Dial Tone
Watch dials, much like the prologue of a classic text, set the mood,
build the drama and keep your senses engaged. Let's look at dials that
serve their purpose, and brilliantly.
It is 2013; Luxury is the mother of all invention. Turn to an earlier chapter in history, say 15th century Egypt, and you'll find simple yet ingenious forces at play. The need: syncing human activity to the laws of physics. The tool: the astronomic advancement of civilisation. The result: the first time-telling tool called a sundial. Geometrically marked to measure sunlight in phases, this was an exact science. Horology has since evolved in leaps and bounds but the dial continues to bind the methodical and aesthetical essence of watch-making. The uninitiated consider the dials a gracefully enamelled screen polished and perfected to conceal a disjointed underworld, where countless screws, knobs and levers struggle for space.
However, those familiar with the ways of haute horology know there's more. The two trends that catapulted the dial's role in time-telling are grande complication movements and contemporary artwork. Watches like Cartier's Rotonde Grand Complication, Romaine Jerome's Titanic DNA tourbillion and Omega's De Ville tourbillion, all unleash intense movements on the face of the dial. For fine works of craft, one can point to Jacquet Droz' Bird Minute Repeater, Van Cleef & Arpels' Pont des Amoureux and Piaget's Diamond Altiplano. Then there are classics like Breguet's Classique 5349, Vacheron Constantin's Metiers d' Art Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus, and Ulysse Nardin's Moonstruck - which stand for both. The hands dance to the rhythm of chimes across the watch floor and indulge your sight and sound in the fleeting passage of time; be it art, science or a karmic truth, there's always something to be learnt from the dial.
Omega Ladymatic Co-axial Chronometer
In 2010, Omega dressed the world's prettier half with the De Ville Ladymatic. In this year's pre-Basel showcase, the Ladymatic's dial has acquired four new hues: purple, pink, blue and shaded grey. Omega's trademark supernova pattern is held together by 11 diamond-set indexes in 18-carat white gold holders that are diamond-shaped. Blending in gracefully with the fairy tale dial, the luminous hands are set in white-gold.
Breguet Classique Hora Mundi
You have to master science, conquer art and be a Breguet to create historic horology. This one belongs to the Asia Pacific. The continents are engraved with 154 round cut diamonds on a rose engine in the centre. A wave motif runs beneath the translucent lacquer to build drama reminiscent of the high seas. In case you miss the baguette-cut diamond and sapphires in the chapter ring, the steel hands point them out.
Tag Heuer Mikrotourbillon
Blame it on the brand's love affair with speed, but TAG dials are always brimming over with sporty action. Being the world's fastest tourbillon and the only one precise to 1/100th of a second, this one has a lot more going on. The two rotating tourbillon mechanisms on the face are each for telling time and timekeeping; and the two kinematic chains run the watch and the chronograph independently.
Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph
The Aero Bang kept the Basel circles hooked in 2007 with a movement that appeared almost airborne, through a graphically open-worked dial. In a pre-Basel preview for 2013, the brand has re-modelled this in its elegant Classic Fusion Line. The mechanical detailing of the motor is now visible under a more gracefully rounded crown and red-gold counter rings.
A.LANGE & Sohne Grand Lange 1 lumen
This SIHH, A. Lange made sure no one was left in the dark. The Lumen edition of the Grand Lange 1 was created with a semi-transparent dial exposing the disk mechanism of the first outsize date that glows in the dark. Owing to a white luminous coating, the time and power reserves are also legible in the dark.
Vacheron Constantin Metiers d'art Floriage
The oldest watchmaker in operation, Vacheron nurtures and celebrates local crafts on its Metiers dials. This SIHH, they brought to life the botanical illustration from Robert John Thornton's 19th century book, The Temple of Flora. The artwork is reproduced in guilloch engravings, Grand Feu cloisonn enamels and lifelike colours.
IWC Schaffhausen Ingenieur Constant Force Tourbillon
The most discussed dial at the SIHH '13, IWC's powerhouse is packed with a double moon display that depicts the surface of the earth's only natural satellite so realistically that even tiny craters can be identified. There's also a countdown scale indicating the time remaining till the next full moon.
However, those familiar with the ways of haute horology know there's more. The two trends that catapulted the dial's role in time-telling are grande complication movements and contemporary artwork. Watches like Cartier's Rotonde Grand Complication, Romaine Jerome's Titanic DNA tourbillion and Omega's De Ville tourbillion, all unleash intense movements on the face of the dial. For fine works of craft, one can point to Jacquet Droz' Bird Minute Repeater, Van Cleef & Arpels' Pont des Amoureux and Piaget's Diamond Altiplano. Then there are classics like Breguet's Classique 5349, Vacheron Constantin's Metiers d' Art Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus, and Ulysse Nardin's Moonstruck - which stand for both. The hands dance to the rhythm of chimes across the watch floor and indulge your sight and sound in the fleeting passage of time; be it art, science or a karmic truth, there's always something to be learnt from the dial.
Omega Ladymatic Co-axial Chronometer
In 2010, Omega dressed the world's prettier half with the De Ville Ladymatic. In this year's pre-Basel showcase, the Ladymatic's dial has acquired four new hues: purple, pink, blue and shaded grey. Omega's trademark supernova pattern is held together by 11 diamond-set indexes in 18-carat white gold holders that are diamond-shaped. Blending in gracefully with the fairy tale dial, the luminous hands are set in white-gold.
Breguet Classique Hora Mundi
You have to master science, conquer art and be a Breguet to create historic horology. This one belongs to the Asia Pacific. The continents are engraved with 154 round cut diamonds on a rose engine in the centre. A wave motif runs beneath the translucent lacquer to build drama reminiscent of the high seas. In case you miss the baguette-cut diamond and sapphires in the chapter ring, the steel hands point them out.
Tag Heuer Mikrotourbillon
Blame it on the brand's love affair with speed, but TAG dials are always brimming over with sporty action. Being the world's fastest tourbillon and the only one precise to 1/100th of a second, this one has a lot more going on. The two rotating tourbillon mechanisms on the face are each for telling time and timekeeping; and the two kinematic chains run the watch and the chronograph independently.
The Aero Bang kept the Basel circles hooked in 2007 with a movement that appeared almost airborne, through a graphically open-worked dial. In a pre-Basel preview for 2013, the brand has re-modelled this in its elegant Classic Fusion Line. The mechanical detailing of the motor is now visible under a more gracefully rounded crown and red-gold counter rings.
A.LANGE & Sohne Grand Lange 1 lumen
This SIHH, A. Lange made sure no one was left in the dark. The Lumen edition of the Grand Lange 1 was created with a semi-transparent dial exposing the disk mechanism of the first outsize date that glows in the dark. Owing to a white luminous coating, the time and power reserves are also legible in the dark.
Vacheron Constantin Metiers d art Floriage
The oldest watchmaker in operation, Vacheron nurtures and celebrates local crafts on its Metiers dials. This SIHH, they brought to life the botanical illustration from Robert John Thornton's 19th century book, The Temple of Flora. The artwork is reproduced in guilloch engravings, Grand Feu cloisonn enamels and lifelike colours.
IWC Schaffhausen Ingenieur Constant Force Tourbillon
The most discussed dial at the SIHH '13, IWC's powerhouse is packed with a double moon display that depicts the surface of the earth's only natural satellite so realistically that even tiny craters can be identified. There's also a countdown scale indicating the time remaining till the next full moon.
