How a Moriarty dial is made
the art of Grand Feu enamel
Each and every Moriarty watch is individually crafted, ensuring uncompromising attention to every detail. Using traditional techniques, from hand-finishing, pad printing and engraving, our creations are not only functional timekeepers, but also timeless works of art.
Preparing the enamel
The first step for every watch we create is carefully selecting and mixing the special ingredients which will become the material we use to produce each dial.
Blending colour pigments to the precise requirements for the finish we are after in a time honoured method, using elbow grease and a pestle and mortar we see the colour come alive.
Applying the enamel
Once we’ve prepared the enamel mixture, the next step is to apply it to the dial. This is done with a fine paint brush and care is taken to ensure that the wet enamel is applied evenly across the brass surface, to minimise the risk of imperfections on the finished piece.
We always strive for perfection, but enamel is a challenging material, and sometimes we need to know when to cut our losses and start out over again.
Firing the enamel
Next comes the really tricky part. Now that we have our wet dial ready for baking, it’s into the kiln it is placed. Only after being subjected to ferocious temperatures of some 800ºC and then being allowed to cool back down will we know if our preparations have been successful. It doesn’t take a large margin for error for a dial to crack, or an imperfection to become obvious, and then it’s back to square one.
Printing the dial
Now that the dial is cool, and hopefully unblemished and flaw free, it’s time to apply the numerals, indices and our Moriarty name on the freshly fired enamel. This is naturally also a hands-on process and Mike painstakingly sets up his pad printer with meticulous precision, because, like all of the other steps in this process, you don’t get a second chance to get it right.
