Round-UpGlacial Blue Is The Warmest Colour: Presenting Watches With Ice Blue Dials
While some watches with ice blue dials evoke cold, unmoving glaciers, others bring to mind warm summer skies. Now a popular choice for watch dials, the pale teal-aqua ice blue lends its intense depth to the timepieces it colours. Here’s a look at some of the iciest dials you could come across today
May We Recommend
Along with the iciness associated with the pale, light, glacial blue, there’s sometimes an unexpected warmth reminiscent of a light summer sky. Somehow, both of these paradoxical ideas are reflected on the ice blue dials of watches. The pale blue draws one in with an intensity that can only be associated with a vast expanse of unmoving ice, regardless of whether the watch evokes a freezing glacier or a warm summer sky. As if the watch face had the ability to look deep into one’s soul. We explore 11 powerful watches with ice blue dials that give off a sporty and contemporary vibe, in an impactful, and gender-neutral way.
with ice blue dials that give off a sporty and contemporary vibe, in an impactful, and gender-neutral way.
Bell & Ross BR‐X5 Ice Blue Steel
A more defined take on the brand’s urban and contemporary BR-05 line, the 41mm BR-X5 Ice Blue Steel takes the watch into a fresh, new, sporty arena with its glacial blue dial and the sandwich-style construction on its case. A sunray-brushed ice blue dial is interrupted by applied indexes, a date window at three o’clock and power reserve indicator at nine. The matching flange with minute markers seems to extend the dial into the case, enhancing the limitlessness of ice blue, and the pale blue rubber ring located just under the bezel serves to highlight the hollowed-out central portion of the case. With a power reserve of 70 hours, the brand’s BR-CAL.323 movement lies housed within the beautifully-constructed case.
Breitling Super Chronomat Automatic 38
If there’s one thing that highlights the intensity of ice blue, it’s that of diamonds. Breitling’s Super Chronomat Automatic 38’s light blue, sun-brushed dial is framed by a steel bezel encrusted with lab-grown diamonds that only serve to enhance the paleness of the ice blue dials. With lume-filled baton-shaped indexes and hands, nothing but the names of the brand and model, and a date window disturb the blue of the dial. Distinctly different from the brand’s Chronomat series, the Super Chronomat stands out for its rubber rouleaux-style bracelet, and ceramic crown and rider tabs at 15-minute intervals on the bezel. On this stunning timepiece, these blue ceramic tabs on the bezel offer visual relief from the dazzle of the diamonds. The watch can also be paired with a steel rouleaux bracelet or a leather strap.
Czapek Antarctique Passage de Drake Glacier Blue
Undoubtedly, the hero of Czapek’s Antarctique Passage de Drake Glacier Blue watch is the icy blue dial with a ‘stairway to eternity’ trapezoid motif. Shadows on the dial’s three-dimensional flinque pattern enhance its glacial tones. Sword-shaped timekeeping hands and wedge indexes with needle points add to the Antarctic iciness of this timepiece. Paired with an integrated bracelet with C-shaped central links, Czapek’s luxury sports watch makes a strong statement in the boardroom just as well as it does in the icy outdoors. Housed within the extremely wearable 40.5mm steel case is Czapek’s in-house automatic SXH5 calibre.
Louis Erard Excellence Petite Seconde Bleu Glacier
The monochromatic dial of the Louis Erard Excellence Petite Seconde Bleu Glacier (ice blue) timepiece reflects light differently on its various textures—circular graining on the small seconds sub-dial at six, a radially-brushed finish on the hour track around the dial, and a marginally lighter matt blue in the centre. Darker blue fir-shaped hands, numerals and markers add to the timepiece’s intensely cool disposition. It is the matching blue grained calf leather strap that offers its warmth to this otherwise chilly timepiece. The sleek 39mm case houses the automatic Sellita SW261-1 calibre.
Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic In Tanager Turquoise
Maurice Lacroix christened the blue of their latest Aikon Automatic watches ‘tanager turquoise’, but the pale shade is clearly icier than the bird it is named after. Regardless, the summery shade paired with the brand’s recognisable clous de Paris motif enhances the coolness of the dial. With eight diamonds along with baton-shaped indexes, the 35mm timepiece is just a bit more brilliant than its larger 39mm and 42mm siblings. The steel case with its six-armed bezel and an integrated steel strap add to the iciness of the dial. The watch also comes with an interchangeable rubber strap that lends it a cool, summery demeanour.
Norqain Freedom 60 Chrono Ice Blue
Inspired by the outdoors, the Norqain Freedom 60 Chrono’s ice blue sunray brushed dial is punctuated by the three chronograph counters in black—a stark contrast that makes the coolness of the blue stand out. With a black tachymeter scale surrounding the blue dial, and lume-filled syringe-shaped hands, the Norqain Freedom 60 Chrono Ice Blue means business when it comes to adventure. The 40mm timepiece houses the brand’s calibre NN19, a modification of the Sellita SW510a, and is paired with an integrated steel bracelet, with an optional environment-friendly black perlon rubber strap or an ivory Nortide linen strap.
Omega Seamaster Summer Blue Aqua Terra
Technically, Omega’s Seamaster Aqua Terra in a light blue is more evocative of the surface of the ocean than it is glacial ice. Still, the gradient on the dial, from lighter towards the centre to darker around the periphery, has all the hues of a glacier, and overall, the watch looks pretty ice-cool. The 38mm Aqua Terra features the collection’s bevelled sailboat indexes, and broad, arrow-shaped hands, with a round date aperture at six o’clock. These, along with the branding on the dial are the only decoration, which allows the sunray brushing on the icy blue canvas to shine through.
Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph Ice Blue Limited Edition
Though the Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph is a 200-piece limited edition, it’s among the iciest of glacial gradient blue dial watches. Its sunray-brushed dial darkens around the edges and reflects a light, ice blue near the centre. The steel dive bezel with embossed numerals and markers, and three-link steel bracelet augment the iciness of the dial. Powered by the Oris calibre 400, the watch boasts enhanced anti-magnetism, and hence accuracy, and a five-day power reserve.
Seiko Prospex Glacier Blue GMT Diver
Inspired, very obviously, by Antarctic ice, the Seiko Prospex Glacier Blue GMT dive watch plays up the glacial blue on its dial not just in its hue but also in texture. The three-dimensional pattern on the dial features textures formed naturally on glacier walls. The smooth black diver’s bezel on the 42mm timepiece offsets the texture and colour on the dial. Though it is a commemorative timepiece celebrating Seiko’s 1968 diver’s watch, the Prospex Glacier Blue GMT Diver is a contemporary timepiece, designed to be extremely wearable, and is powered by the brand’s calibre 6R54, with a three-day power reserve.
Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 Ice Blue
By themselves, the 40mm steel, tonneau-shaped case, integrated bracelet, Nivachron balance spring, and 80-hour power reserve make the PRX Powermatic 80 a cool enough accessory to own. And then, earlier this year, Tissot went ahead and introduced a cooler, ice-blue dial for this watch. If the embossed guilloche pattern stood out on the deep blue, black and white watches, it gives the light blue version a whole new glacial cool feel to it. The brushed finish on the case and strap and polished accents only serve to highlight the coolness of the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 Ice Blue.
Zenith Defy Skyline Ice Blue
Featuring an ice-blue sunburst-patterned dial engraved with four-pointed stars, paired with the line’s octagonal steel case and faceted 12-sided bezel, Zenith’s Defy Skyline is the very definition of icy. The metallic finish on the dial only adds to the chill factor of the watch. The 41mm version, with hours and minutes and a date aperture at three o’clock, features a 1/10th-of-a-second indicator in a sub-dial at nine, and is powered by the brand’s El Primero movement. The 36mm timepiece, with timekeeping and date functions, is also available with diamonds embellished on the bezel, giving the timepiece a more defined icy appearance.
These watches embody the fact that the pale, teal-aqua shade of blue is bold enough to stand out, yet soft enough to not draw unnecessary attention. And while ice blue dials may be ‘cool’ at present, the intensity and gender-neutrality of the glacial hue is bound to outlast changing seasonal trends.