Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
The dial of an Oyster Perpetual Day‐Date 36, featuring a motif made using the champlevé method of grand feu enamelling, which involves applying enamel into cells carved into the dial and then firing it at high temperatures.
“It is often said that the dial is the face of the watch and is what gives a particular model its individual personality,” says David Riboli, who is in charge of the watch prototype department at Rolex. “This is even more true in the case of dials made of natural stone or mother‐of‐pearl because materials like these inherently mean that each dial is unique. As such, the dial is a key part of the overall design – the result of a rich and intense dialogue between the designers and the research and development teams.”
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
Turquoise blue and candy pink lacquer dials destined for the Oyster Perpetual 36.
The watchmaker sure takes its dials seriously – it employs some 500 people to work exclusively on dial‐making at a specialist site in the Chêne‐Bourg district of Geneva, where everything from conceptualisation to the final assembly of its dials is done in‐house. From the most time‐honoured human craftsmanship to cutting‐edge machinery specially developed by Rolex, every operation is perfectly executed, then systematically checked and appraised to always enhance end quality.
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
A bright black dial with Sundust counters (left) for an Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, and a champagne‐colour dial with faceted, deconstructed Roman numerals and faceted index hour markers for an Oyster Perpetual Day‐Date 40.
Every year, it develops hundreds of prototypes, yet only a select few make it into Rolex’s esteemed catalogue and become part of its permanent offerings. To get there, every dial design undergoes a rigorous screening process that evaluates it based on technical, aesthetic and commercial viability. No fewer than 60 operations are required to transform a metal disc into a finished dial ready for assembly in the watch.
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
The ice blue dial of the 1908 in 950 platinum with its sketch; meteorite dials during electroplating.
It all starts with the creation of blanks: small, round plates typically made of brass (chosen for its ease of manipulation and good conductivity) or gold (known for its malleability, making it suitable for dials that require gem‐setting or enamelling) that serve as the base for each dial. For dials with apertures such as day and date displays, windows are cut out. Tiny holes – the smallest of which measure just 0.2mm across – for mounting appliques are then milled. After machining, the blanks’ surfaces are polished and sandblasted for a smooth finish, and those made of brass are then dipped into electroplating baths of gold, followed by nickel to protect against oxidation as well as to ensure the durability of the dial’s future final colour. Blanks with a sunray finish must pass through a silver‐plating bath, while those crafted from gold can skip all such treatments, as the precious metal does not oxidise.
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
The blue, floral‐motif dial of an Oyster Perpetual Datejust 31 and the ombré dial of an Oyster Perpetual Day‐Date 40 at one of the last stages of the dial‐making process, where the Rolex crown – as well as other appliques such as the hour markers – is attached to the dial by hand.
Now comes the fun though no less technical part: decorating the dial. To do this, Rolex uses a combination of contemporary, state‐of‐the‐art techniques such as laser technology as well as more traditional ones. Among the latter are guillochage, a labour‐intensive craft in which intricate geometric patterns are engraved onto dials, and champlevé grand feu enamelling, which involves applying enamel into cells carved into the dial and then firing it at high temperatures to create intricate, colourful designs. Other forms of ornamentation include the classic sunray finishing, achieved by coating a dial in a mildly abrasive solution and then brushing over it to create subtle lines that radiate outwards, and fine satin finishing, which produces a dial with an evenly matt surface through sandblasting.
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
A peek at the process of fitting the Rolex crown applique on a dial by hand.
Of course, Rolex is also known for its watch dials that are crafted from natural materials such as mother‐of‐pearl, opal, onyx and meteorite – all of which are sourced globally and meticulously selected. Additionally, paved diamonds that turn up on the dial of a Rolex timepiece – covering it either partially or fully – are individually hand-set onto an 18 ct gold base plate.
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
Meteorite dials during electroplating.
Among the most covetable Rolex designs are those featuring coloured dials – an expansive range that’s continually evolving and includes several exclusive shades. To create these, the brand turns to three different methods. There’s lacquering: the airbrushing of fine layers of lacquer onto a dial to create intense colours such as black and white, as well as pink, turquoise blue and green. Another approach is electroplating, an electrochemical process during which a dial is immersed in electrolytic baths and that results in metallic shades such as silver, gold and rosé.
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
A sample of the lacquer used to colour the dials of a Rolex watch.
The last technique is one of the most complicated, yet is what allows Rolex to develop dials in some of the most unexpected colours: PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) treatment. During this procedure that the brand helped to pioneer, a dial’s base plate is covered with an ultra‐thin (think less than a micron thick) layer of metal oxides, alloys or nitrides. The environment in which this is carried out needs to be dust‐free, with engineers donning full protective suits to prevent any form of contamination.
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
Dials with a sunray finish after colouring via PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition), a process that involves covering the dial’s base plate with an ultra‐thin layer of metal oxides, alloys or nitrides in a dust‐free environment. The subtle sunray finish, meanwhile, was achieved by coating the dial in a mildly abrasive solution and then brushing over it to create those radiating lines.
To complete the creation of a coloured dial, Rolex artisans coat each one with a transparent varnish that enhances the depth of colour, protects the dial surface and lends a glossy or matt finish. This, however, is not the final step in the brand’s dial‐making. The appliques still have to be positioned by hand with paper‐covered tweezers (to avoid scratches), then riveted into corresponding tiny holes using 80 newtons of pressure. Visual inspections and drop tests ensure that everything has been tightly fastened.
Credit:Courtesy of Rolex
A green lacquer dial with faceted, deconstructed Roman numerals and faceted index hour markers for an Oyster Perpetual Day‐Date 40, and a black lacquer dial for an Oyster Perpetual Air‐King; hand‐setting an 18 ct Everose gold dial with diamonds.
For all this advanced technical wizardry though, the brand reminds that there’s no substitute for the trained human eye – one capable of detecting imperfections right down to those a mere tenth of a millimetre, or the thickness of an average strand of human hair. Riboli explains: “A beautiful and harmonious dial will naturally make a statement. It’ll catch attention and make an impact by virtue of its perfect design, colours and decorative elements. This is why, for example, all the sunray‐finish dials are checked one by one to ensure that the striations are uniform and regular. The beauty of a dial is what makes it so captivating. This is why it has to be crafted to perfection.”
This article first appeared in the July 2024 Overachievers Edition of FEMALE
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