Results for California Dial

Sincere Fine Watches 70th Anniversary: Laurent Ferrier’s Grand Sport Tourbillon Gets Its First Guilloché Dial

First Look – The Bold New Burgundy Dial of the Christiaan Van der Klaauw Ariadne

Dutch watchmaker Christiaan van der Klaauw started producing astronomical complications in 1974 and earned worldwide acclaim following his creation, in 1999, of the smallest mechanical planetarium in the world with real-time orbits of the planets in the confined dimensions of a wristwatch. Ten years later, in 2009, Christiaan van der Klaauw handed over the reins […]

Introducing – The Ulysse Nardin Diver Atoll with a Mesmerising Chrysocolla Dial

Ulysse Nardin has always been associated with the sea, from its early days as a purveyor of precision marine chronometers to its current nautical-inspired collection, which includes classical references like the Marine Torpilleur or more contemporary, high-performance Divers. Offered in three case sizes, the more compact 39mm model returns with a stunning mottled neon blue […]

Pre-Owned Picks: A High-Flying White-Dial Rolex, A Warm And Rosy QP From Patek Philippe, And A Master Chronometer Speedmaster

Plus, a US-exclusive Grand Seiko and a flagship pointer date from Oris.

Sincere Fine Watches 70th Anniversary: H. Moser & Cie Presents the Pioneer’s First Grand Feu Enamel Dial in Purple Fumé

The Zenith Defy Skyline Gets the White Ceramic, Skeleton Dial Treatment

I’ll be upfront here: I love the Defy. All the Defys. I’ve said many times to many people that the Defy is probably my favorite sports watch line of all time. It’s certainly my favorite corner of the Zenith catalog, and vintage Defy references are some of the coolest you can own, and somehow still represent a great value compared to comparable sports watches from other brands. To me, these watches have historically been exactly the right combination of avant-garde design and sports watch functionality. A Defy, unlike a Submariner, for example, can be both an art piece and an everyday wearer. They are also consistently interesting from a materials perspective, particularly when they get into colored ceramic, as they have with the newest Defy introduced today, a successor of sorts to one of my favorite watches from last year.  The Defy Skyline White Ceramic Skeleton is in some ways a predictable, natural evolution of the current generation Defy. It takes the ceramic case and bracelet we saw in last year’s black model, turns them white, and gives us the skeleton dial treatment that debuted early last year. It’s a similar trajectory to the Defy Classic releases from several years back, which started in titanium, with colorful skeletonized ceramic versions to follow.  This new reference is a little different though for how it plays with contrast. Against the stark white of the case and bracelet, we get a skeletonized blue dial and a movement in a matching shade. Tha...

Ressence Gets into the Full Lume Dial Game with the Type 5 L

If you’ve spent any time on the watch internet over the last few weeks, it should be no surprise that it’s dive watch season. Hardly a day goes by right now that some new dive watch doesn’t pop up on our radar, or come across our Instagram feeds. Now - with the release of the Type 5 L - Ressence has joined in, harnessing the sheer awesomeness of copious lume to make what may be the coolest version of their Type 5 diver yet. When the Ressence Type 5 was first released in 2015, it was unlike anything else on the market. With its bulbous architecture, oil-filled case, and signature Ressence Orbital Convex System (ROCS) displaying the time, the Type 5 was about as fun as a watch could get. The Type 5 L pushes it even further and is a nice reminder that dive watch design doesn’t have to be static - there are still plenty of pages in the dive watch playbook to explore. On a technical level, the Type 5 L is exactly the watch we’ve seen over the last near-decade, but the technical side of things only tells part of the story. What sets the Type 5 L apart is its fully luminous dial. Without the glow, the Type 5 L looks awfully similar to the gray Type 5G from 2017. It shares the same 46mm wide, 15.5mm thick grade 5 titanium case; the same ETA 2824/2 calibre modified with a ROCS 5 module and magnetic transmission showing hours, minutes, and running seconds (plus oil temperature for good measure); and the same 100 meter water resistance. But it’s a whole other story ...

First Look – The New Grey Dial Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Smile Day

Alain Silberstein and Louis Erard are at it again! One of the brand’s most veteran collaborators, Alain Silberstein has collaborated with Louis Erard since 2019, dialling up the colour of watches with his original design language. Following the Tourbillon Regulator, Silberstein’s latest Smile Day collaboration continues in the wake of earlier three-hand with day and […]

Introducing: The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra With A Lacquer-Finished Black Dial

Omega's already dressy Seamaster line puts on its tuxedo.

Avant-Garde Art Takes to the Raketa Dial

Inspired by Russian avant-garde art of the early 20th century, Raketa’s collection of the same name reproduces the graphic, geometric style on watch dials. The Raketa Avant-Garde 0292 is starkly and characterised by bold shapes. And unlike its predecessors, the new Avant-Garde does away with hour markers, which detracts from legibility but makes it all the more striking. Initial thoughts At first glance, the Avant-Garde appears abstract but is actually entirely conventional with three hands on a central axis. While readability is mixed at best, the dial has presence. The boldly graphic dial instantly evokes the art that inspired it, though it is not a like-for-like reproduction. Of all the art-inspired Raketa watches to date, this is the most interesting. Priced at €1,625, the new Avant-Garde sits at the higher end of the range for watches of this segment; comparable watches would be those equipped with Miyota calibres. However, the Avant-Garde has the advantage of striking, original aesthetics that are coherent with the brand and its history. Most “artistic” watches in this price segment tend to have less coherent artistic sensibilities. Granted, the fact that the dial is inspired by Russian art may be a turn-off for some, but the watch in itself is an appealing one. Initial thoughts The Avant-Garde 0292 is modelled on Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, a Bolshevik propaganda poster created during the Russian Civil War by El Lissitzky, a leading artist of the R...

Introducing – The New Gerald Charles Maestro 9.0 Roman Tourbillon with a Hand-Hammered Gold Dial

Gérald Charles Genta, one of our time’s most respected and well-known watch designers, sold his eponymous brand Gerald Genta to Bulgari in 2000. However, instead of resting on his laurels and enjoying a stress-free retirement, he created a new brand, naming it – again – after himself; Gerald Charles. In 2003, Genta sold the company […]

Pre-Owned Picks: A Yacht-Ready Rolex, A Ceramic Black Bay, And An Uncommon Take On A White Dial Royal Oak

Plus a classic dress watch from Patek and a gorgeous time-only option from Grand Seiko.

First Look – The Seiko Presage Craftsmanship Arita Porcelain Dial SPB445

Under its Presage Craftsmanship Series, Seiko has demonstrated its expertise in manufacturing handsome dials, using traditional techniques and paying tribute to its country of origin, Japan. Beautiful dials with significant added value using Shippo enamel, Urushi lacquer and Arita porcelain, are at the core of this collection. Last year, Seiko launched a trio of Presage […]

Atelier Holgur Introduces a New Dial Variant for their Frømand Diver

One of my favorite watch discoveries last year was Atelier Holgur, whose debut diver, the Frømand, I reviewed last year. When I had it in for review I found it to be quite impressive on a number of levels, but the best thing about it was its commitment to the idea behind it. It’s a perfectly capable diver, but everything about it has been designed with a particular aesthetic appeal in mind. In a watch world full of brands that are trying to sell you “tools” you will never actually need, it was weirdly refreshing to see Atelier Holgur admit that they just wanted to make something that looked nice. Beauty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, and you might see the Frømand and immediately want to turn away, but I happened to enjoy it’s unusual take on the skin-diver format and highly legible dial execution. Now they’re back with an update to the Frømand, the new Edition Fumée Silver Tide, with a dial that provides this diver with a very different personality than the debut.  The new Silver Tide follows other Edition Fumée releases in a variety of colors that have trickled out from Atelier Holgur over the last year. The Silver Tide variant, according to the brand’s founders, takes inspiration from their night diving experiences, where moonlight reflects off the water with a silvery glow and fades into the black of the ocean. The dial here is higly evocative, with a bright silvery center that gradually becomes darker until it reaches total blackness at th...

Introducing – The Beaubleu Seconde Française is a Fresh, Modern Interpretation of the Sector Dial

Founded in 2017 in Paris, we came across this relatively young and unusual brand in 2022 and can assert that Beaubleu has been a pleasant surprise. Elegant, original and different, there’s something arty and truly imaginative in the design of all collections, particularly in how the hands (a crucial element of a watch, don’t you […]

Introducing – The Rose Gold & Brown Dial Version of the Piaget Polo Date

Piaget has been busy celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. As a precursor of ultra-thin movements since the 1950s, Piaget has recovered its throne and is basking in the limelight with its world record-breaking 2mm-thin Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon. While it does not hold a world record, Piaget’s flamboyant 1979 Polo watch has also been […]

First Look – The Praesidus C-47 A-11 D-Day and Sand Dial, Tribute to the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings

Praesidus has become well known for affordable World War II-inspired collections. Recent examples include the A-11 Marston Mat Limited Edition (with actual D-Day Marston Mat dials) and The Type A-11 DD-45 (based on World War II Dirty Dozen combat watches). A new pair of limited-edition models pay homage to D-DAY for the 80th anniversary and […]

First Look – Louis Erard Unveils its First Regulator with a Grand Feu Enamel Dial

Louis Erard pursues its mission of delivering traditional handmade decorative techniques at accessible prices. Usually the preserve of top-tier brands, dials decorated with métiers d’art techniques like guilloché or enamel command hefty prices. Luckily, Louis Erard thinks differently and is determined to offer its appreciative public original watches with beautifully executed dials that won’t break the […]

Inside The Manufacture: A Photo-Filled Visit To Les Boîtiers de Genève And Les Cadraniers – F.P. Journe’s Newly Re-Inaugurated Case And Dial Manufacture

But first, we return to Journe's home headquarters in old town Geneva to see how things have grown.

Buying Guide – Fed Up With Brightly Coloured Watches? Back to Basics with Six Classic White Dial Watches

Are you done with in-your-face splashes of colour? Are you fed up with blue, yellow, red, green or perhaps even pink and purple? Well, you’re in luck because we’ve been eyeballing a couple of very impressive watches with simple yet ever-fashionable pristine white dials. This almost blank canvas can serve any purpose, from simple single-handed unisex […]

Introducing – The Awake Dare & Dream with a Doodle Art Dial

Awake, a spirited French watchmaking brand, initially grabbed our attention with its NASA-themed series (now sold out), followed by the Time Travellers collection featuring meteorite dials (also sold out). Towards the end of last year, Awake unveiled the Summetria collection, boasting dials adorned with coloured guilloché patterns, which are still available. Now, the brand introduces […]

Farer Introduces the Banzare, a Limited Edition GMT with a Textured Dial

We’ve been covering Farer for a long time on Worn & Wound. To say they are a core brand in our little enthusiast corner of the watch world would be an understatement, and it’s been exciting to see them grow, experiment, and further develop their own unique design language. For as long as I’ve been covering the brand, it’s been the colors that have stood out. They have just always had a knack for picking interesting and unusual color combinations. And their typical release strategy underscores that point – they’ll frequently release a handful of watches in the same style at one time, each adopting different color palettes, and thus emphasizing the impact those decisions have on the finished product. Their latest release, the Banzare GMT, is not part of a multi-watch drop, but it does feature a striking new dial texture for the brand in a color that some die hard Farer fans are sure to appreciate.  The GMT has become a signature complication for Farer, probably because it gives the brand a chance to explore colors and contrasts in natural ways. Think of the different elements of the dial that need to be navigated here: the dial itself, the main hour markers, the time telling hands, the GMT hand, the GMT hour scale, the date, the minute track, and we haven’t even gotten to the various wordmarks yet. There’s a real challenge in making sure all of those elements play well together, and it’s something Farer has always excelled at.  The Banzare gets a plum col...

Hands-on – Is the Platinum Rolex Perpetual 1908 with a Guilloché Dial Really That Good?

When it was unveiled last year, the Rolex Perpetual 1908 made quite a strong impression. I know that the brand doesn’t want to call it the successor to the Cellini line but the reality is that it is an Mk2 Cellini. The inaugural models were surprisingly appealing despite their minimalist, almost empty dials. Rolex isn’t […]

Hands-on – The New Etheral Twin Orbital Tourbillon from Cyrus, with a Revolving Dial

Established in 2010, Cyrus embraces the bold watch design traits reminiscent of the early 2000s, evident in every timepiece within its catalogue. The brand inherits a creative spirit, constantly striving for innovation and novel ways to depict time – and to master it. Consider the cosmic Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon series or the Klepcys DICE featuring […]

Girard Perregaux Debuts a Pair of Pink Gold Laureatos with New Dial Colors

There’s something undeniably satisfying about a big gold sports watch. I think their appeal is rooted in the idea that they don’t really make too much sense. A sports watch, in theory, is something that should be built to take some abuse, if not in sport, than in the average day to day life of a normal human being. They should, effectively, disappear. Making a sports watch out of a solid block of gold turns this idea on its head. Gold, of course, is anything but under the radar. It’s noticeable from across a room, in fact. Further if it’s immaculately finished in a way that brings its shine and luster to the forefront. And gold, for all of its great qualities, is not exactly the most robust material. Some alloys almost seem to have the consistency of peanut butter. You can tell when they’ve been touched in a way that steel just doesn’t show. And yet, the pull of the gold sports watch is real. And Girard Perregaux, with the Laureato, makes an awfully good one.  At the same press event that saw GP announce their fantastic new titanium Laureato chronograph, they also unveiled, under embargo, two new pink gold flavors of the 42mm Laureato in exceedingly well matched dial colors. Ultramarine Blue and Sage Green dial variants enter the collection today, and each works incredibly well with the subtle pink hue of the gold. I was particularly impressed by the green dial when I saw these watches in person a few months ago. Green and yellow gold is a classic combination,...