Materials

Stainless steel case

All UNION GLASHÜTTE watch cases are produced from 316L stainless steel. This alloy is characterised by its excellent anti-corrosion properties.

Sapphire crystal

Sapphire crystal is a white, synthetic sapphire. Thanks to its hardness of 9, this crystal can only be scratched by very hard substances similar to diamonds. For UNION GLASHÜTTE watches, only double-sided, non-reflective sapphire crystal is used, meaning that both sides of the crystal are coated with an anti-reflective layer. As there is therefore no mirroring in the crystal, the full glory of the dial is easier to appreciate.

The 4 C's of a Diamond

Cut

Many people confuse the quality of the cut with the shape of a diamond. The cut is the only direct influence of human beings to the diamond. A good cutter could play with the shape and the quality of the cutting to improve the quality of the diamond. The cut will influence the fire and sparkle of the diamond. Created in 1900 the brilliant cut is the most used cut. The Brilliant cut consists in 57 or 58 facets (with or without culet).

The cut for the watches setting is very demanding due to the fact that the diamonds are small and the setting in the stainless steel asks a perfect cutting. Union Glashütte diamonds are cut in the traditional Brilliant style without culet.

The Union’s diamond certificate shows a 32/24 which is the total number of facets (crown-girdle/pavilion) excluding the table.

Colour

The colour describes the amount of colour the diamonds contains.The diamonds we use in the watch industry are yellow. The scale of colour ranges from colourless to pale yellow with an infinite variety of subtle intermediate hues. The rarest of the diamonds colours are white or colourless. So, the more colourless the diamond is, the more valuable it is.

For the colour grading many scales exist. The most used are the “Wesselton scale” for trade and the “D to Z scale” (from GIA) as official scale.

The colour of the Union Glashütte diamonds is Top Wesselton due to the fact that the setting in white metals does not allow any colour.

Clarity

The clarity describes the clearness of a diamond. Most diamonds have imperfections in them. The internal imperfections are called inclusions and the external blemishes. The clarity is determined by the severity of the inclusions and blemishes. The clarity scale is broken down as it follows:

Carat-weight

The carat is a standard unit of measure that defines the weight of a diamond (and gems).

One carat is equal to 1/5 of a gram (in the trade, the diamonds are also measured in points, i.e. 1 carat = 100 points).

Conflict-free diamonds

All UNION GLASHÜTTE diamonds are 'conflict-free' and comply with the guidelines and certification system of the Kimberley Process. We are therefore able to provide the required written guarantee for each UNION GLASHÜTTE diamond: "The diamonds herein invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with United Nations resolutions. The seller hereby guarantees that these diamonds are conflict-free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the supplier of these diamonds."

Water resistance

All UNION GLASHÜTTE men's watches are water resistant up to a pressure of 10 bar (equivalent to immersing the watch in water to a depth of 100 metres). Our ladies' watches are water resistant up to a pressure of 5 bar (50m). All of our watches are tested in accordance with the relevant ISO standards.

The water resistance cannot be guaranteed for an indefinite length of time. Ageing of the seals or accidental shocks to the crown or push-buttons may adversely affect the water resistance. We therefore recommend that you have the water resistance of your watch checked once a year by an approved UNION GLASHÜTTE Service Centre and, if required, replace any defective parts. Do not open the watch yourself under any circumstances.

Leather straps

UNION GLASHÜTTE uses only highest-quality calf leather straps. Some ladies' watches have a synthetic satin strap, which is significantly more durable than a normal satin strap.

Metal bands

All UNION GLASHÜTTE metal watch bands are made from solid 316L stainless steel.

Steel clasps

All UNION GLASHÜTTE watch bands are fitted with a decorated stainless steel 316L double-folding clasp with two push-buttons or with a standard buckle.