Nivarox

FAR was the corporate name chosen in 1932 for the entity comprising several companies and subsidiaries located in Le Locle Switzerland, which at the time manufactured various watch components.

There are several versions of the Nivarox alloy depending upon the intended application: Nivarox-CT, but also with suffixes CTC, M, W. Chemical compositions vary in wt% as follows for all Nivarox alloys : Iron as balance, a wide variation in nickel between 30-40%, beryllium 0.7-1%, some versions have molybdenum at 6-9% while others have instead chromium 8%, titanium is present in some compositions at 1%, manganese at 0.7-0.8%, silicon 0.1-0.2% and carbon in traces up to 0.2%.

[2] A typical composition would be for the early version Nivarox-CT (by wt %) : Fe 54%, Ni 38%, Cr 8%, Ti 1%, Si 0.2%, Mn 0.8%, Be 0.9%, C < 0.1%.

[3] When used for critical watch components, the alloy reduces errors due to temperature variation.

Hairsprings made of this alloy have a spring constant which does not vary with temperature, allowing the watch's balance wheel, its timekeeping element, to keep better time.