Rolex Blue Parachrom Hairspring

Finer than a human hair, Rolex's patented blue Parachrom hairspring is manufactured completely in-house. Historically, blue hairsprings are known as the most precise and reserved for the most prestigious timepieces. The watchmaker introduced this hairspring in the 4130 movement of the Cosmograph Daytona in 2000. 

The oscillator is composed of a balance wheel and a hairspring. This is the part of a mechanical watch movement that regulates electric current that is delivered to the oscillator from the mainspring through the escapement. The precision of frequency determines the precision of the watch, in this case within one second a day.  

Rolex Parachrom Blue Hairspring

Hairsprings are generally composed of ferromagnetic alloys such as iron, nickel, cobalt and chrome, however, these alloys are sensitive to magnetism and shock. Rolex developed the blue Parachrom hairspring buy fusing niobium and zirconium with a precise quantity of oxygen then introduced to obtain this specific alloy. The use of this alloy makes this hairspring up to ten times more accurate than traditional hairsprings.

Rolex has two patents on their blue Parachrom hairspring. One is for the chemical composition of the alloy and the other is for the surface treatment that was developed in 2005 that gives the hairspring its blue color.

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