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Switzerland-based LAUFEN has launched the first series of products using SaphirKeramik, a new ceramic material which had been under development for the past two years.

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The new ceramic created using SaphirKeramik is said to be considerably harder and claims to have a greater flexural strength than vitreous or fireclay ceramic. SaphirKeramik is able to transform the old material into completely new shapes with closely defined radii and edges. These are possible with thin walls, which have not been seen in sanitary ceramic.

LAUFEN named the material SaphirKeramik to reference the addition of the mineral corundum, which occurs in nature in different modifications as a component of sapphire. This mineral is also used in the watch industry as sapphire glass dials.

SaphirKeramik is also insensitive to abrasive cleaners and mechanical abrasion. It is measured at an average of over 120 kp/mm² which is comparable with steel and twice as high as that of vitreous china. Greater hardness permits thinner walls and simplified structure of the ceramic parts, which in turn results in less material, lower weights and benefits in terms of sustainability.

Various design possibilities can be imagined with SaphirKeramik with the extremely thin radii of the products: 1 2-mm radii for edges and 2 mm radii for corners. The state-of-the-art for classic ceramics is radii from 7 to 8 mm.