The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a timepiece or jewellery component made entirely or partly of a material comprising between 37.5% and 95% by weight of a
precious metal relative to the total weight of the material, the material comprising a matrix configured to exhibit a predefined final
hue, defined by its a*, b*, and L* coordinates in the CIE L*a*b* space, and at least particles based on the
precious metal. The method comprises the following steps: a) providing a material intended to form the matrix; b) preparing initial particles based on the
precious metal which also comprise at least one other
metal, wherein the amount of the other
metal is selected so that the
hue of the particles based on the precious
metal in the matrix is such that the
colour difference ΔE* in the CIE L*a*b* colour space between the predefined final
hue of the matrix and the hue of the particles based on the precious metal in the matrix is less than the
colour difference ΔE* between the predefined final hue of the matrix and the hue of the pure native precious metal; c) optionally providing at least one additional component intended to constitute between 0% and 10% by weight of the material; d) combining the material intended to form the matrix with the initial particles based on the precious metal and optionally with the at least one additional component, in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture of particles based on the precious metal and optionally the at least one additional component in the matrix; e) producing, from the mixture obtained in step d), the timepiece or jewellery component, entirely or partly in the material, in which the
maximum dimension of the particles based on the precious metal in the plane of the observed surface of the material is less than 100 μm, and the minimum dimension of the particles based on the precious metal in the plane of the observed surface of the material is preferably greater than 200 nm, preferentially greater than 0.5 μm, and more preferentially greater than 1 μm, wherein the particles based on the precious metal have no plasmonic effect, and the amount of particles based on the precious metal dispersed in the matrix is predetermined such that the material appears to have a hue identical or close to the predefined final hue of the matrix to one and the same observer positioned at least 30 cm from the surface of the material under the same conditions of illumination by an illuminant, and wherein the hue of the material is such that the
colour difference ΔE* between the hue of the material and the predefined final hue of the matrix is less than 10.