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The dial is the face of a watch. Its design largely determines whether a timepiece comes across as classic, avant-garde, modern or traditional. In some cases, manufacturers have gone to particular lengths to turn their masterpieces into one-of-a-kind pieces through thoughtfully executed dial artistry. Here we present a few of these small but exquisite works of art.
Dial Artistry in Luxury Watches – Diverse Techniques and Effects
There are countless ways to give the dial of a luxury watch an artistic treatment. Sometimes it receives a special painted finish or graphic design; sometimes materials such as painted porcelain or enamel are used. And in some cases, age-old crafts such as Japanese or Chinese lacquer techniques come into play. Because luxury watches with artistically designed dials are especially elaborate to produce, they are often offered only in relatively small numbers or as limited editions. For the wearer, this brings the certainty of having anything but a mass-produced item on the wrist and of owning a truly exclusive work of fine watchmaking.
Japanese Techniques and Chinese Iconography: The Dial Art of the Chopard L.U.C XP Urushi
A Millennia-Old Art
A particularly striking example of exceptional dial artistry is the XP Urushi luxury watch from the Chopard L.U.C Collection. This Chopard watch is available only in a limited edition, but with a variety of motifs. The word Urushi in the model name refers to an ancient, traditional Japanese lacquer technique whose origins can be traced back some 6,000 years and which had already reached a remarkable artistic level by the 6th century. Objects decorated in this way were considered precious luxury goods in old Japan and for many centuries were reserved for the nobility and the imperial household. It was not until the 17th century that such pieces reached Europe in any significant numbers. The raw material for the lacquer is obtained from the sap of the East Asian lacquer tree.
An Extraordinary Dial by Kiichiro Masumura
At first the raw lacquer looks cloudy, but once cured it turns clear and takes on a light to dark amber-like hue. What makes the process especially painstaking is that several layers of colored urushi must each be applied and left to cure in order to achieve the desired effect. Chopard's exclusive dial art was created by the Japanese artist Kiichiro Masumura, who was designated a "Living National Treasure" by the government of his home country in recognition of his outstanding artistic achievements. The dial he designed is based on the two traditional lacquer techniques of urushi and maki-e.
At just 6.98 mm thick, the exceptionally slim Chopard LUC XP Urushi features an 18-karat gold case that provides a fitting frame for this exquisite work of art. It is designed as a two-hand watch only, so that almost the entire surface of the dial is available for the artwork. The hands are driven by the mechanical self-winding L.U.C caliber 96.17-L, which offers a power reserve of up to 65 hours. The motifs on the dials include, for example, a bright red fish, a goat and various other figures from Chinese astrology.
Glashütte Original Senator Meissen: A Hand-Painted Meissen Porcelain Dial
Glashütte Original watches likewise offer connoisseurs and collectors a truly remarkable piece of dial art. Here, however, what sets it apart is not so much an individual motif as the extraordinary choice of material. The dial of the Glashütte Original Senator Meissen is an especially flawless, pure white, because it is made of the famous Meissen porcelain, produced since the 18th century at the world-renowned Saxon porcelain manufactory.
The numerals, the "Glashütte Original" lettering, the manufactory's blue crossed-swords logo and the individual number of each piece in this exceptional luxury watch series are painted onto the wafer-thin porcelain discs, which measure just 0.8 mm. The porcelain painters work with especially fine squirrel-hair brushes, using them to apply black metal oxide to the white porcelain.
It takes an entire day to finish painting one of these exclusive dials for a Glashütte Original Senator Meissen. The exceptionally elegant look of the dial with its black Roman numerals is further accentuated by delicate blued hands. Once the porcelain painters have completed their precious dial art, the result is fired once more at 900 degrees Celsius. Because the porcelain paints are applied and fired in two separate layers, the result is a particularly beautiful depth of color. The case of the Glashütte Original Senator Meissen measures 40 millimeters in diameter and 9.8 millimeters in height. On the technically even more elaborate tourbillon version, the height is 12.9 millimeters, and a circular aperture at six o'clock offers a view of the fascinating mechanism.
TAG Heuer Formula 1 Alec Monopoly: Dial Art for Sports Watch Fans
An Elegant Luxury Watch with a Sporty Character
Of course, no one would likely think of going swimming with a Glashütte Original Senator Meissen Tourbillon on their wrist. But in principle, lovers of individually designed watches can take refined dial art with them into the water, too. With the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Alec Monopoly, there is an artistically designed sports watch that is not only offered in a limited edition of 200 pieces but is also water-resistant to 200 meters, or a pressure of 20 bar. These rugged sports watches are therefore perfectly suited to swimming or diving.
The Timepiece with Street Art
This is dial art that borrows from street art. The face of this watch was designed by Alec Monopoly, a graffiti and street artist originally from New York whom TAG Heuer has brought on board as its Art Provocateur. The dial of the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Alec Monopoly shows the Monopoly Man, a character created by the artist and depicted again and again in different situations: a small banker in a black top hat with a red bandana over his face that leaves only his eyes visible. The case of the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Alec Monopoly is made of brushed stainless steel and measures 41 millimeters in diameter. The watch is worn on a black rubber strap with a stainless steel pin buckle.
It is powered by a TAG Heuer quartz movement, one of the most precise of its kind made in Switzerland, with a deviation of just a few seconds per month. The three-hand watch has a date window at three o'clock, and its hour and minute hands are coated with white Super-LumiNova. An engraving of the Alec logo on the screw-down steel caseback attests that this extraordinary watch was created in collaboration with Alec Monopoly and embellished with his dial art.
Creative Luxury on Your Wrist
As you can see, the world of dial art is wonderfully diverse, and renowned luxury watch brands have time and again set out to be especially creative, giving their masterpieces truly remarkable and unconventional faces.