Watch Giveaway: Zelos Nova 38mm Linen Silver Watch

I think that mimicking textures of either man-made or naturally occurring materials on a watch dial really adds that uniqueness and character that many of us are looking for in a watch, and the beauty of it is that the options are virtually unlimited. I really like the linen dial on this Nova, and I think that fabrics in general (velvet, silk etc.) are a wonderful source of inspiration for dial textures.

Perhaps as a complement to this it would be interesting to see textures of natural phenomena on dials in 2021 (reflecting the reconnection with nature that many of us experienced during the lockdown period), such as the texture of cracked ice. The blue Milus LAB 01 dial (intentionally or unintentionally) goes into this direction a bit in my opinion. If someone took this to the next level and made a faithful reproduction of the texture of cracked ice on a watch dial (with the right color combinations) the visual effect would probably be stunning.

All the best,
Luka

Here’s an idea that I’ve often thought about but usually always scratched out of my brain in short order because of its technical difficulty and probably prohibitive cost – Pietra Dura dials. Since it costs absolutely nothing to discuss it, I thought I’d bring it up. After all, this debate has already brought up some fabulously expensive ideas, were they to be realized. Now, to the idea.

Pietra Dura is a specific form of art first started in Rome in the 16th century and shortly thereafter brought to Florence by Fernando I de Medici. It was in Florence that this unique art form truly flourished. Put simply, Pietra Dura is the practice of fitting together cut and highly polished stones (also semi-precious and even precious ones) of different colours in order to form an image. In short, it is the art of painting with stones. Some of you may immediately think of mosaics or something similar, but Pietra Dura is oh, so much more. In mosaics, all stones used are of approximately the same size, which yields an admittedly pleasant, but fairly unremarkable effect, compared to Pietra Dura. In this art form, each piece of stone represents a certain detail in the painting. Essentially, it’s like first painting a work of art, and then filling out every small surface on that painting with a stone of that specific colour and texture. Stones are meticulously cut on the backside and then fitted together and glued in such a way that no seam is visible on the surface. The highly polished upper sides of the stones therefore form a perfect, seamless image.

There is a studio (Scarpelli, I think), that still makes these works of art in the traditional way in the centre of Florence. I will never forget the hour that I spent with my brother in that studio watching the old master carefully file pieces of stone and fit them into what seemed to be an impossible three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. The end-results, on show at the studio and in the museum of Pietre Dure in Florence is honestly breath-taking. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have never seen something as mesmerizingly beautiful as a finished Pietra Dura painting. It really has to be experienced in the flesh (or should I rather say in the stone) to be appreciated, but to at least give an illustration of what I’m talking about, here’s a link to a Pietra Dura painting.

https://www.confartigianatofirenze.it/sites/default/files/scarpelli1.jpg

When one looks at such a masterpiece, all the while knowing that every detail on it is a piece of a stone, found in nature, and combined with countless others into one coherent whole (colour and texture-wise), the feeling is hard to describe, as it is at the same time a textural and colourful marvel. It is an art form composed of so many different and unique skills that it’s almost hard to comprehend and it goes to show that people really are capable of anything.

I had to go into such a detailed explanation so that you would really understand why a Pietra Dura watch dial would be something remarkable and different from what Piaget (the arguable master of ornamental stone dials) is doing today. It is also easy to see why such watches would be equally remarkably expensive. Furthermore, it should be underlined that a watch’s surface is fairly small, which is why I think painting an actual picture on it (with stones) would be quite difficult. The chosen scene would probably have to be relatively simple. Simplifying the motif to a geometric pattern instead of an actual picture would still offer a beautiful textural and visual effect while bringing down the costs and complexity of the undertaking. I think that a company like Piaget could be up to the task, should they choose to pursue it. Incorporating the Pietra Dura technique to make stone intarsia watch dials would bring their watches to an even higher level (which would arguably be almost too high :D). Even if considered, this idea could not possibly be realized in 2021, but seeing it in 2022 or 2023 perhaps would definitely make me happy! How about you, fellow reader?