Victorinox 和 ECAL 以創意方式運用 I.N.O.X. 腕錶的製造材質

為了探索不銹鋼在腕錶界發展的可能性，我們問了新一代設計師對於這種傳統材料的看法。因此，我們很高興能與全世界最著名、最有創意的設計學院之一合作：知名的 école cantonale d’art Lausanne，也就是：ECAL。來自世界各地的學生，參考了醫學手術、納米技術或生物仿生學等領域，並將這種知識應用於腕錶的製作。

一個有關傳統與創新的故事

多年以來，我們在不銹鋼加工方面累積了許多專業知識。大約 100 年前，我們是全世界第一間率先使用這種材料的刀具公司。此創新之舉也代表著我們產品品質的轉折點，在 1921 年，我們將不銹鋼 “ inox ”的名稱正式融入我們的品牌名稱。

自此，我們便一直以不銹鋼為作品的核心。正是這種專業知識，讓我們得以進入腕錶的世界。憑藉著我們所有的經驗，開始製造鐘錶在當時是非常合理的決定。於是傳奇性的 I.N.O.X. 自此誕生：向不斷讓我們對其無盡的創造潛力感到驚奇的材料致敬。

和我們一起探索不銹鋼令人驚奇的潛力與可能。

不銹鋼 – 1 種材料，11 種創意

冷噴塗－由 Maxime Augay 重新詮釋，法國

使用超音速噴嘴，將金屬粉末塗到如金屬、陶瓷或甚至塑料的表面。因此得以實現創新的材料組合──為手錶設計帶來更好的品質或嶄新的視覺效果。圖片：學生的數碼創作

爆炸性包殼－由 Christian Hollweck 重新詮釋，德國透過爆炸效果，將兩種不同的金屬（如不銹鋼和鈦）組合在一起時，即會產生超級金屬。這種爆炸在表面產生的視覺效果，就是令人驚嘆的腕錶設計。圖片：學生的數碼創作（根據 VI 的原創圖片）

Explosive imprinting – reinterpreted by Christian Hollweck, Germany Through the pressure built up in an explosion, a hologram can be applied onto a metal surface on a nano-scale. Used for micro engravings on a watch, the images are extremely small and rich in detail. Image: Picture taken by the student, production by Bernhard Rieger

Stitching – reinterpreted by Nicolas de Vismes, France Stitching in stainless steel is a craft which was honed by its use in medicine. Rasps are tailor made for surgeons to carve out a recess in the bone in which to place an implant. Applied onto watches, stitching provides a surface sensuality and a handcrafted touch. Image: Digital rendering by student

UV Printing – reinterpreted by Sara de Campos, Portugal UV printing uses light instead of evaporation to fixate paint. That makes printing extremely fast, environmentally friendly and precise. The precision aspect is interesting for watch design: it allows fine gradients, patterns and high definition imagery. Image: Digital rendering by student

Honeycomb Tubes – reinterpreted by Hiroyuki Morita, Japan Inspired by nature, honeycomb tubes are rigid and at the same time flexible and lightweight. Its use in the watch industry not only has functional advantages. The geometric set-up is also attention catching in its design. Image: Digital rendering by student

Roll Bonding – reinterpreted by Adrien Cugulière, France Layers of different metals are passed through a pair of flat rollers to bond the layers, for example aluminum and steel. Punching and milling the top layer reveals the layer underneath creating new functional and ornamental qualities. Image: Digital rendering by student

Light Caustics – reinterpreted by Sumegha Matri, India

When light beams get focused and then diverted by a reflective material, caustics are created. For example the light reflection in a swimming pool. Applying an engraving according to the principles of light caustics on a watch surface, adds an almost “magical property”. Image: picture taken by student, Rayform SA

Tubular Laser Cutting – reinterpreted by Yen-Hao Chu, Taiwan A stent is a metal structure that is inserted into a blood vessel and afterwards expanded to open a narrowed artery to improve blood flow. By transferring the purely functional stent structure to design, an innovative look and feel is created and can be used for example in a watch strap. Image: Digital rendering by student

Inox Embroidery – reinterpreted by Aleksandra Szewc, Poland Embroidery techniques combined with stainless steel thread technology celebrate the qualities of stainless steel threads: safe to wash, corrosion resistant and durable, yet soft and flexible. This opens up new possibilities for applications in watch manufacturing. Image: Digital rendering by student

Micro Stamping – reinterpreted by Sara Regal, Spain Micro manufacturing offers new ways of working with steel. For example, piercing and bending metal sheets with Micro Stamping can be used for watch bracelets to create new patterns as well as functional forms that are stable and flexible at the same time. Image: IMP (industrial machine products)

The project was headed up by Alexis Georgacopoulos, Director of ECAL, and Thilo Alex Brunner, Head of Master in Product Design at ECAL. Under their initiative, designer and ECAL professor Alexander Taylor led students from all over the world through a three month project on discovering new possibilities for the use of stainless steel.

What is the future of stainless steel in the watch industry, Alexander Taylor?

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.

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