A major part of what defines haute horlogerie is the dial and its finish. It’s the part of every watch that gets the most attention. It’s what every collector shows the world and looks at when wearing a watch. In the modern watchmaking world, the most compelling timepieces push past “standard” dial finishing techniques to new horizons. Today, we’re diving into some unusual dial finishing methods, spotlighting four timepieces from De Bethune, Moritz Grossmann, and Akrivia.
De Bethune DB28xs Starry Seas — Random Guilloché on Blued Titanium
De Bethune has made blued titanium a calling card, but the DB28xs Starry Seas takes the idea somewhere genuinely new with what the brand calls “random guilloché” across a heat‑blued titanium dial. Rather than a repeating engine-turned pattern, the surface is worked to create irregular, wave-like undulations, something akin to ripples across the starry seas that scatter reflections in changing ways. The brand further punctuates the dial with white‑gold “stars” to deepen the cosmic impression. In De Bethune’s own words, it’s the first time they’ve executed a random guilloché on blued titanium, and it lands inside a more wearable 39 mm case (“XS” by DB28 standards). The result reads both futuristic and artisanal: high-temperature color paired with an anti-pattern texture you can’t fully predict under shifting light. It’s a smart inversion of guilloché’s usual promise of perfect repetition.
Moritz Grossmann Benu Heritage Tremblage Steel — Hand‑Engraved “Trembling” Grain
“Tremblage” sounds poetic, and the method is just as evocative. On the Benu Heritage Tremblage, a German silver dial is engraved entirely by hand using burins worked in a tiny, back‑and‑forth “trembling” motion. Instead of raised relief engraving or traditional frosting, the artisan sculpts a fine, even grain. This produces micro‑facets that diffuse light into a soft, matte glow. Achieving uniformity is the challenge – pressure, angle, and spacing must stay consistent across the whole surface. If the engraver goes too deep in one spot, the plate can be ruined. Raised elements (like numerals) are then flat‑polished to stand out in crisp contrast. The effect is simultaneously old‑world and modern: tactile, legible, and distinctly made by human hands.
The steel variant of the Benu Heritage emphasizes the grain’s neutrality: it’s not simply decorative; it tames glare and gives the watch a considered presence. A testament to the value of the human hand in watchmaking, tremblage is an exceptional dial finish on Moritz Grossmann’s timepieces.
Akrivia AK‑04 Tourbillon Régulateur — Hand‑Hammered Steel, Matte‑Polished by Hand
Rexhep Rexhepi’s Akrivia has become synonymous with obsessive handwork, and the AK‑04 Tourbillon Régulateur captures that ethos on its dial. Here, the surface is hand‑hammered. Each tiny strike is placed to create a uniform, pebbled topography. Then, the dial is matte‑polished to an even sheen. On some examples the dial is rendered in blue steel. Others carry a rhodium‑plated tone, but the signature remains the same: a lively texture that avoids sparkle while retaining depth. It’s deceptively hard to execute, similar to tremblage. Consistency of blow, spacing, and post‑polish are all visible to the naked eye when you’re dealing with large, open plains of metal. Any lapse renders the watchmaker’s work unusable.
This approach differs from tremblage in both tool and intent. Tremblage relies on controlled engraving cuts. Akrivia’s finish is percussive, closer to creating a micro‑relief by repeated impacts before bringing it to a satin equilibrium. The result pairs beautifully with Akrivia’s sculptural hands and open tourbillon at six o’clock, giving the regulator layout a textural field that’s astoundingly artisanal to match the design and mechanics of this timepiece. It’s hard not to see the dial as a statement of the brand’s values.
De Bethune DB28 GS “Yellow Submarine” — Heat‑Toned Titanium to a Gilded Gold
Coloring titanium by heat is familiar in watchmaking; blue is common. For many, De Bethune is the master of bluing. Yet here, De Bethune’s DB28 GS “Yellow Submarine” pushes into a rarer register: a rich, gold‑bronze tone achieved by carefully controlled thermal oxidation of grade‑5 titanium across the case and components. The alchemy here isn’t plating or PVD. It’s a stable oxide layer grown on the metal itself, tuned to a spectrum that reads like aged gold. On a burly, illuminated (dynamo‑powered) dive watch, the juxtaposition shocks—in a good way. It’s pure De Bethune: avant‑garde tech dressed in color science and presented with theatrical flair.
What makes this unusual among dial and case finishes is the precision required to hit the target hue uniformly over complex shapes and to keep it consistent from part to part. Heat too much and you drift towards purple or blue; too little and you’re in straw yellow. De Bethune’s execution lands on a saturated, fiery yellow that screams high-end watchmaking. While the story is told on the case as much as the dial, the lesson translates: controlled thermal oxidation can be more than “make it blue.” There’s a whole color palette, and in skilled hands, it’s reachable.
One thing to consider in these four timepieces is that finishing in watchmaking often does serve functional purposes. It controls the way light diffuses, allowing for the timepiece’s legibility to remain crystal clear in different conditions. It also can communicate the values of a brand’s core mission, especially with indies, bringing innovation and handicraft to the forefront of a collector’s attention. It’s the nature that big and innovative ideas live on canvas the width of your wrist.