Round-UpGrey’s Anatomy: Top Grey Dial Watches
A grey dial is all-encompassing of pastels, fabrics, skin tones, garment silhouettes and cuts. Here’s a list of top grey watches from the recent launches
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“The world is not black and white; there are lots of shades of grey”. Wise words from Iris Apfel, the 101-year-old American businesswoman and fashionista, who further elaborated that no phase is good or bad as good and bad things can occur simultaneously in the same time frame. And that grey is a purgatorial zone. A place between two extreme worlds. A safe spot that allows everyone to fit in. This metaphorical union of time and hue has the same connotation when physically manifested. As a timepiece. A grey dial is all-encompassing of pastels, fabrics, skin tones, garment silhouettes and cuts. It encourages a minimalistic design vocabulary, with quirks that mildly disrupt the monotonous grey tone; like the sliver of red hands on Favre Leuba Bivouac 9000 and the diamond hour markers plus pink rubellite crown on Bulgari Bulgari. Here’s a comprehensive list of top grey dials from the recent horological releases.
Baume & Mercier Baume Skate
The Baume Skate timepiece is a nod to global attempts towards sustainability and recycling. This 42mm iteration was codesigned with French skateboarder, Aurelien Giraud. The whole thought behind constructing this watch is quite eccentric. The case is constructed by cutting discs from used skate decks out of plywood that Giraud procured that otherwise would have been dismantled. These discs are further sealed in resin for durability. An anodised aluminium container in blue encloses the SW200 automatic movement from Sellita, and fixes it to the caseback as a protective measure against shock. The minimalistic anthracite dial pays ode to the skating culture as it features the actual grip tape from skate decks for luminous effect. This central disc rotates on a 12-hour rhythm. The ‘Baume’ logo as hour hand and skeletal blue minute hand are other quirks. The openworked caseback offers a peek of the movement, while sporting fans get to marvel at Giraud’s hand-signature in white scrawled over the sapphire crystal glass. A cork-lined black cotton strap looped into the PVD lugs using a unique ‘interchangeable strap button system’, completes the look.
Bulgari Bulgari Grey Dial
The highlighting factor of the Bulgari Bulgari grey iteration is the 33mm stainless steel case fitted with a bezel engraved with the double logo. Each of these 14 alphabets resemble the font used for etching the Emperor’s name on antique Roman coinage. The bezel encircles an anthracite satiné soleil lacquered dial with diamond indexes and Arabic numerals for three, six, nine and 12 o’clock. A tiny synthetic cabochon-cut rubellite on the crown breaks the monotony of the grey-toned body. This quartz movement watch comes attached to a stainless steel bracelet.
Favre Leuba Raider Bivouac 9000
The stone-grey dial of the Raider Bivouac 9000, with its silver hour and minute hands, matches its grey antelope leather strap. The hand-wound timepiece is powered by the FL311 calibre that offers a 65-hour power reserve. The 48mm barrel-shaped titanium case is lightweight, but looks bulky. This is the only Favre Leuba watch willing to scale loftier heights, with the central red hand measures altitude up to 3,000m with a single rotation. The sub-dial at three o’clock indicates the altitude up to 9,000m after the central red hand makes three rotations. The small seconds sub-dial sits at nine o’clock, power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock, and the date aperture is at six o’clock.
Nomos Glashütte Tetra Grey Dial
Nomos Glashütte Tetra dials are christened with phrases in German such as Die Unerreichbare or The Unattainable in case of the grey iteration. This variant features a sunburst dial, a pink small seconds sub-dial at six o’clock and matching sturdy velour leather straps. The Tetra line was conceived by colour specialist and interior designer, Thomas Höhnel, He felt a room is like a watch dial, and that arranging its interiors are akin to arranging the horological elements on a dial—hands, hour markers, brand logo, sub-dials, outer minute ring, and so on—to resemble a cohesive, uncluttered whole, inspired by the Bauhaus style of minimalism. The oldest in-house movement, the manually wound Alpha, powers the Tetra grey model, offering a 43-hour power reserve.
H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Perpetual Calendar
The steely greys of the cushion-shaped Streamliner Perpetual Calendar pays tribute to the first high-speed trains from the 20s and 30s. This 42.3mm model is noted for the red and white outer minute track on the fumé dial. The 3-D curved hands pay tribute to the car dashboards and measuring instruments of the yore, and are applied with the luminous Globolight. An off-centre crown engraved with ‘M’ sits unconventionally at four o’clock. The links forming the integrated steel bracelet appear like gently waves, combining brushed finish with polished surfaces.
Longines HydroConquest
The Longines HydroConquest cuts a formidable figure with its grey tones. The 43mm iteration in steel stands out for its unidirectional rotating bezel, scalloped edge along the case, mixbag of hour markers with SuperLuminova, and integrated steel bracelet with folding clasp. The case is given a satin-brushed finishing, and some areas are highly polished. The L888 calibre beats at 28,800vph and offers 64-hour power reserve. Overall, the HydroConquest is water resistant to 300m.
Maurice Lacroix Aikon
The grey Maurice Lacroix Aikon, the latest from the Calypso line, showcases a 42mm stainless steel barrel-shaped case topped with a bezel sporting double ‘claw’ fitting technique instead of screws. The timepiece features a distinct Clous de Paris patterned dial with rhodium-plated hands and hour markers. Powered by ML 115 automatic movement—beating at a frequency of 28,800vph—the timepiece comes offers a power reserve of 38 hours. The watch comes attached to either a steel bracelet or dark grey rubber strap.
Oris ProPilot X Calibre 400
The grey dial iteration of the titanium-built Oris ProPilot X Calibre 400 is the third dial option after salmon and blue from the Big Crown collection. The dial smoothly integrates the black timekeeping elements like the indices, hands background of the date aperture, and brand logo. This watch measures 39mm casewise, and bears a distinct knurled bezel with an oversized screw-down crown with crown guards. A protective sapphire crystal ensures 100m water resistance. From the caseback one can view the in-house Oris 400 calibre that offers 120-hour power reserve. Completing the look is the slinky titanium bracelet, with a patented ‘lift’ system for better lock-and-grip.
Parmigiani Fleurier Toric
This 42.5mm case in polished 18-karat rose gold cradles a slate hued dial in hand guilloché finish showcasing a pattern resembling the scales on a pine cone. The dark grey dial offers the right contrast to the SuperLumiNova filled Javelin-shaped hands, moon phase, perpetual calendar, retrograde date, gold oscillating weight with the initials ‘PF’. The self-winding mechanical movement PF333 calibre impresses with its main plate and bridges, both bevelled and circular-grained with Côtes de Genève decoration. It has two series-coupled barrels that churn 50-hour power reserve. The dial has a protective sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating for better readability. Completing the look is a Havana brown leather strap with pin buckle clasp.
Speake-Marin Temptation Ripples
The stainless-steel Ripples model from the Temptation series is called ‘La City’ (after London, not Los Angeles), records the brand’s departure from its signature Piccadilly case of the One & Two line. This 40.3mm case is almost cushion-shaped, and water-resistant up to 50m. The grey brushed dial showcases ‘ripple’ effect in horizontal stripes, while the small seconds’ sub-dial in matt black between one and two o’clock is the only patch of smooth on this dial. An integrated stainless-steel bracelet with a double-folding clasp secures the timepiece firmly to your wrist.
Shop The Story
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Baume & Mercier Baume
MOA10653
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BVLGARI BVLGARI BVLGARI
103689
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Favre Leuba Raider Bivouac 9000
00.10105.06.45.45
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H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner
6812-1200
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Longines HydroConquest
L3.781.4.76.6
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Maurice Lacroix Aikon
AI6007-SS002-230-1
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Maurice Lacroix Aikon
AI6008-SS000-230-2
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Nomos Glashutte Tetra
477
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Oris ProPilot X
01 400 7778 7153-07 7 20 01TLC
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Parmigiani Toric
PFH427-1600200-HA1241
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Speake-Marin Ripples
604015040
