Elinvar

Elinvar is an alloy of iron, nickel and chromium, which is used among other things in pocket watches and wristwatches for the balance.

Elinvar was developed with the composition ( by mass ) of 59 % iron, 36% nickel and 5 % chromium shortly before the turn of the century to the 20th century by Charles Édouard Guillaume as a successor for Invar. The name comes from the French terms elasticite and invariable together.

Today Elinvar is a collective term for nickel-steel alloys whose " thermoelatischer coefficient is within the normal temperature limits to which watches are exposed ( -10 to 30 ° C) is virtually zero ."

The Elinvar alloys according to their composition and magnetization in ferromagnetic (iron - or cobalt -based ), antiferromagnetic ( manganese or chromium -based ), non-magnetic ( niobium, or palladium -based ) and amorphous Elinvar alloys are divided.