FEATURE

What’s Old is New Again: 9 Watches with Bronze Cases


We shine a spotlight on bronze, that most ancient of new case materials, and showcase a selection of watch brands that are using it in their models, in this article from the WatchTime archives.

Bronze alloy - CU
Panerai and Archimede use the bimetallic alloy CuSn8 for their bronze watch cases.

Bronze Watches are on the Rise

This is an era of offbeat, heretofore-unheard-of case materials like forged carbon, tantalum, alusic, titanium ceramic and even something called “Texalium” (aluminum-coated carbon fiber).  But one “new” case material has been around so long it has a prehistoric age named after it: bronze. In recent years, brands including IWC, Panerai, Zenith, Squale, U-Boat, Anonimo and Bulgari have introduced bronze watches. Most are divers’ watches or have a nautical theme; for them, bronze, used for centuries to make ship fittings and seafaring equipment, is a way to underline their maritime identity. In other watches, bronze is used simply for its appearance: the metal has a vintage-like matte patina, which differs from watch to watch and hence makes each watch unique. Here’s a look at this time-honored metal.

Alloys that contain at least 60 percent copper can be called “bronze,” but the term usually refers to alloys that are made from a mixture of copper and tin. Pure copper is relatively soft and dents easily while tin is brittle and breaks. But when combined, the resulting alloy resists wear, retains its shape and is antimagnetic. And its most outstanding property is its ability to resist corrosion in seawater.

Panerai PAM00382 - Case CU
Panerai launched its first bronze watch, the Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo, as a limited edition in 2011.

Bronze is somewhat more brittle than stainless steel and weighs about 10 percent more. It reacts with oxygen, which results in a distinctive patina. This coating, which is oxidized copper, protects the underlying material against corrosion but leaves all other characteristics unchanged.

Among the various mixtures of copper and tin, experts distinguish between wrought or worked alloys, which include as much as 9 percent tin, and cast alloys, which usually contain between 9 and 12 percent tin. Bronzes that contain 20 percent tin are called “bell bronze.”

Bronze doesn’t equal Bronze

But bronzes are seldom made of just copper and tin; adding other materials creates alloys with tailor-made properties. Phosphorus and zinc are usually added to alloys that are wrought; these two substances as well as lead, nickel and iron are added to cast alloys. These blends are known as “multi-alloy bronzes.” If alloys contain little or no tin, they’re called “special bronzes.” The copper-aluminum blend used by the watch brand Anonimo is in this category.

Anonimo bronze watch case
Anonimo uses an aluminum bronze alloy.

When a material other than tin is added to copper, the resulting alloy is named for the additional substance, i.e., “aluminum bronze,” “lead bronze,” “phosphorus bronze,” etc. Manufacturers use different alloys to create each brand’s distinctive nuances of color. Aluminum bronze is a golden yellow alloy that can be cast and wrought. It usually contains between 9 and 14 percent aluminum. Iron, manganese and nickel are often added to aluminum bronze.

Here are nine bronze watches released in the last few years:

1. Anonimo Militare Alpini PRI Limited Edition Bronze

Anonimo Militare Alpini LE
The Militare Alpini PRI Limited Edition Bronze from Anonimo

Anonimo uses a type of aluminum bronze that contains 84 percent copper and 11.5 percent aluminum, in addition to smaller quantities of nickel, manganese, iron, zinc, tin and lead. A very thin exterior film of aluminum results in this alloy’s extremely high resistance to saltwater.

Anonimo Bronze bezels
Anonimo’s bronze bezel as it appears when new (right) and after it acquires a patina of oxidized copper (left)

Anonimo has used aluminum bronze since 1997. Each series that Anonimo offers includes at least one model with a bronze case, liek the Militare Alpini PRI Limited Edition Bronze shown above.

2. Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo

Panerai PAM00382 - side
Both the bezel and case are made of bronze.

The first of Panerai’s bronze limited editions debuted in 2011. Panerai relies on the bimetallic alloy CuSn8 for its bronze cases, which it has used for two limited-edition watches. CuSn8 contains 92 percent copper and 8 percent tin.

Panerai PAM00507 Luminor Submersible Bronzo - crown detail
A green dial underscores Panerai’s affiliation with the ocean.

The Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo (read about it here) has a sea-green dial to underline the brand’s history as a supplier of dive watches and other diving instruments. Panerai equipped frogmen in the Italian Navy with dive watches 80-odd years ago. A limited-edition Luminor Submersible with a bronze case and a power-reserve display on its dial was unveiled in 2013. Both watches are now available only on the secondary market. Ickler, a case manufacturer based in Pforzheim, Germany, uses the same bronze alloy for the cases of its Archimede pilots’ watches.

3. Bulgari

Bulgari Gerald Genta Gefica
The Gefica BiRetro Safari, Bulgari’s only bronze watch

The case of Gérald Genta’s Gefica, launched in 1988, was made of a bronze alloy containing more than 90 percent copper. It is said to be the first bronze luxury watch. Genta supposedly designed the watch at the request of a big-game hunter, who wanted a watch with a matte finish that would not frighten away prey by reflecting sunlight. Bulgari bought the Gérald Genta brand in 2000 and in 2007 brought out an updated version of the Gefica, also in bronze: the Gefica BiRetro Safari.

4. Archimede

Archimede Pilot 42H
An Archimede pilots’ watch

Archimede began making bronze watches in 2013. Like Gérald Genta, it chose the metal for its matte patina, and uses it not only for the cases and crowns but also for the rivets on the leather straps. The watches’ casebacks are steel.

5. Zenith

Zenith Pilots Watch
The bronze version of Zenith’s Pilot Type 20 Extra Special

Recently, Zenith introduced its Pilot Type 20 Extra Special Bronze, which has a 45-mm case. The movement, the Zenith 3000, is automatic. Zenith chose bronze for this version of the watch (it’s also available in steel) because it enhances the watch’s vintage styling.

6. IWC

IWC Aquatmer Darwin
IWC’s Aquatimer Chronograph Edition “Expedition Charles Darwin”

IWC used bronze for its Aquatimer Chronograph Edition “Expedition Charles Darwin,” introduced in 2014. In that model, IWC’s first bronze watch, the metal is a reference to the HMS Beagle, the ship that took Darwin on his expedition to the Galapagos Islands. Bronze was used for the ship’s portholes, fittings and nautical instruments. (More on the watch here.)

7. Aquadive

Aquadive Bathyscaphe
The Aquadive Bathyscaphe 100 Bronze

Aquadive’s Bathyscaphe 100 Bronze has a case cut from a solid piece of bronze. It has a screw-down caseback, also made of bronze.

8. U-Boat

U-Boat Chimera
The U-Boat Chimera

U-Boat’s Chimera Bronze 43 has a bronze case, caseback, screws, crown protector and serial number plate. The crystal is bronzed sapphire.

9. Geoffrey Roth

Geoffrey Roth HHS/D - bronze case
SCOTT_FOUST
Geoffrey Roth HHS/D

The American watchmaker, Scottsdale, Arizona-based Geoffrey Roth, has created a “marine bronze”-cased version of his HHS/D divers watch, which contains a Swiss-made ETA 2892A2 automatic movement and whose signature features include sculpted lugs, an in-house designed rubber strap, an engraved nautilus-motif dial, and a patent-pending, “silent” unidirectional bezel with scalloped edges and ceramic inlays.

For more pictures of the Goffrey Roth watch, click through the gallery:

More Bronze watches to come …

Bronze will never eclipse steel or gold as a watch-case material, but, given the current popularity of dive and nautically themed watches, we’re likely to see more of it in the coming years. In the last years, Tudor has introduced a bronze-cased version of its Heritage Black Bay divers’ watch to its collection (read a hands-on review here); Montblanc has added three new models (none of them divers) to its vintage-look 1858 collection (details here).

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  1. sergio bures

    I am surprised you didn’t mention the newly released limited edition Eterna KonTiki bronze manufacture as a good example of old and new. Beautiful dive watch redesign with in-house movement. I guess by now there are to many bronze watches to make a complete list.

    Reply
  2. Bill Ball

    The model from Geoffrey Roth is a stunning watch. I for one love the complete look an a great movement as well.

    Reply
  3. Benjamin Booc

    I love Bronze watch, should add to your collection.
    I have Oris Carl Brashear and Ball Engineer III Bronze Star .

    Reply
  4. Just bought the Oris “Carl Basshear”, very happy with it. I like the dark bronze patina and the deep blue dail, what a great job they did at Oris !!

    Reply
  5. Vostok Europe also has a bronze watch, I just picked one up and it’s really sharp with a green dial.

    Reply
  6. Andrea Valerio

    I’d like to draw your attention to Ennebi’s bronze watches. Alessandro Bettarini has produced a few amazing, limited editions in 44 and 47 which are incredibly coveted among collectors. Truly wonderful pieces…

    Reply
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