AnOrdain is entirely about enamel. For the ten years since its inception in Glasgow, Scotland, the company has acquired a cult following of devoted watch collectors who gravitate towards the brand’s fascinating vitreous – also known as grand feu – enamel dials, which are all created in-house by a handful of enamelers. With the brand’s watches being one of the more accessible ways to acquire a hand-made enamel dial on your wrist, demand has far outstripped its very restricted production capacity, with wait times of several years for various models. There is no artificial scarcity here. These dials are no joke, and they are typically found on pieces by other firms that sell for multiples of the price of, say, an AnOrdain Model 1.
Here’s a short review of the differences between enamel and porcelain dials. Vitreous enamel dialmaking is manually putting glass powder (typically colorful) on a metal substrate — it can be done dry by sifting or by combining the glass powder with water to make a paste that can be painted on. Following the application process, the dials are baked at high temperatures until the enamel powder melts and bonds with the dial surface. This method is repeated until the desired outcome is obtained. For a fumé dial with a gradient look, different pigments can be utilized to create the color shift. It is a laborious operation, and the failure rate for enamel dials contributes to the long production time.
Porcelain, on the other hand, starts with a base of clay and fires it at high temperatures. For some finishes, a vitreous glaze can be placed on the dial and fired to bind with the porcelain dial. Remember ceramics class in high school? Different materials and minerals in the glaze influence the final appearance; for example, iron oxide produces the black dials we’ll see today. AnOrdain is happy to remind you that they conduct things in the traditional manner.
AnOrdain’s Model 2: The First Porcelain Dial Offering
Porcelain dials have a unique advantage over enamel dials in that they may be created in small quantities rather than individually. Despite this, the majority of the work is still done by hand; AnOrdain will initially produce 30-40 dials per month. The brand’s Model 2 is the first design to be given the porcelain treatment, with each dial created by in-house porcelain artist Cara Louise. Pricing is more affordable than the enamel dial variations, with the base model starting at $2,512. The brushed casing, with its rounded edges and twisted facets, has the most wrist presence of the three styles and comes in a diameter of 39.5mm, with a 36mm version coming later this year.
The dial is the main draw here, with the porcelain foundation producing a deep, glossy black. Reflected light from the side highlights each dial’s texture, with dimples resulting from the manufacturing process. However, in normal light, the deep black sets the scene for the dial’s unique numerals, which are pad printed in metallic gold. The typeface was custom-designed by AnOrdain’s in-house typographer and differs slightly from the typeface used on other Model 2s, most notably in the segmentation of each numeral. This is undoubtedly related to the fact that on the Porcelain Model 2, the Super-LumiNova is hand-painted into each of the little pad-printed cavities.
AnOrdain has always done an excellent job of keeping a distinct and very recognizable visual identity as a result of its reliance on in-house artistic ability, and minor things like these help to retain that. A set of gold-plated and sandblasted brass hour hands resembles rounded, abstract sword hands, while the seconds hand is brilliant red lacquer with a Super-LumiNova-coated arrow tip. A track for the minutes and seconds is printed in white along the dial’s edge.
This, as you can expect, is a very pleasurable dial. Despite being “just” a black dial, it’s an excellent introduction to this line since the contrast of the numerals and gold-colored embellishments makes it vibrant. While collectors who line up for the Model 2 in porcelain will undoubtedly enjoy the irregularities and dimples on the dial, which make each one unique, I prefer how even it appears in most lights. It preserves the flaws as a sort of easter egg, only detectable under very precise settings.
The watch is powered by the La Joux-Perret G101, which replaces the prior ETA 2824 and Sellita SW200 choices. Interestingly, you have two choices for the caliber. You can choose a conventional G101 with a closed caseback. Alternatively, for an additional $430, you can choose an exhibition caseback with a uniquely decorated version of the caliber designed by Glasgow artist Rachel Duckhouse. It’s an unusual take on movement finishing at this pricing bracket, with anthracite striping in a spiral motif coming from the barrel pivot. The rotor is partially skeletonized with curved stripes in the opposite direction, which creates a unique visual effect as it spins around the back.
On the wrist, the Model 2 Porcelain is a stunning watch. Larger wrists will undoubtedly prefer the larger model, especially because additional dial real estate is a benefit for any AnOrdain. But I can’t help but prefer the medium version, mostly because of the proportions. The 36mm size may surprise some people, but it’s a substantial case that fills out a wrist nicely. The smaller watch’s greater bezel-to-dial ratio emphasizes the design even more, which is perhaps why I’m drawn to it. If you want to buy the smaller variant right away, you’ll have to wait until it’s available later this year.
Porcelain seems like a natural development for AnOrdain to continue handcrafting while striving to introduce more watches into the world. And it has already been demonstrated that people want more. I’ll admit that before researching porcelain dialmaking for this work, I had no idea the technique could be so time-consuming, or that there were alternative options for a simpler porcelain dial than the standard one used by them. But simple is never AnOrdain’s goal; therefore, we get several interesting new timepieces at a more reasonable price than their flagship models. I’m excited to see what colorful porcelain has in store for the future.
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