Victorinox 携手 ECAL 推进 I.N.O.X. 腕表材料的创新

为了探索不锈钢在腕表行业的可能应用，我们希望下一代的设计师能够沿用这种传统材料。瑞士洛桑艺术大学（简称为 ECAL），是全球最知名且最具创新性的设计院校之一，我们很高兴与之合作。来自世界各地的学生借鉴医学手术、纳米技术或仿生学等领域的知识，并将此知识应用到腕表领域。

传统与创新的故事

多年来，我们在不锈钢的处理方面积累了丰富的经验。大约一个世纪前，我们是全球首家使用这种材料制作刀具的公司。这一创新标志着我们产品质量的转折点，在 1921 年，我们在品牌名称中加入了不锈钢“inox”。

从那以后，不锈钢成为我们工作的核心。此专业知识引导我们涉足腕表领域。鉴于我们的发展经历，开始钟表制造似乎是件自然而然的事情。传奇的 I.N.O.X. 应时而生：向以自身独特性不断带给我们惊喜的不锈钢材料致敬。

与我们一起发现不锈钢应用的新的可能性。

不锈钢 – 1 种材料，11 种创新

冷喷涂 – 由法国的 Maxime Augay 重新诠释

借助超声速喷嘴，将金属粉末压送到金属、陶瓷、甚至塑料的表面，由此实现创新材料组合，进而提高质量或使腕表设计呈现新的视觉效果。图片：由学生进行的数字渲染

爆炸复合 – 由德国的 Christian Hollweck 重新诠释通过爆炸复合法，两种不同的金属（比如不锈钢以及钛金属）可结合形成超级金属。此类爆炸的表面视觉呈现绝妙，非常适用于腕表设计。图片：由学生进行的数字渲染（基于第六张原图）

爆炸压印 – 由德国的 Christian Hollweck 重新诠释随着爆炸压力升高，可将全息图应用于纳米级的金属表面。图片尺寸极小且细节精致，适用于腕表上的微型雕刻。图片：学生拍摄，Bernhard Rieger 制作

拼接 – 由法国的 Nicolas de Vismes 重新诠释不锈钢拼接是一项由自身医学应用衍生的技术。粗锉专为外科医生而设计，以便其在骨头上切口并放入种植体。将拼接技术应用到腕表设计，可实现卓越的表面感官呈现以及精良的手工艺触感。图片：由学生进行的数字渲染

UV 印刷 – 由葡萄牙的 Sara de Camper 重新诠释 UV 印刷利用光照固定喷涂，而不是蒸发。这样做可以使印刷极快、精准地完成，而且具有环保效益。精确性是腕表设计师在设计过程中关注的重要方面：只有在确保精确性的条件下，才可以实现精致的斜面、图案以及高清图像。图片：由学生进行的数字渲染

蜂窝管 – 由日本的 Hiroyuki Morita 重新诠释蜂窝管具有坚固、挠性和轻巧的特点，设计灵感源自自然。蜂窝管在腕表行业的应用不仅具有功能优势，其独特的几何构造也是一大设计亮点。图片：由学生进行的数字渲染

辊压接合 – 由法国的 Adrien Cugulière 重新诠释多层不同的金属（比如铝合金和精钢）经过平辊轧制结合在一起。通过对顶层进行冲压和铣削作业，使底层的功能性和美观性得到提升。图片：由学生进行的数字渲染

光线焦散 – 由印度的 Sumegha Matri 重新诠释

当光束聚焦并随后因反射材料发生转移时，光线焦散产生。比如，游泳池中的光反射。根据光线焦散原理在腕表表面进行雕刻作业，增加了“神奇色彩”。图片：由学生拍摄，Rayform SA

管式激光切割 – 由台湾地区的 Yen-Hao Chu 重新诠释支架是金属结构，通过插入血管、而后经扩展打开狭窄的动脉，进而增加血流量。将纯功能性支架结构转移到设计中的做法创意十足，给人耳目一新的感觉，并且可应用于腕表表带中。图片：由学生进行的数字渲染

不锈钢刺绣 – 由波兰的 Aleksandra Szewc 重新诠释通过结合刺绣技术和不锈钢螺纹技术，可以充分展现不锈钢螺纹的优质特性：可清洗、抗腐蚀、结实耐用，又不失软性和柔性。这为腕表制造应用开辟了新的可能性。图片：由学生进行的数字渲染

精微冲压 – 由西班牙的 Sara Regal 重新诠释微型制造提供了处理精钢的新方法。比如，可通过精微冲压对制造腕表表链的金属板进行冲孔和弯曲，以打造新图案以及较为灵活的稳定结构。图片：工业机器产品 (IMP)

项目负责人是 ECAL 总监 Alexis Georgacopoulos，以及 ECAL 产品设计硕士课程负责人 Thilo Alex Brunner。根据他们的倡议，设计师兼 ECAL 教授 Alexander Taylor 带领来自全球各地的学生展开了为期三个月的项目，旨在发现不锈钢应用领域的新的可能性。

Alexander Taylor，您认为不锈钢未来在腕表行业将有何应用？

Why didn’t you design watches in this project but focused on material?
I believe the students and designers should learn skills enabling them to be multifaceted in approach and work not only with the finished object, working in a way exploring first the ways in which we can work without the parameters of the object. The character of the object and the opportunity to create something new in both terms of aesthetic and production will come from a collaboration with makers and understanding of the designer to tailor the technologies to a particular need. During this process opportunities will inevitably present themselves beyond the original brief. By not focusing on a particular design of a watch it allowed us to let the process really inform and influence the formal outcome.

What makes stainless steel such an interesting material to work with?
It has such a beautiful and highly functional industrial quality, somehow hi-tech yet so familiar! It is a material with the ability to stimulate the senses and is associated with pioneering product / structures and performance. With this project however we illustrated how you can take a material which is so familiar and still propose absolutely new ways in which it can be fabricated or processed.

Will we still use stainless steel in the future?

Stainless steel will be a material we use long into the future. Like all materials it is constantly evolving as are the ways in which to work with it and the application with which it is used. It will be engineered and adapted to suit many new demands however as a core material it has a quality associated which now more than ever relates to the consumer and values of quality.

Everything is going digital. Are your students interested in working with a material as sturdy and traditional as stainless steel?

We are industrial designers who like to work on physical objects and with physical materials. In this digital era and into the future I think it is interesting how there is an important emotional attachment to the physical object which stimulates the senses and carries an inherent value and quality. A connection to natural materials and craftsmanship as an offset to balance against the digital world.

At Victorinox, lots of craftsmen work on details and quality improvement of our products. Yet we have some of the most cutting edge machines producing our products. When it comes to craft versus digital – what skills does a designer need?

With something like a watch which is about the human connection, the designer has an opportunity to create a product with a connection beyond the function. The designer has a responsibility to search out new ways and collaboration to innovate and push the physical boundaries of what is possible. The roles of the craftsman and designer are evolving and together working alongside cutting edge technology, have the ability to produce exciting and powerful results.

About Alex Taylor, Awarded British Designer, Professor at ECAL

Alexander is a product designer working for companies such as Zanotta, Established & Sons, ClassiCon and adidas. He’s been awarded “Designer of the Future”, with his “Fold” lamp, he also is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Alexander follows a transdisciplinary approach, working with some of the best craftsmen and industrial technology in the world.