Techniques › Decoration & finishing

CHAMFER AND BEVELED EDGE

Chamfer and Beveled edge are finishing and decoration techniques for components, mainly used on cases, dials, bridges and other components of a movement.

These processes aim to combine aesthetics and functionality, offering both increased resistance and a distinctive visual shine.

• Chamfer: It refers to the operation of beveling an edge, generally at a 45° angle, in order to soften the cutting line or create a smooth transition between two surfaces. In watchmaking, the chamfer is often made by hand using a file then smoothed with a buff before possibly being polished. The chamfer is distinguished from a beveling/angling by its flat face (convex for a beveling/angling).
• Beveled edge: The beveled edge is a concave angling that delineates the perimeter of a drilled hole. Traditionally, the beveled edge is made using a ball cutter or hand wheel and generally polished using a ruby wheel cutter.

Beyond its aesthetic role, the chamfer serves a technical function: it removes the sharp edges resulting from milling or stamping, reducing the risk of chipping and making it easier to handle components during assembly.

On high-end horology pieces, beveling / angling is executed entirely with a file, then checked under magnification with raking light to verify the regularity of the angle and the absence of facets.

Some workshops push the finishing as far as black polish (or mirror polish), achieved through fine polishing with diamantine: the surface, rendered perfectly flat, appears alternately black or sparkling depending on the viewing angle. This requirement explains why manual chamfering remains, in traditional établissage, one of the longest and most highly valued operations in the escapement-making (finishing) of a movement.