A method for manufacturing a plurality of mechanical resonators (100) in a manufacturing wafer (10), the resonators being intended to be fitted to an adjusting member of a timepiece, the method comprising the following steps: (a) manufacturing a plurality of resonators in at least one reference wafer according to reference specifications, such manufacture comprising at least one lithography step to form patterns of the resonators on or above the reference wafer and a step of machining in the reference plate using the patterns; (b) for the at least one reference plate, establishing a map indicative of the dispersion of stiffnesses of the resonators relative to an average stiffness value; (c) dividing the map into fields and determining a correction to be made to the dimensions of the resonators for at least one of the fields in order to reduce the dispersion; (d) modifying the reference specifications for the lithography step so as to make the corrections to the dimensions for the at least one field in the lithography step; (e) manufacturing resonators in a manufacturing wafer using the modified specifications.

The present invention relates to a spiral spring for a balance wheel made of an alloy of niobium and titanium with an essentially single-phase structure, and the method of manufacture thereof which comprises: a step of producing a blank in a niobium-based alloy consisting of: niobium: balance to 100 wt %, titanium: between 40 and 49 wt %, traces of elements selected from the group consisting of O, H, C, Fe, Ta, N, Ni, Si, Cu, Al, between 0 and 1600 ppm by weight individually, and cumulatively less than 0.3 wt %, a step of type β hardening of said blank at a given diameter, in such a way that the titanium of the niobium-based alloy is essentially in the form of a solid solution with niobium in β phase, the content of titanium in α phase being less than or equal to 10 vol %, at least one deformation step of said alloy alternating with at least one step of heat treatment, the number of steps of heat treatment and of deformation being limited so that the niobium-based alloy obtained retains a structure in which the titanium of the niobium-based alloy is essentially in the form of a solid solution with niobium in β phase, the content of titanium in α phase being less than or equal to 10 vol % and it has an elastic limit greater than or equal to 600 MPa and an elastic modulus less than or equal to 100 GPa, a step of winding to form the spiral spring being carried out before the last heat treatment step.

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a horological component according to which a silicon-based piece having the desired shape of the horological component is produced and the piece is subjected to a thermal oxidation and deoxidation treatment to remove a predetermined thickness of silicon in order to increase the mechanical strength of the piece. This method is characterized in that the thermal oxidation and deoxidation treatment is carried out in several steps, each step including a thermal oxidation phase followed by a deoxidation phase.

There is provided a hairspring including a main body portion that extends around a central axis along an Archimedes curve; an outer end curve portion that extends along a circumferential direction around the central axis on an outer side in a radial direction from the main body portion; and a reformed portion including a first bent portion that connects the main body portion and the outer end curve portion to each other and is bent outward in the radial direction from a tangent line of the Archimedes curve in a first connection portion with the main body portion, and a second bent portion bent inward in the radial direction from the outer end curve portion in a second connection portion with the outer end curve portion, and in which at least one is curved of the first bent portion and the second bent portion.

A spiral timepiece spring with a two-phase structure, made of a niobium and titanium alloy, and method for manufacturing this spring, including: producing a binary alloy containing niobium and titanium, with: niobium: the remainder to 100%; titanium: strictly greater than 60% and less than or equal to 85% by mass of the total, traces of components from among O, H, C, Fe, Ta, N, Ni, Si, Cu, Al; applying deformations alternated with heat treatments until a two-phase microstructure is obtained comprising a solid solution of niobium with β-phase titanium and a solid solution of niobium with α-phase titanium, the α-phase titanium content being greater than 10% by volume, wire drawing to obtain wire able to be calendered; calendering or insertion into a ring to form a mainspring, in a double clef shape before it is wound for the first time, or winding to form a balance spring.

A process for producing a metal alloy balance wheel by molding includes a) making a mold in the negative shape of the balance wheel; b) obtaining a metal alloy that has a thermal expansion coefficient of less than 25 ppm/° C. and is able to be in an at least partly amorphous state when it is heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature; c) putting the metal alloy into the mold, the metal alloy being heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature so as to be hot-molded and to form a balance wheel; d) cooling the metal alloy to obtain a balance wheel made of the metal alloy; and e) releasing the balance wheel obtained in step d) from its mold. The process also includes a step for over-molding flexible centering components in the hub.

The method for manufacturing a timepiece component is capable of thermocompensating a functional assembly including the timepiece component. The method includes at least the following actions: a) providing (e1) a substrate (1) of semiconductor or metallic material; b) proceeding with the deposition (e2) of a polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon layer (5) on the substrate (1); c) releasing (e4) the timepiece component (10) from the substrate (1).

By configuring a timepiece component to include an intermediate film provided on at least a portion of a surface of a base material formed by using a nonconductive first material as a main component and to include a buffer film stacked on the intermediate film and mainly composed of a second material having a tenacity higher than that of the first material, the timepiece component may be manufactured with high precision, the weight thereof may be reduced, and even when the base material is formed by using a brittle material such as silicon, the timepiece component becomes resistant to breakage and capable of exhibiting high strength when an impact is externally applied.

In manufacturing of a first electroformed component and a second electroformed component having portions fitted to each other into close contact, after the first electroformed component is formed, the first electroformed component is used as a portion of an electroforming mold to form the second electroformed component. Using the first electroformed component as a portion of the electroforming mold to form the second electroformed component, the shape of the first electroformed component is transferred to the second electroformed component. As a result, multiple types of components differing in shape may be accurately manufactured concurrently in a series of manufacturing steps.

Method for press-rolling a mainspring, from a wire comprising a pre-formed eye, utilising a roller press comprising a first support and guide means exerting a force on the wire in a first contact area located between a second and a third contact area comprised in a second and a third support and guide means, in order to wind, beyond the eye, an accumulation area with an opposite curvature to that of the eye, and wherein, as the wire advances, the position of the first contact area is gradually moved away from the second and third contact areas, to vary the press-rolling radius from a first minimum value to a second maximum value at a neck junction between the accumulation area and the eye.