Inside The Design: Would You Wear a Watch Made From a Gun?

July 08, 2021

A gun is a very expensive piece of scrap metal. Most often built from an alloy steel, the weapon is designed to withstand high heat and any bangs or bruises that come its way. Generally speaking, the metal used to make guns exists in a different metallurgic universe than something like the high-grade stainless steel found in most watch cases and bands. Gun metal is heavy, its sooty, and you probably dont want to wear it on your wrist. Unless, of course, you do.For the past few years, Swedish brand Triwa has been making watches from melted gun metal, though you wouldnt know it by looking at them. The metal is found in Triwas Time For Peace line, showing up as a sleek and sporty stainless steel case that envelops a brushed aluminum dial. The stages of gunmetal Created in partnership with the non-profit Individuell M?nniskohj?lp Swedish Development Partner (IM), the Humanium Metal watch is similar to other gun metal-turned-jewelry projects like Caliber Collection and Fonderie 47, which aim to use fashion as a statement against gun violence. But its also a fascinating example of how material experimentation can lead to watch design that is tied to a sense of purpose, rather than to trend cycles and aesthetic whims. Triwas partnership with Humanium Metal began back in 2016, nearly a decade after the company launched its first line of colorful wristwatches. Ludvig Scheja, Triwas co-founder and creative director says he and his partners originally started Triwa to push the boundaries of watchmaking (the name Triwa stands for Transforming the Watch Industry), but after a few years, the companys dedication to experimentation faded as the brands growth became more reliant on retail and distribution models. By the mid-2010s, Triwa was making attractive, affordable fashion watches that didnt stray far from the brands Scandinavian heritage. It looked and felt nice, Scheja says, but it was quite conventional. Through mutual friends, Scheja met Peter Brune, IMs former Head of Operations, and designer Johan Pihl, the brains behind Humanium Metal. IMs team had started an initiative in El Salvador, a country that five years ago was the worlds murder capital, to melt confiscated guns into liquid as a way to rid them from the market. Working with the Salvadoran police and military, Humanium already had access to thousands of seized firearms that could be melted down to be used in various consumer products. The issue was, a melted gun doesnt necessarily make for usable metal. Guns are manufactured with different metal mixtures. When theyre melted together, the end result is a metallic sludge whose properties are better suited for construction than for jewelry. Its basically scrap metal, says IMs Simon Marke Gran. When Triwa first partnered with Humanium, it couldnt use the reconstituted metal. The raw material would stain the skin and clothes of anyone who touched it. The oxide on the surface of the iron will make everything look dirty and pollute your clothes, as well, explains Per Ingo, managing director at the chemistry company Carpenter Powder Products. As a metallurgist, Ingo is responsible for developing metallic mixtures (also called alloys) that have specific characteristics. In the case of Humaniums metal, he needed to create a new material that was strong, light, hypoallergenic, and wouldnt leave a trail of soot in its path. Mix it with some chromium, nickel, and molybdenum, he says, you get a stainless steel that doesnt react to the salt that is on the skin. Sounds simple enough, right? Not quite. Transforming gun metal into a polished stainless steel requires a lot of heat and a lot of time. The metal arrives at Carpenter as solid bars that are approximately 98 percent iron; by the time its ready for watch production, the metal has been transformed into fine stainless steel particles that are smaller than half a millimeter. Getting to that point begins with Ingos team concocting a precise mix of metal. In the case of Triwas watch, its 18% chromium, 8-10% nickel, 2-3% molybdenum, and the rest is the iron from the gun metal. Carpenter can melt up to 12,000 pounds of that metallic mixture in a furnace thats heated to approximately 3,000 degrees. After about three hours, the bars turn molten and the liquid ?is poured into a small pot with two pencil-sized holes at the bottom. As the liquid streams through the holes, it falls into an atomizing chamber and is hit by high-pressure nitrogen gas that breaks the material into tiny pieces. Its like a very hot shower, Ingo says. While the droplets are falling 30 to 50 feet to the bottom of the chamber, they rapidly solidify into fine particles, which becomes the finished stainless steel powder Triwa can use for its watches. While most watch cases are stamped or milled from metal, the powderized metal meant Triwa needed to construct its case with metal injection molding, which compresses the powder into solid form before it gets polished to a jewelry-grade sheen. It took nearly a year-and-a-half to get the material and mold to the point where Triwa could reliably make a case, but the end result is a watch whose story is just as important as its aesthetics. The final watch features a brushed metal look with embossed numeral indices and a bright red date window. In a reference to its roots, the watchs crown is shaped like the chamber of a gun. So far, Triwa has used a portion of the 12,000 guns Humanium Metal has seized from El Salvador and Zambia to make its watches. And for every watch sold, Triwa donates 15 percent of the sales to IM to use for its initiatives helping victims of gun violence. So far, Triwa has generated more than $150,000 for the organization. Its the kind of product Scheja first envisioned when he and his partners started Triwa C a watch that extends beyond the insular horology world to make a larger impact. What I dislike with the watch world is the status symbol of the product, Scheja says. What I like is the statement part of a product that actually tells people something about your beliefs. Liz Stinson is the executive editor of Eye on Design, published by AIGA. Her writing on design has also appeared in Wired, Curbed, Gizmodo, Architectural Digest, and The Wall Street Journal Magazine.