Laser or diamond engraving?

There are a lot of misunderstandings and half-truths on the web regarding the technology and quality of various engraving methods. In order to clear this up a bit, we would like to present two common methods and show you the results in detail.

Diamond engraving

The name "diamond engraving" implies a particularly noble processing and lets hope for a particularly valuable result. After all, there is a diamond involved.

The latter is undoubtedly true, but one should not fall prey to the misconception that it is a sparkling gemstone like one would set in a ring. It is a simple tool diamond. The diamond is not used here because it gives the jewelry something of its special aura or makes the engraving appear particularly beautiful. One uses diamond points exclusively because of their hardness, they are simply more durable than tool steel. You may know this from tile cutters or drill bits, for example.

At theDiamond engraving Nothing else happens than that a tool with a diamond tip is pulled over the jewelry with a little pressure. Here, the tip of the tool leaves behind aScratch mark, the engraving.

This type of scratch engraving is a variant of inscription with quite a long tradition. In the past, goldsmiths and silversmiths were true masters of their trade. The art was to guide the graver as evenly as possible over the piece of jewelry. Today, this part is usually taken over quite mundanely by aCNC machine. The quality of the result then stands and falls with the quality of the guides used in the machine. If these are too weak, vibrations will occur and the typeface will be unclean and frayed.

Laser engraving

Laser engraving has a big image disadvantage compared to diamond engraving. After all, the term "laser" is ubiquitous in our lives. Everyone has at least one DVD player at home that scans the discs with a laser, and there is a laser printer on almost every desk. Perhaps the latter is the reason why laser engraving is so often lumped together with laser marking. But this does an injustice to laser engraving.

The real laser engraving has nothing to do with printing.

The engraving is not created by the application of paint, but by the removal of material. The fine beam of light is so energetic that it vaporizes material on the surface to a defined depth. In the course of this process, a chemical process takes place on the surface of the residual material, which provides the typical coloring of a laser engraving. Theoretically, this coloration can be removed in a subsequent step. However, we see the rich contrast of the engraving created in this way as a major plus point. In the area ofPhoto engravings you can even achieve special effects with it.

Unlike diamond engraving, the CNC machine in laser engraving works without contact. This allows a laser engraving machine to be designed much finer than a conventional engraving machine.

The advantages of non-contact machining are obvious:

• Laser engraving delivers clean results regardless of jewelry material
  whether gold, silver, stainless steel or titanium, engravings always appear cleanly and without "jerks
• no deterioration of the typeface due to wear of the engraving tool
  even if your jewelry is engraved at the end of the working day the result is as exact as in the morning
• finer texts and contours with tighter radii
  since there is no need to consider material pushed away or diameter and angle of gravers

Using these stainless steel cufflinks as an example, you can see the differences between the two engraving processes at first glance. While the initials of the laser-engraved cufflink stand out clearly, the diamond-engraved button shows only the pale outlines of the engraving.

If you take a closer look at the engraving itself, the laser is naturally completely unimpressed by the hardness of the stainless steel. The laser engraving is even and with an absolutely even edge. Due to the contrast of the laser engraving, even small dust particles become visible in the magnified close-up. However, the brand new and equally newly equipped diamond engraving machine obviously has its difficulties. You can see from the reflections how the engraving tip "bounces" on the material.