significant improvements in hardness can achieve up to 9000 Vickers, which is much higher than PVD's hardness levels or any other surface coating method. Pvd vs. DLC, which is best?
Typically, DLC coating provides a color shade ranging from anthracite to deep black.
Black is one of the most admired colors, and it symbolizes power, wealth, elegance, and a luxurious lifestyle. Whether for a luxury car or high-fashion clothing, the black color is the first choice for modern celebrities, style seekers, and trendsetters. Following this trend, there is a growing demand for black watches in the market.
The black-colored watch cases and parts can be available, implementing several methods like powdering, blackening, ceramic coating, Ion-plating, PVD, and DLC. Among these, the DLC process can provide the most superior black surface on the watches. Wryst uses the amorphous carbon coating by Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (PACVD) technique for their black DLC watches.
In the following sections, we can discover some outstanding qualities that make Wryst black DLC watches superior to the other black (PVD/IP pated) watches presently available in the market.
A Quick Glance at Wryst Black DLC Watches
Wryst is a leading producer of well-built yet affordable black DLC luxury sports watches. The brand offers exclusive black DLC watch models from their Force, 2824, Elements, and Ultimate collections. Each Wryst black DLC watch is limited to 75 or 99 pieces, depending upon the selection.
The Wryst Force chronograph watches collection offers two black DLC models: a black leather watch SX210 and a black men's watch SX270. These timepieces feature a 50mm diameter barrel-shaped case in black DLC coated 516L stainless steel and house a Swiss quartz chronograph movement.
The black Chrono watch SX210 features a black dial. Its retail price is $912.00 for the double injection silicone strap versions and $979.00 for the leather strap version.
The black and gold SX270 features a rose gold color dial. Its retail price is $965.00 for the second injection silicone strap version and $1,044.00 for the alligator brown leather bracelet.
The Elements sports watch collection offers black DLC watch models named Black and Green Watch PH3, sport watch for men PH4, fashion watch PH7, Black Watch PH6, and black and blue dive watch PH7. The Elements models are dressed in a barrel-shaped, 45mm diameter, black DLC coated 516L stainless steel case topped with a K1 mineral crystal. The Elements models feature a black dial and a Swiss Quartz three-hand date movement. Different color themes are all offering two double injection silicone bracelets, dial indexes, and hands. The Elements black DLC watches retail at $775.00.
If you are wondering about PVD vs. DLC, we hope you have found the answers you were looking for on this page. The Wryst Ultimate black watches collection offers black DLC coated 516L stainless steel watch models with bi-color double injection silicone strap, All-black silicone strap, carbon fiber leather strap, khaki-green CAMO military watch with camouflage leather band, or Black DLC Coated stainless steel bracelet. Typical features of these black DLC watch models are a 45mm diameter round case, black dial, sapphire crystal, and Swiss quartz three-hand date movement. The retail price range of the Wryst Ultimate Black DLC watches is $418.00 to $623.00.
External references:
Diamond-like carbon on Wikipedia
Discover our collections of black DLC watches:
By Anton 06/20/2023 01:36:47
I can confirm I purchase a Wryst Ultimate es60 in black and red and the coating is totally immaculate after 6 months of wearing it. Watch feels bold and sturdy on the wrist. Thank you so much I was desperate to find a descent Swiss watch with black coating.
By Jordan 01/07/2023 10:13:38
Very useful info about black DLC coating for watches thank you for the tip!
By Sammy 12/21/2022 02:24:53
I hope more luxury brands are adopting the real deal with DLC because it is a shame to use poor quality coating and could hardly damage a brand reputation if they do not use it on the long run. Anyway, glad to have found the cheapest black DLC prices areound for Swiss quality watches. I have started saving..! I love the all black ES20 - Just stunning
By Serglmi 02/25/2022 02:17:28
Glad to have finally found a place where the difference between dlc and pvd is clearly explained. Now I get it
By johnnyjohnny 06/02/2021 10:21:45
Old article, and times have changed. not about the information you provided concerning black PVD, but about whether it is desirable. having been OCD about scratches on my watches for years, i still am. however, in that time the concept of 'distressed' PVD watches has come into its own, where actual wear is applied to NEW PVD watches to give a very cool look of older heuers and other classic PVD pieces. I started seeing these pieces a few years back and was amazed how an OCD scratch avoidance freak such as myself, could find them attractive. add to that the new interest in bronze and brass watches where patina and distressing is prized, and you get a new milieu. of course we all know the prized patina of old rolex, both on the dial and case, where you never ever want to polish one lest you destroy the provenance. now the wearing off of black PVD on various watches has become an accepted and even cool element. what you write about what will happen to black PVD is absolutely correct. if you don't want that happening to your watch, get DLC (that will have some wear through over time, much much less, and possibly none if babied), steel or ceramic and tungsten. but no matter what you have in your collection, you might want a few pieces of black PVD that will turn into a very cool classic timepiece as you wear it. i'm not talking about trashing them, but just the beautiful patina of bezel and watch edges gently peaking out behind the black, and the gentle wear across other areas too. i HAVE seen people purposely distress the cases of these pieces, and have been surprised how cool that looks as well. but whatever your choice, strong distressing, or gently doing it yourself over the years, you might consider trying a PVD watch and going there. in fact, the one you show in this story may have been considered trashy when the article was written in 2019, but as i write this in 2021, it looks pretty darn cool!
By Dieter 01/04/2021 11:31:52
Brilliant explaination about DLC and the difference with PVD. Thank you very much for the clarification!!
By Bjorg 12/20/2020 09:58:39
Do you do black DLC coating service for Rolex watches? I am considering having my Submariner case and bracelet done. Thx
By Yüksel 10/18/2020 15:38:53
Können Sie bspw. eine Daytona Edelstahl schwärzen (siehe Bild). Falls ja, was würde dieses schwärzen nach DLC Verfahren kosten?
By Mike 10/06/2020 08:43:15
I never knew you could find watches with a black descent protection at a descent price. I also like the style of there models which are super sporty and only in small series.
By Austin 08/30/2020 22:52:06
Thanks I understand now why my wrist watches with black protection are actually not lasting much at all. Will keep my eyes open for this DLC for my next purcahse, surely.
By Aldo 06/23/2020 22:20:37
Brilliant effort, the black colours work well on this design
By Diego 06/18/2020 21:09:43
Wow, well if I did not know the difference bewteen two different black coating this page certainly made me learn a lot. Great description of the difference PVD versus DLC thank you for that. D
By Sandra Stauffer 06/13/2020 10:19:56
You already have an idea that watches these days have lost their importance as you can keep track of time from the phones too. But I must say this new protection in DLC coating is something we may hardly ever see on smartwatches (Or even on mobile phones!) for a long time, if not never will. Many new electronic wristwear are always in plastic or recycled aluminum or different alloy nowadays. These are rarely made from stainless steel.
By Phil 04/10/2020 09:31:53
Interesting read! I do like your designs and reading about what materials you use can now understand why your prices are what they are. Is it easy to upkeep as not sure it would look that good for long?
By Mike Dallas 01/12/2020 03:52:00
Nice article!
By Winston 12/21/2019 14:34:00
Thank you, your explanations are awesome. Will make sure to purchase a Wryst with that black scratch resistant coating. Thx
By Frank 11/06/2019 18:01:43
So I believe my best bet is to purchase a black watch with DLC coating. My problem is, there are not many around, why is that?
By Sam P 10/13/2019 22:02:05
Great topic and very informative thanks!
By Geoffrey 10/03/2019 10:36:33
Can you please develop your explanation about black DLC? I do not understand why it is more scratch resistant than PVD. tHX
By dobry dietet 09/18/2019 06:38:46
Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely believe this web site needs a lot more attention. I'll probably be back again to see more, thanks for the advice!
By Paul S 09/12/2019 15:02:11
It's really a great and helpful content about scratch-resistant DLC. I am happy that you simply shared this useful info with us. Thank you.
By Jason Z 07/31/2019 08:10:32
Fantastic post. I learnt a lot about black watch coatings. Thx