The Best Enamel Dial Watches Championing An Almost-Forgotten Craft

During lunch with a watch dealer friend of mine, we discussed just how popular stone dials have recently become (in fact, I argued it was the biggest trend in watch collecting last year). The conversation continued about different kinds of rare and unusual watch dials, and he made an interesting point I hadn’t considered before: enamel dial watches could well be the next hottest trend in collecting.

While stone dials – until recently – were considered genuinely rare and a commodity, the rush from brands to meet this emerging consumer appetite has revealed that stone dials aren’t all that difficult or expensive to produce. And sure, a stone dial Rolex Day-Date isn’t going to be an affordable exercise, but brands like Timex, Dennison, along with many others have soundly proven you can get a stone dial watch on your wrist for a surprisingly reasonable price.

Now, unlike stone dial watches, enamel dial watches can’t be crafted as cheaply – and they certainly can’t be faked in the same way as vintage stone dial watches – making them the perfect material for collectors hunting something rare, unusual, and long-lasting. So if (like me) you’ve been considering an enamel dial watch for your next potential purchase, check out a few of our favourites below – ranging from the elevated to the approachable.

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Breguet Classique Souscription 2025

This year was the 250th anniversary of Breguet, and to kick off its birthday celebrations, the legendary watchmaker debuted the Classique Souscription 2025.

It was extremely well received by collectors around the world and won the “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix prize at the 2025 GPHG awards. But while the historical significance of the watch was a large part of why it turned so many heads, it’s worth noting the Breguet Classique Souscription 2025’s white grand feu enamel dial is a work of watchmaking art.

A little easter egg for any prospective owners – the dial features a secret signature at six o’clock, which has been hand-engraved using a traditional diamond-point pantograph.

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Anordain Model 1 Fumé Plum

Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Anordain was arguably the first watchmaker to democratise enamel dials for value-focused watch lovers, initially gaining traction circa 2018 with the debut of The Model 1.

Since then, the modest team of watchmakers and enamellers has released a few different models (including the Anordain Model 2: OT Edition that I personally owned), while also updating its Model 1 line-up to include the Fumé Plum version that Anordain claims is the “world’s first fumé enamel dial.”

Approachably priced, undeniably beautiful on the wrist, and available in three different case sizes, it’s a winner from every angle.

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Seiko Presage SPB495

As far as household names producing affordable enamel dials go, Seiko is the best in the business… and has been producing enamel dial watches with the Presage collection for over a decade.

The Presage SPB495 is my favourite example, which you can easily purchase today, featuring a crisp white enamel dial with black printed Roman numeral hour markers, blued hands, as well as a handy 24-hour time subdial at six o’clock.

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Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Year of the Horse

When it comes to the finest enamel dials that money can buy, Vacheron Constantin and its Métiers d’Art program are one of the places you want to look.

While the storied watchmaker recently released the Les Cabinotiers Homage To Epic Warriors Minute Repeaters, flaunting remarkable enamel-painted dials (a collection of four unique timepieces), it’s also just announced a special edition that celebrates the upcoming Year of the Horse.

Cased in 40mm of either pink gold or platinum, the dial showcases a sculpted horse at its centre, framed by a background of trees crafted from opaque miniature enamel. How does one tell the time? The watch features four windows on the dial designed to be read from left to right and up to down: communicating the hours, minutes, day, and date in a straightforward, legible format. Price On Request.

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MarkLe “The Carp”

In a watchmaking world dominated by Switzerland, Japan, and Germany, I was excited to discover the Vietnam-based workshop of MarkLe, crafting cloisonné enamel dials of a genuinely impressive level of quality.

I was so impressed, in fact, that I took it upon myself to journey all the way to the MarkLe workshop in a relatively rural part of southern Vietnam, interviewed brand founder Philippe Le (Lê Nguyên Hoàng Anh Duy), and was fortunate enough to get a closer look at how the team created its intricate, brightly coloured enamel dials.

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While the team at MarkLe offer totally bespoke dial designs that clients can customise however they like, the brand also offers a line-up of ready-to-order dials, including this vibrant depiction of a Vietnamese carp fish. Such are the intricacies of this dial-making technique – only around 20% of dials pass Le’s stringent quality control, cementing it as one of the more affordable brands in the cloisonné enamel dial game today.

After visiting MarkLe’s workshop, I actually decided to take the plunge and purchase one of his watches – specifically, the Ho Chi Minh City edition as a reminder of my time living in Vietnam. Having spent a little time with it at this point, I can happily confirm it’s one of the more special watches I’ve ever owned (and one that’s gotten more than its fair share of time on my wrist).

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Omega Seamaster 37mm Moonshine Gold Milano Cortina 2026

Omega’s status as the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games isn’t limited to competition timing and branding – the watchmaker also created special edition watches for each edition of the games, and this edition for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina has to be one of its best.

Crafted from Omega’s proprietary moonshine gold alloy, it measures 37mm in diameter and features a beautiful white grand feu enamel dial that serves as the perfect canvas for the angular applied hour markers.

There’s also an Australian link to this Italian-focused Olympic edition timepiece, which can trace its roots to the Seamaster XVI created for the 1956 Melbourne Games – to this day, it remains one of the most striking Olympic-edition Omega watches of all time.

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Ulysse Nardin Freak S Enamel

It’s not often you see such a contemporary watch design with enamel details, but Ulysse Nardin has artfully fused the centuries-old craft of enamel-making with its undeniably cutting-edge Freak design.

With a “dial” that looks more like a spaceship than anything else – boasting the world’s first automatic movement with a double oscillator – it features multiple enamel discs that have been decorated with guilloché flinqué to serve as a backdrop for the fully rotating movement that powers this remarkable watch.

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Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribure Enamel ‘Shahnameh’

One of the most unique elements of the Reverso design is how its swivelling case provides a canvas for creativity, and this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre created a quartet of enamelled watches inspired by the epic poetry of the Shahnameh.

The reason for this unlikely source of inspiration is that the illustrated version of the Shahnameh was among the earliest depictions of polo being played, naturally linking it to the Reverso (originally created to be worn by polo players in the 1930s).

My favourite of the four references is the example that features a miniature replication of Siyavush Plays Polo before Afrasiyab, from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp. Originally created between 1525 and 1530, the artwork has been painstakingly reproduced in the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture over 100 hours. Price On Request.

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Patek Philippe World Time Ref. 5231G

Patek Philippe has long been celebrated for its use of enamel in dial-making, and one of its latest triumphs is the World Time ref. 5231G.

For decades now, Patek Philippe has created grand feu cloisonné enamel maps of the world to illustrate the centre of its world time watches, and for the first time, the Genevan watchmaker has created a dial depicting a map solely focused on Australia and Southeast Asia.

Cased in 38.5mm of white gold, it’s powered by the self-winding calibre 240 HU with 48 hours of power reserve and is one of just two watches in the Patek Phillipe catalogue to feature grand feu cloisonné enamel dial today (the other is a $1.25 million minute repeater world time).

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Chopard L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 Jumping Hour

I recently wrote about this Chopard’s sibling for a story on the best jump hour watches, but unlike the green straw marquetry dial I outlined there, this version features a crisp white dial made from grand feu enamel.

Featuring a rose gold case that measures 40mm in diameter (10.8mm thick), the dial has the hours displayed via an aperture at six o’clock – a significant additional challenge in the already fraught process of creating an enamel dial.

Beyond the dial, the star of the show in the Chopard L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 Jumping Hour is the L.U.C 98.06-L movement that powers it, which is wonderfully finished and boasts two pairs of coaxial barrels that translate to 196 hours (eight days) of power reserve. A truly remarkable technical achievement.

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Revolution x Celadon Cloisonné Enamel ‘Imperial Four Nobles’

In what’s easily one of the more exciting collaborations between a watchmaker and a media entity, this link-up between Revolution and Celadon Haute Horlogerie has yielded no fewer than four limited edition watches with spectacular cloissoné enamel dials.

All crafted by Master Enameler Xiong Songtao from Beijing, the four dials each represent one of the year’s seasons, and are expressed through the classical Chinese art of bird-and-flower painting. Cased in 38mm of stainless steel, each of the dials is intricate in its depiction of each scene, offering a stunning range of colours and textures.

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Atelier Wen Ancestra Jiāo

Making its debut in the middle of 2025 was the Atelier Wen Ancestra Jiāo, marking the first time that the Frenchman-founded (and Chinese-championing) outfit Atelier Wen has attempted a grand feu enamel dial.

While the grand feu enamel is undeniably attractive, what makes this dial even more eye-catching is that the 925 silver dial is hand-hammered to achieve a dimple-like texture before being finished with semi-translucent fumé enamel.

The dial details don’t stop there, however, with six of the hour markers made using a baguette-cut diamond and the rest being pad-printed using designs from the Hong Kong-based calligraphy artist Elaine Wong.

This is easily my favourite watch that Atelier Wen has ever produced, marking a serious step up in the already elevated level of craft that the brand has long been capable of.

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If you enjoyed this list of the best enamel dial watches, you might enjoy a few of Boss Hunting’s other watch-buying guides below:

• The Best Jump Hour Watches Changing How We Tell Time
• The Best Affordable Watches To Level Up Your Collection Right Now
• Slow Craft, South Of Saigon: The Art Of Cloisonné Enamel Watch Dials
• Vacheron Constantin Celebrates 270 Years With A Clock Of Mindblowing Complexity
• Our Favourite Timepieces From Geneva Watch Days 2025