Nivarox is a metal alloy, made mostly of iron and nickel, used for the balance springs of watches. Its main advantage is that its elasticity hardly changes when the temperature changes. It also resists breaking, corrosion and magnetism, and it soon became the standard material for hairsprings.
Where it comes from
Balance springs were once made of steel. In the 1920s Charles-Edouard Guillaume studied iron-nickel alloys that bent out of shape much less than steel did. Nivarox followed that work. Reinhard Straumann began developing it in 1931, together with Heraeus, a German materials company. He created the alloy for hairsprings in 1933, in his laboratory in Waldenburg. It was patented in 1935. The name is an acronym of a German phrase. It says that the metal does not vary and does not oxidise.
What is Nivarox made of?
Nivarox is mostly iron and nickel. Its full recipe is a complex mix of metals that also includes cobalt and beryllium. The result is a spring whose elasticity stays almost the same through heat and cold. The alloy also stands up well to breaking, corrosion and magnetism. These qualities quickly made it the standard material for hairsprings. Nivarox belongs to the same group of alloys as Elinvar, Ni-Span and Vibralloy. Outside watchmaking, it is also used in surgical instruments.
Who makes Nivarox hairsprings?
Nivarox is also the name of a company in the Swatch Group. It is thought to make up to 95% of Swiss hairsprings. The word can therefore mean either the alloy or the firm that supplies the springs. Not every maker relies on it. Seiko does not use Nivarox. It makes its springs from its own alloy, called SPRON.
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