Launch Edition Dials
Designing your first watch is a challenge for any brand. You have so much to say and so many ideas to communicate – and how do you do it all in one watch or one collection while still making a clear statement of purpose? Like we said, it’s a challenge.
For the Series 1 Launch Edition, we decided to offer three variations, each exploring different design elements and crafts, while still embodying the Fleming identity. A single architectural case, but rendered in different metals, and a single dial design, executed in different colors, materials, and finishes, showing a range of what contemporary watchmaking can be.
The tantalum version subverts expectations, using a combination of frosted platinum and aventurine for a dial that appears simple but is deceptively difficult to craft. In watchmaking, platinum is almost always reserved for cases and is usually brightly polished – here it’s utilized underneath the crystal and has a dark frosted finish. The blue tones commonly found in platinum are much more subtle, blending nicely with the complementary color of the tantalum.
This allows the center section, made of dark blue aventurine, to shine, with its flecks of white and light blue shimmering as the watch moves in the light.
The platinum edition, on the other hand, houses a dial focused on guilloché. Three different guilloché patterns are used across three dial sections. The choice to pair warm colors with a platinum case is certainly untraditional, while guilloché is as traditional a watchmaking craft as you’ll find anywhere. Again, these subtle contrasts are what breathe life into the dials themselves.
The varying guilloché patterns also reflect light differently, so even the inner section and subdial often appear different colors. This guilloché is also done entirely by hand, by our partners at Combléminé. It’s laborious and requires specialized craftspeople, but the results have so much more depth and character than machine-created components. Assembling these dials is also tricky, with different materials and finishes coming together across more than a dozen components. Combléminé actually needed trained watchmakers to assemble them, rather than the usual craftspeople, to ensure everything came together just so.
If the platinum and aventurine dial in the tantalum case is the most contemporary and the guilloché dial in the platinum case is the most traditional, the engraved and guilloché dial in the rose gold case sits somewhere in the middle. The outer section uses a bamboo-inspired guilloché pattern that hadn’t been used in so long that we actually had to remind Combléminé they could do it. Its warm grey color and horizontal pattern ground the rest of the dial.
The center section has an unusual texture achieved through hand-engraving. The champagne-colored plate is slowly hammered to give each dial a unique surface. We also tried creating this through laser engraving, but it was actually coming out too perfect. The subtle irregularities of the hand-engraved version make a much stronger impact and give each piece its own character.
While each of these three dials has its own personality, comes with its own design and manufacturing challenges, and looks completely different on the wrist, they are all working toward a common goal: versatility. The Series 1 Launch Edition is a watch meant to glide seamlessly between casual and formal situations, and these dials are a big part of accomplishing that.
