In the mid-1990s, FSB launched its “hard aluminium project”.

Our intention was to upgrade a material that our company had already been using for more than 50 years. While aluminium became more and more popular in many industries, such as the automotive and furniture industry, or with manufacturers of light fittings, it was gradually superseded by stainless steel in architectural hardware. We began to wonder what might be the reasons for this negative trend, and concluded that consumers were probably dissatisfied with the natural traces of use shown by this material. Apparently, door handles could not be allowed to age gracefully, and to develop “wrinkles”. We decided to rejuvenate this wonderful material by seeking a remedy to its alleged drawback. Our research extended over several years and took a very exciting course. After all, it involved nothing less than finding the secret of the right ingredients for a suitable aluminium alloy, such as magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, titanium, manganese, nickel und silicon.

Hard-wearing and beautiful to behold.

In keeping with the tradition of our industry, we had used primary aluminium with a relatively high magnesium content in the past. Precisely at this point, we decided to seek a solution by replacing magnesium with another element. But which? After extensive testing we finally settled on silicon, a substantially harder element. The result proved us right: the surface of the new alloy shone in a grey shade of quartz. We were so enthusiastic about it that we immediately changed the name of the project and of the material from “hard aluminium” to “AluGrey”.

The lively grey crystalline surface texture signals a highly individual aesthetic expression, with slight variations from one work piece to the next. The silvery grey colour resulting from the anodising process gives these fittings their distinctive character, and the material’s greater hardness significantly increases their practical usefulness. The metal’s deeper texture is visible on the outside in the form of mottling and “pigmentation“ effects. In short: AluGrey is a material with a unique character, a great enhancement for the aesthetic objects we use to open doors and windows, an encouragement for new, creative design.