Jewelers Benchpin Forums

There are very generally two different thicknesses of watch back, thin/light and thick/heavy. This is a very intentional over-generalization, but keeping this in mind is helpful when it comes to engraving stainless steel watch backs.

"THICK" or "HEAVIER" Stainless Steel Watch Backs
Text [Book Antiqua]
Engrave
Fiber IR laser type
100 % power range
3000 mm/s
10 pass
Bi-Directional engraving mode
30 kHz
Incremental @ 36 degrees

"THIN" or "LIGHTER" Stainless Steel Watch Backs
Text [Book Antiqua]
Engrave
Fiber IR laser type
100 % power range
3000 mm/s
5 pass
Bi-Directional engraving mode
30 kHz
Incremental @ 72 degrees

It is sometimes possible to use the Thick/Heavy settings on thin watch backs. Which settings you use tends to depend on the quality of the stainless steel. On lower end watches with thin or light backs it is probably best to use the Thin/Lighter settings, and on higher end watches with thin or light backs it is probably safe to use the Thick/Heavier settings.

(You should test all settings on a like-type of material that is not the "production" or "client" piece before deciding on which settings to use.)