What we work in
Stone and shell for the custom work, and the finishes, lume and plating that a restoration needs. If you want something that isn’t listed here, ask — most of it can be sourced.
Stone & shell
Stabilised turquoise, cut and inlaid. The matrix — the darker veining running through it — is chosen slab by slab, from an almost clean field to heavy marbling. Warm stones like this sit especially well in yellow gold.
Deep green with strong natural banding. Takes a high polish and holds it. The direction the banding runs relative to twelve o'clock changes the whole character of the dial, so it is decided before cutting.
Inlaid rather than used as a full face, because it is softer and its edges are vulnerable. The play of colour lives in specific layers, so the slab is oriented so the fire lands where it will be seen.
White, black, and tinted. Naturally iridescent and thin enough to work on dials that cannot take a thicker stone. A stable route to colours that would be pigment-dependent in lacquer.
Finishes
Radial brushing that catches directional light and shifts as the watch moves. The most common original finish on the dials we see, and the default when a restoration is going back to stock appearance.
Dead-flat and even. Hides less than gloss, so the surface underneath has to be right first. Good for legibility and for military-style dials.
Built in coats with sanding between them. Deep and reflective, and the finish of choice for dress dials and for saturated colours like coral and deep blue.
Engine-turned patterning, either machined or recreated in print where an original pattern is being matched on a restoration.
Lume
Charges cold blue-white, reads off-white in daylight. The default grade, and the closest match to how tritium lume looked when it was new.
Warm cream. What to ask for when the surrounding dial has aged and a bright white lume would look wrong against it.
Vivid green, brightest of the three and longest charge retention. Modern sports pieces where visibility matters more than period accuracy.
De-saturated and tinted mixes, for matching existing markers that are being kept rather than replaced.
Plating
Electroplated over a barrier coat, in a range of colour tones so it can be matched to the case and to applied markers that are staying.
Warm copper-gold. Popular on custom work and on dials going into rose gold or two-tone cases.
Hard, bright silver-white with good tarnish resistance. The standard where a dial needs clean white metal.
For contemporary and blacked-out builds, where the dial furniture needs to disappear into a dark finish.
Substrates
The most common production dial base. Cleaned and etched before any surface work so that plating and lacquer key properly.
Copper-nickel-zinc, the historical choice on higher-grade Swiss dials. Plates well and stays dimensionally stable.
Turns up on some vintage dials. Needs a barrier coat before plating or the copper interferes with the finish over time.
Adhesives
For applied indices and markers. Cured with a controlled UV source rather than heat, so the plate is not stressed.
For dial feet and structural repairs, chosen so it can be released again by a future watchmaker rather than being permanent.
Whatever goes onto your dial, tell whoever services the watch next. Stone and gem-set dials should be lifted by their feet and kept well away from ultrasonic cleaning. Most of the damage we see on previously customised dials was done during an otherwise routine service by someone who was never told.