Platinum is prized in watchmaking for its density, its naturally white color, and its prestige. It is also one of the hardest precious metals to form, which has long limited its use in stamping, coining, and fine relief decoration.
CMSA Pt-Nova 955 is our answer to that constraint. It is a high-purity platinum alloy engineered to be struck and formed like high-karat gold, while keeping the finishing quality and material presence that only platinum delivers.
Developed at our Biel/Bienne site, CMSA Pt-Nova 955 is a 95.5% platinum alloy with a deliberately soft, ductile temper. In the annealed state it behaves much like 22-karat gold: low hardness and high elongation, forgiving under the press. As it is cold-formed it work-hardens, so finished components gain rigidity where they need it.
Platinum that forms like gold
Conventional ruthenium-hardened platinum, such as Pt950Ru, resists deformation, which makes stamping and deep decoration difficult. CMSA Pt-Nova 955 is formulated to deform cleanly. Workshops can apply the stamping, coining, embossing, and forming techniques they already use for gold, then let the alloy harden through cold work. Early engraving trials have been positive, with a smoother cut and a cleaner finished result.
The density advantage
Platinum is denser than gold, so a CMSA Pt-Nova 955 oscillating weight can deliver the winding mass a movement needs in a thinner, lighter profile than a 22-karat gold equivalent.
The alloy is equally suited to dials, decorated and protected watch components, and jewelry elements, wherever a maker wants the look and feel of platinum together with the freedom to form and decorate it.
Full platinum, refined finishing
CMSA Pt-Nova 955 is genuine platinum at 955 fineness, not a look-alike substitute. It carries platinum’s naturally white color, so it needs no rhodium plating, and it retains the density and corrosion resistance expected of the metal. It accepts the same high-grade polishing, satin, and diamond finishing as conventional platinum, and it engraves well.
A considered response to the price of gold
With gold prices elevated, platinum has become an increasingly competitive choice for decorated components. Depending on market metal prices, CMSA Pt-Nova 955 can offer a more cost-effective route than high-karat gold for the same decorative result, without stepping down from a precious metal.
Key characteristics
- Composition: platinum 95.5%, palladium 3.0%, cobalt 1.5%
- Density: 20.4 g/cm³
- Temper: soft and ductile when annealed, work-hardens through cold forming (approximately 85 HV5 annealed, rising toward 165 HV5 under heavy cold work)
- Forming: stamping, coining, bending, blanking, rolling, drawing, and lost-wax casting under vacuum and protective atmosphere
- Finishing: polishing, satin, diamond finishing, engraving
See it at EPHJ 2026
We are presenting CMSA Pt-Nova 955 at EPHJ 2026 in Geneva, 16 to 19 June, at Palexpo.
Come and see the alloy and discuss your components with our team, or get in touch to explore a project.
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