What You Need to Know About Watch Dial

A Dial is the professional word of a watch’s face, which is printed with the time index, the date window, the luminous indication, the logo of brands. It is a vital part of a watch.

You need to know how a dial made, what’s the material, and what’s the types of different dials. one dial is usually made of copper, Look at your watch when you want to know the current time. The dial is the part of your watch that helps the device tell you about the time. Different types of dials are available, and they go through a lengthy process.

We’ve posted a series of articles regarding the watches that other watches supplier may not mention. To know all things behind the “why,” the “how,” and the “what” of a watch dial, continue reading. After reading this, You will be a half-expert.

What is a Watch Dial? Material of the watch dial?

The watch dial is the watch face.

This is where the time is displayed. For this reason, it also occupies most of the frontal space of your watch. Depending on the features available on your watch, you may also see the date.

As you can see, dials may appear differently. Some have a simple look, but others are more complicated.

Some look attractive and full of aesthetics. These all depend on the type, designs, and material used.

Most Common Watch Dial Material:

• Brass
• Copper….

There are different materials available to make a watch dial. However, ceramics, seashells, cement, and even wood can be used.

The Different Types of Watch Dials

Since watch dials can be made with varying designs and materials, we now have various choices. Here are some of the watch dial types you may consider. We classify them by layer, worship, material, and style.

By Dial layer

• One layer dial
• Two-layer dial

By Worship

• Embodied dial
• Plain Dial

By Material

• Steel dial
• Copper dial
• Meteorite dial
• Ceramics dial
• Seashells dial
• Wood dial
• Marble dial
• Cement dial

By Styles

• Enamel Dial
• Index Dial
• Up Dial
• Luminous Dial
• Embossed Dial
• Skeleton dial
• Damascus dial

By Dial Effect

• Sunnary
• Circle
• All glossary
• Mat

How Are the Watch Dials Made?

Now that you already know most things about watch dials, we will tell you the entire “making” process. The overview includes drilling, grinding, polishing, grilling, painting, putting on the index, etc. Manufacturers will need a Molding factory, Copperplate or other preferred material, and luminous oil. here is a detailed description of the production process of a dial.

Step 1: Get the material and press the shape.

In this step, the material used for the dial should be prepared. Different copper plates are available with various selections.

They may vary according to thickness.

Common ones are 20c, 40c, and 80c. However, 40c is the most common among the three.

Note: 1c is equal to 0.01mm.

When choosing the copper plate thickness, it is also essential to consider the watch hands’ height. Once a decision has been made, the manufacturer can start cutting the materials immediately. Afterward, the shaping begins.

Note: Your copper plate should correspond to the desired thickness.

(above picture, the dial mold)

(above punch machine)

Step 2: Stamping / Punching the Hole

Once the shaping is done, the manufacturer should begin the punching and drilling. There should be the middle hole, index hole, and logo hole.

Step 3: Grinding and Soldering

Once each hole is punched and drilled, the manufacturer will grind the front part of the dial. The purpose is to make it flat for the next steps. also, it needs to remove the sharp burr. Once the front side is flattened, a protective paper is placed on top.

Then, to start soldering, you need to solder the index back( see pictures of back), also the standing pillar, which is for fixing the dial and movement in the watch

Step 4: Make the Dial effect

When we say, “make the dial effect,” we refer to the production of the dial’s design. It may be closely related to patterns such as sun, shiny, flat, and many more. Some sources also call this step shading. Shading is further defined as the process in which texture is integrated into the polished copper plate.

We have two commonly used dial effects. They are sand brushing and sandblasting. For sand brushing, it includes dry sweeping and water sweeping. Water sweeping is further divided into two – rough sweeping and fine cleaning. Specific patterns include but are not limited to the straight pattern, cloth pattern, messy pattern, snowflake pattern, round, random, snow pattern, etc.

Meanwhile, sandblasting varies by its roughness. There are 0 sand, 600, 800, 1200, etc. So, it all starts with shading. Then, it is further processed according to the needs. Let us take sandblasting as an example.

Sandblasting requires different roughness. So, for this situation, the sunburst should be carried out through a water sweep first. According to the effect, rough sweeping should be done before fine sweeping. This prevents the pattern from disappearing.

Step 5: Painting

Electroplating, or simply what we call painting, is the process of coloring the copper plate. To do that, the factory should clean the copper plate with ultrasonic equipment first. Afterward, they can start applying different colors. Available colors are gunmetal, black, blue, gold, and rose gold. When the plating color meets the requirements of the finished product, there is no need to do the sixth step – spraying the oil.

Step 6: Spray the oil and QC

Some of the watch dials have special requirements such as gradient effect. If this is the case, the manufacturer needs to spray an oil. Available oil spraying effect includes shiny, matte, semi-shiny, and semi-matte.

After the oil spraying, manufacturers should double-check the quality of the product. That is part of product quality control.

Step 7: Printing logo and scales.

Now that almost everything is ready, the next thing to do is print the logo and scales(if this dial is not an index scale). There can be silk-screen printing and pad printing. Pad printing, however, comes with extreme quality. Some even describe it as something that is more than 3-dimensional quality.

Meanwhile, some dial effects need to be printed through silk-screen printing. An example of this is luminescence prints. For more additional notes, silk-screen printing requires manual operation. On the other hand, the pad printing process features a semi-automatic process. It means that half of it is machine-made, and the other half is hand-made.

Step 8: Check the scales of the dial.

Once more, there should be a checking of scales. For it to be accomplished, the manufacturer uses a projector. The tool will project or show the dial scales to match the sample. Of course, the right scales should reflect the way they should appear.

All Subsequent processes must also be projected. Furthermore, the maximum tolerance of printing allowed ranges from 3-5c. It is never visible to the naked eye.

Step 9: Put on Index

Generally, we can divide indexes into two – real indexes and UP indexes. The real index normally has a height of 40c, while the UP index has a height of 10c. With that, real indexes if more three-dimensional than UP indexes.

Putting a dial index is the most difficult to do but the most critical process. Thus, it requires lots of craftsmanship. For example, a client wants luminescence to be so flat, and the rectangular index should be perfectly angular. For this, the following sequence should be done: doing the index, grilling the front part of the dial, then plating.

Remember that the plating should not be too thick or too thin. When it is too thick, the corners might disappear. Meanwhile, when filling the Lumi oil, the manufacturer might have to do it multiple times and adjust. This is to ensure that the luminous intensity of the night light and the effect is correct.

Step 10: QC and Packaging

Lastly, the entire quality of a watch dial should be thoroughly checked. There shall be no problem in all processes to ensure everything works as expected. Remember that the steps presented above only apply to normally used dials. Some watch dials may require special processes because of special requirements specific to those dials.

Marble dial, Damascus dial, and meteorite dial are just examples of dials requiring special processes as different material is used. Furthermore, some of them need an embryo factory for special pattern processing. Nevertheless, once everything is checked and no problem is found, the manufacturer should proceed to the packaging process. This is the final step.

Examples of popular watches with different types of dials

The following are examples of watches with different dials.

• Tapisserie by Audemars Piguet
• Guilloché by Breguet
• Ocean Wave by Omega Watches
• Teak Pattern by Omega
• Embossed Horizontal by Patek Philippe
• Champagne by Rolex
• Nipple by Rolex
• Dégradé by Glashutte Original

Pergunta frequente

5. How to measure watch dial size?
   Take off the dial, then use a professional caliper to measure the diameter of the circle

Conclusão

Watch dial can never be less important as it tells you the time. Thus, it goes to a highly technical process. There are also different types, which you can choose for your customized watch. Don’t you think you are ready to have one?

Source:

1. Sharp burr: (Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr_(edge)#:~:text=Burrs%20are%20most%20commonly%20created,a%20hammer%20strikes%20a%20surface.)
2. Sandblasting: Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandblasting
3. Electroplating: (Retrieved from https://byjus.com/chemistry/electroplating-process/#:~:text=Electroplating%20is%20basically%20the%20process,metal%20coating%20on%20the%20electrode.)
4. Gradient effect: (Retrieved from https://www.themexpert.com/blog/quix2-background-gradient-effect#:~:text=Gradient%20effect%20produces%20three%20dimensional,an%20image%2C%20over%20video%20etc.)
5. Pad printing: (Retrieved from https://www.printinginternational.com/story-printing-international/what-is-pad-printing/)

4. How to clean the watch dial?
   Open the back cover from the back, gently remove the crown and take off the movement, then use a cotton swab with alcohol and clean it gently.
   It is best to go to a professional watch repairer to clean it up. If you clean it up yourself, it may cause the watch to run out of time.

5. How to measure watch dial size?
   Take off the dial, then use a professional caliper to measure the diameter of the circle

Conclusão

Watch dial can never be less important as it tells you the time. Thus, it goes to a highly technical process. There are also different types, which you can choose for your customized watch. Don’t you think you are ready to have one?

Source:

1. Sharp burr: (Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr_(edge)#:~:text=Burrs%20are%20most%20commonly%20created,a%20hammer%20strikes%20a%20surface.)
2. Sandblasting: Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandblasting
3. Electroplating: (Retrieved from https://byjus.com/chemistry/electroplating-process/#:~:text=Electroplating%20is%20basically%20the%20process,metal%20coating%20on%20the%20electrode.)
4. Gradient effect: (Retrieved from https://www.themexpert.com/blog/quix2-background-gradient-effect#:~:text=Gradient%20effect%20produces%20three%20dimensional,an%20image%2C%20over%20video%20etc.)
5. Pad printing: (Retrieved from https://www.printinginternational.com/story-printing-international/what-is-pad-printing/)

3. How to remove the watch dial?
   If you want to open the lettering, first open the case from the back and remove the movement, then you can remove the lettering

4. How to clean the watch dial?
   Open the back cover from the back, gently remove the crown and take off the movement, then use a cotton swab with alcohol and clean it gently.
   It is best to go to a professional watch repairer to clean it up. If you clean it up yourself, it may cause the watch to run out of time.

5. How to measure watch dial size?
   Take off the dial, then use a professional caliper to measure the diameter of the circle

Conclusão

Watch dial can never be less important as it tells you the time. Thus, it goes to a highly technical process. There are also different types, which you can choose for your customized watch. Don’t you think you are ready to have one?

Source:

1. Sharp burr: (Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr_(edge)#:~:text=Burrs%20are%20most%20commonly%20created,a%20hammer%20strikes%20a%20surface.)
2. Sandblasting: Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandblasting
3. Electroplating: (Retrieved from https://byjus.com/chemistry/electroplating-process/#:~:text=Electroplating%20is%20basically%20the%20process,metal%20coating%20on%20the%20electrode.)
4. Gradient effect: (Retrieved from https://www.themexpert.com/blog/quix2-background-gradient-effect#:~:text=Gradient%20effect%20produces%20three%20dimensional,an%20image%2C%20over%20video%20etc.)
5. Pad printing: (Retrieved from https://www.printinginternational.com/story-printing-international/what-is-pad-printing/)

2. What is the dial on a watch called?
   The dial on a watch is also called “the face” of the “face of watch.” It is called the face because it is one of the most visible parts of a watch.

3. How to remove the watch dial?
   If you want to open the lettering, first open the case from the back and remove the movement, then you can remove the lettering

4. How to clean the watch dial?
   Open the back cover from the back, gently remove the crown and take off the movement, then use a cotton swab with alcohol and clean it gently.
   It is best to go to a professional watch repairer to clean it up. If you clean it up yourself, it may cause the watch to run out of time.

5. How to measure watch dial size?
   Take off the dial, then use a professional caliper to measure the diameter of the circle

Conclusão

Watch dial can never be less important as it tells you the time. Thus, it goes to a highly technical process. There are also different types, which you can choose for your customized watch. Don’t you think you are ready to have one?

Source:

1. Sharp burr: (Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr_(edge)#:~:text=Burrs%20are%20most%20commonly%20created,a%20hammer%20strikes%20a%20surface.)
2. Sandblasting: Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandblasting
3. Electroplating: (Retrieved from https://byjus.com/chemistry/electroplating-process/#:~:text=Electroplating%20is%20basically%20the%20process,metal%20coating%20on%20the%20electrode.)
4. Gradient effect: (Retrieved from https://www.themexpert.com/blog/quix2-background-gradient-effect#:~:text=Gradient%20effect%20produces%20three%20dimensional,an%20image%2C%20over%20video%20etc.)
5. Pad printing: (Retrieved from https://www.printinginternational.com/story-printing-international/what-is-pad-printing/)

1. What are the 3 dials for a watch?
   Depending on the type of watch you have, it may have three dials. One for the second dial or the sub-dial, the minute, and the hour. This watch is the Chronograph watch, Which is a watch with a stopwatch function.

2. What is the dial on a watch called?
   The dial on a watch is also called “the face” of the “face of watch.” It is called the face because it is one of the most visible parts of a watch.

3. How to remove the watch dial?
   If you want to open the lettering, first open the case from the back and remove the movement, then you can remove the lettering

4. How to clean the watch dial?
   Open the back cover from the back, gently remove the crown and take off the movement, then use a cotton swab with alcohol and clean it gently.
   It is best to go to a professional watch repairer to clean it up. If you clean it up yourself, it may cause the watch to run out of time.

5. How to measure watch dial size?
   Take off the dial, then use a professional caliper to measure the diameter of the circle

Conclusão

Watch dial can never be less important as it tells you the time. Thus, it goes to a highly technical process. There are also different types, which you can choose for your customized watch. Don’t you think you are ready to have one?

Source:

1. Sharp burr: (Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr_(edge)#:~:text=Burrs%20are%20most%20commonly%20created,a%20hammer%20strikes%20a%20surface.)
2. Sandblasting: Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandblasting
3. Electroplating: (Retrieved from https://byjus.com/chemistry/electroplating-process/#:~:text=Electroplating%20is%20basically%20the%20process,metal%20coating%20on%20the%20electrode.)
4. Gradient effect: (Retrieved from https://www.themexpert.com/blog/quix2-background-gradient-effect#:~:text=Gradient%20effect%20produces%20three%20dimensional,an%20image%2C%20over%20video%20etc.)
5. Pad printing: (Retrieved from https://www.printinginternational.com/story-printing-international/what-is-pad-printing/)