Ruud confirmed in another thread that the 692 is FINALLY for sale.
Here are a few excerpts from an article available on the internet (click
here), but the whole article is worth a read (plus, lots of great pictures):
In short, bulk metallic glass is a metal alloy with an amorphous structure versus a crystalline structure. This allows for fewer surface imperfections in the base material, that translates into a number of benefits for the consumer.
Compared to traditional stainless steel, bulk metallic glass is 2-3 times stronger and more scratch resistant, lighter in weight, tougher in terms of rigidity, and also more corrosion resistant.
[...]
Unlike steel, bulk metallic glass has a lot more zirconium in it (which is why it has “glass” in the name), and it also happens to be non-ferrous (not magnetic). Panerai says that their particular bulk metallic glass alloy blend consists of zirconium, copper, aluminum, titanium, and nickel. What matters is that BMG-TECH looks a lot like steel, and can be decorated like steel – but it isn’t steel. Other alternative materials to metals sadly don’t look like metals – even if they are preferred by consumers and offer manufacturing benefits. Bulk metallic glass is essentially a metal alloy, so it can be polished like metal, and is tough like metal in that a fall on a hard surface would never shatter it (a possibility with ceramic). So the goal here is to find materials that offer the same aesthetic appeal as a metal, but that are easier to produce into finely-finished parts, and that offer consumers clear durability benefits.
