Enamel watch dials appeared in the UK in the mid-18th century, gradually gaining popularity over the earlier chased and repoussé and chased metal champlevé dials. The UK made most of the world’s watches until the second half of the 18th century, and the manufacture of vitreous enamel watch faces was a widespread craft. Today it’s a very highly prized technique amongst collectors but the only master craftsmen producing them are in Switzerland and Japan.
There are what’s called ‘soft’ or ‘cold’ enamel dials, which aren’t enamel at all, they’re resin, and people make those in the UK, but it has nothing to do with enamel other than in name.
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There is one maker in England who comes from a family of enamellers and has enamelled dials in the past, but he is no longer doing so due to illness.
There may be some ‘leisure’ dial enamellers, but it’s not something you can easily do well without investing more time than a hobbyist could (in my opinion).
The difference between watch dial enamelling and jewellery enamelling is down to tolerances. To fit within a watch the enamel dial needs to be perfectly flat, of a uniform thickness down to a tenth of a millimetre and have a completely consistent finish. The dials also need to be much thinner than that of jewellery enamel.
It took almost 4,000 hours over three years at the bench for anOrdain to perfect their first enamel dial.
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