Hublot to Venture into Jewelry Market with New Scratch-Resistant Gold Alloy

Swiss enterprise Hublot, known for their luxury watches, is planning on a possible jewelry industry venture after the development of a new range of scratch resistant gold alloy.

The company, which currently operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of France's luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, is reportedly planning to sell rings and cuff links made with the 18- carat alloy of gold and a ceramic.

There is a market for branded jewelry and therefore I believe, if we have a unique selling proposition in our gold, we should use it and go into jewelry, Businessweek quoted the Chief Executive Officer of Hublot, Jean- Claude Biver, as saying. The move would increase Hublot's credibility and reinforce the brand while it would also increase revenue, he further said.

The horology industry is constantly working on new product ranges made with new combinations of metals and materials so as to develop more durable timepieces.

Earlier, the brand announced that their metallurgy department has unveiled a range of brand new alloys which are set to revolutionize the characteristics of precious materials and may also pave the way for new alloys to be used in the high-tech industry.

Dubbed as Magic Gold, the new gold alloy is reportedly twice as hard as standard gold and can only be scratched by diamond. The 18-carat Magic Gold, like other 18-carat alloys, is composed of 750 parts pure gold out of 1000, but the inclusion of ceramic makes this gold scratch-resistant, unlike traditional 18-carat gold.

Hublot said that the technology used to develop it could be applied to other metals, including silver and platinum.

The company announced that the first watches made from Magic Gold would be presented at BaselWorld 2012.