A method for producing a timepiece spring includes the following steps: producing a piece based on silicon, having the desired shape of the timepiece spring; thermally oxidising the piece; deoxidising the piece; annealing the piece in a reducing atmosphere; forming a silicon oxide layer on the piece.

A system including two components intended to be in friction contact with each other in a given direction, wherein the friction occurs in a functional area, wherein the system is at least one of the two components including, on a surface in the functional area, a texture formed of a series of troughs of rounded shape separated by peaks or a series of bumps of rounded shape separated by troughs, the troughs extending parallel in the given direction and allowing for the evacuation of debris produced by friction and serving as a reservoir for a lubricant. A method for manufacturing at least one component or a mold by the DRIE (deep reactive ion etching) process, wherein surface defects on the sidewalls machined by the DRIE process are used to form the troughs.

Preform and manufacturing process producing heterogeneous components with a first fraction (11) made from a first metallic material and having a cellular structure with stochastic or regular cells, and a second fraction (12) made from a second metallic material different from the first metallic material, in which the second fraction (12) at least partly infiltrates the cells of the first fraction (11). The second fraction is poured into the preform which also acts as a mould. The finished product after machining may have a unified surface of the second fraction or several zones exposing the second fraction, the first fraction, the cellular structure which is open or infiltrated with the second metallic fraction, or open zones, in a predetermined design.

A dial includes a recessed portion formed by laser irradiation, and a decorative portion formed at a bottom surface of the recessed portion by laser irradiation, including a first groove extending in a first direction, and a second groove extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and including a plurality of protruding portions provided in a region partitioned by a plurality of the first grooves, and a plurality of the second grooves.

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a casing element made of ceramic, for the fields of watchmaking or jewelry making, which enables a casing element to be obtained that is substantially homogeneous in terms of its structure and mechanical properties and that has variations of hue and/or color that are both original and unique on its surface. The manufacturing method includes, in particular, a machining step intended to make different layers, of different respective natures, visible on the surface of the casing element.

The micromechanical clockwork part is cut from a plate-like silicon substrate. The cut edges of the part include portions intended to serve as contact surfaces arranged to slide against corresponding contact zones of another micromechanical part in a clockwork piece. The cut edges have a ribbed surface including an alternating set of ribs and furrows, the ribs and the furrows being straight and each contained in a plane parallel to the plate. Moreover, the ribs and furrows which the cut edges have form a stepped pattern on the cut edge, with first intervals in which the spacing separating the ribs from one another is equal to a first distance, and at least one second interval in which the spacing between the ribs is equal to a second distance different from the first distance.

Disclosed herein are devices, systems, and methods for fabricating alkali vapor cells. The methods disclosed herein comprise depositing a fluid into a reservoir of a device, the device comprising: a reservoir, a set of receptacles, and a set of conduits fluidly connecting each of the receptacles to the reservoir; such that, when a fluid is placed in the reservoir, the fluid flows to each of the receptacles via capillary action. Also disclosed herein are methods comprising flowing a fluid from an inlet to an outlet of a lumen of a main conduit of a device, the device further comprising a set of receptacles, each of the receptacles being in fluid communication with the lumen of the main conduit; such that, when a fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet through the lumen of the main conduit, the fluid further flows into each of the receptacles via capillary action.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electroformed part favorable for an assembly part of a timepiece or the like and a timepiece using the same. The present invention relates to an electroformed part, which is an electroformed part composed of a nickel-iron alloy constituted by nickel, iron, and unavoidable impurities, containing iron at 5 to 25% by mass, and having a roughly layered form portion in which a stacked form portion having an inclined iron content in a thickness direction is repeatedly stacked a plurality of times. It is preferred that the stacked portion is constituted by crystal grains having an average grain diameter of 50 nm or less.

The method for manufacturing timepiece hairsprings according to the invention comprises the following successive steps: a) forming hairsprings in a wafer, b) forming a thermal compensation layer on the hairsprings, c) identifying the hairsprings having a stiffness within a predetermined range, d) optionally, detaching from the wafer the hairsprings identified in step c), e) modifying the other hairsprings so that the stiffness of at least some of them is within the predetermined range, f) detaching from the wafer these other hairsprings and, if they have not been detached in step d), the hairsprings identified in step c). This method makes it possible to reduce manufacturing dispersions between the hairsprings.

A device (30, 40) for the transfer of a plurality of watch components (2) arranged on a first support (10) to their arrangement on a second support (20), wherein it comprises an inlet surface (31, 41) comprising inlet orifices (33, 43) so arranged as to correspond to a first arrangement of the watch components (2) on a first support (10), an outlet surface (32, 42) comprising outlet orifices (34, 44) so arranged as to correspond to a second arrangement of the watch components (2) on a second support (20), and guide elements (35, 45) adapted to guide the watch components (2) automatically from the inlet orifices (33, 43) to the outlet orifices (34, 44).