- Joined
- Jul 17, 2014
- Messages
- 59,584
While the material itself is abundant, turning meteorite into a watch dial requires some skill. The rock is first cut into a tube, then sliced thinly to produce a dial disc that’s then polished. Being hard and delicate, the disc is prone to cracking, which makes it fortunate the material is not in short supply. An important process then follows: etching with acid (Nital, a mix of nitric acid and methanol) to highlight the distinctive Widmanstätten pattern of the material, something demonstrated in this clip.
Irregular and characterised by geometric striations, the Widmanstätten pattern is the result of the nickel-iron crystals inside iron meteorite, which are basically giant chunks of iron. Such meteorites are mostly made up of kamacite and taenite, minerals composed of iron and nickel, which react differently to acid, bringing the Widmanstätten into greater relief. The broad, lighter coloured streaks are kamacite, the narrow, darker bands are taenite, while the smoother areas are plessite, a combination of the two minerals.
The meteorite dial cutting process
Irregular and characterised by geometric striations, the Widmanstätten pattern is the result of the nickel-iron crystals inside iron meteorite, which are basically giant chunks of iron. Such meteorites are mostly made up of kamacite and taenite, minerals composed of iron and nickel, which react differently to acid, bringing the Widmanstätten into greater relief. The broad, lighter coloured streaks are kamacite, the narrow, darker bands are taenite, while the smoother areas are plessite, a combination of the two minerals.
The meteorite dial cutting process
Mike.