Regardless of what is inside the case, the dial is the first thing you spot and will be a decisive factor in whether or not you like what you see. There are many watch brands that use mother-of-pearl as the material for their dial. But what is mother-of-pearl and what is the reason luxury watch brands use it for making watch dials?
Mother-of-pearl is the iridescent lining you find on the inside of a shell. Mother-of-pearl is in fact a blend of minerals including calcium carbonate secreted by oysters and molluscs to protect their homes from parasites and foreign objects.
There are 2 techniques used by manufacturers to make those beautiful dials.
1st: Specialists have developed a way to cut thin, perfectly round blanks of substance using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines. The rest of the process is performed manually.
2nd: Another technique involves crushing the shell and machining it into ‘discs’ that are just 0.2mm thick. The dials are then polished and can be engraved.
The unique iridescence and natural patterns of the shell ensure that no two dials will ever be the same. So every watch is some sort of a ‘limited edition’.