Porcelain, enamel, carbon fiber, meteorite, mother-of-pearl, onyx, aventurine… boring! They all sound exotic and have attractive applications but are, in fact, relatively common watch-dial materials.

This rock, born billions of years ago, traveled across the universe just to find its final resting place on your wrist. It’s kind of a nice thought. Meteorite works well as a watchmaking material ...

Piaget has two signature specialties: ultra-thin movements and hard-stone dials. In fact, it was Piaget’s penchant for making watch dials using hard-stone minerals that led it to develop ultra-thin ...

Whether inlaid or embroidered, sturdy or smooth, the textiles present their own set of challenges. By Joshua Hendren Among the precious metals, enamels and ornamental stones often used to create watch ...