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As a kid, one of my favorite places to spend a Saturday was in the “gem room” at the American Museum of Natural History, since renovated and rechristened the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals. Glistening with gigantic slabs of strange-colored minerals and multi-hundred-carat stones of unimaginable value, the place mesmerized a sub-10-year-old version of me.
I never considered until recently that many of these stones could be worn not merely as jewelry, but also as watches. I probably never considered it, frankly, because until recently one didn’t see many stone-dial timepieces around. Popularized by brands such as Piaget beginning in the 1960s, they were once the stuff of high-society fever dreams, but the geological hysteria had since subsided — until now.
Some strange confluence of events in 2024 — perhaps spurred along by Piaget’s 150th anniversary — has seen vintage both stone-dial Piaget watches explode in popularity and modern stone-dial watches come back into play. However, the tables have turned somewhat: Far from being relegated to the pricey fringes of haute horlogerie, stone-dial watches are available at all sorts of price ranges, from entry range up to “Whaaaaa?!”
Why You Should Engrave Your Watches
Personalizing your watch transforms it from a mere composite of gears and springs and steel into something much more meaningfulJade, turquoise, onyx, mother-of-pearl, tiger’s eye — one can buy a stone-dial watch made from all sorts of minerals. There are a few things to keep in mind, however:
- Crafting a stone dial necessitates cutting an extremely thin slab of something that is highly fragile. Failure rates are high, and the work is difficult — it ain’t like stamping a regular brass dial blank. So you sort of get what you pay for.
- Because each dial is a thin slice of stone, each is thus unique. Cool, right?
- While aventurine is a form of quartzite, the aventurine used in most watches is actually a type of Murano glass speckled with copper filings that make it sparkle like the night sky. For our purposes, we’ll include watches made with this glass in our guide.
From sub-$1,000 microbrand watches to incredible $100,000+ beauties from maisons in the upper echelon of high-end watchmaking, stone-dial timepieces are once again all the rage. Check out some of our favorite recent examples below, and don’t forget to seek out the myriad vintage examples available from brands such as Piaget, Universal Genève and even Rolex.
Impossible Watch Company Time-Only
Did you know there’s a one-man microbrand operating out of Talkeetna, Alaska? (Do you know where Talkeetna, AK is? Me neither.) Well, there is, and Impossible Watch Company, much like Baltic, makes cool, vintage-inspired watches at non-eye-watering prices. The Time-Only model with various stone dials is particularly fetching, devoid as the dials are of all but a logo and handset. Powered by automatic Miyota movements, most sell for under $1,000. Cool!
Diameter: 38.5mm
Movement: Miyota 82S0 automatic
Water Resistance: 50m
Stone: Aventurine; lapis lazuli; tiger’s eye; malachite; onyx; etc.
Shinola The Runwell 41mm
Not every stone-dial watch is a bank-breaking proposition. Take this execution of Shinola’s The Runwell, for example: Measuring 41mm in sandblasted, PVD-coated steel, it features a fascinating dial made from a slice of the Petoskey stone, a piece of fossilized colonial coral dating back 350 million years. Found in northern Michigan, its beautiful shade blends well with the gunmetal color of the watch case, resulting in a stone-dial wonder at an approachable price.
Diameter: 41mm
Movement: Shinola Argonite 703 quartz
Water Resistance: 50m
Stone: Petoskey stone (colonial coral)
Christopher Ward C1 Moonphase
The C1 Moonphase sees British watchmaker Christopher Ward adopting a classic complication for the modern era by making it absolutely ‘uge — 25% larger than on previous C.W. models, the moon takes up the entire upper quadrant of the dial. The automatic Calibre JJ04, meanwhile, provides 128 years of accurate moonphase action, while a 40.5mm stainless steel case paired to a simple leather strap is appropriate for both everyday and more formal wear.
Diameter: 40.5mm
Movement: Christopher Ward Calibre JJ04 module (Sellita SW220 base) automatic
Water Resistance: 30m
Stone: Aventurine (glass)
Louis Erard Petite Seconde Malachite
Looking for a well-made stone-dial watch with good looks and Swiss guts? Look no further than the Petite Seconde from Louis Erard, a brand based in the Jura Mountains since 1929. Measuring 39mm in stainless steel, it boasts a cool green malachite face with a snailed opaline sub-seconds indicator above 6 o’clock and a set of fir tree-inspired, rhodium-plated hands. Powered by the automatic Sellita SW261-1 movement, it looks fetching on its matching forest-green calf leather strap.
Diameter: 39mm
Movement: Sellita SW261-1 automatic
Water Resistance: 50m
Stone: Malachite
Omega Constellation 41mm
As if crafting a dial from a bit of space rock wasn’t enough, Omega took the meteorite-dial concept one step further by adding color. Available in several different hues, this out-of-this-world take on the dressy Constellation with integrated bracelet features a striking meteorite dial in green, blue or even Moonshine Gold achieved through a PVD coating. The green version, with a matching Liquidmetal ceramic bezel, is particularly cool.
Diameter: 41mm
Movement: Omega Calibre 8900 automatic
Water Resistance: 50m
Stone: Meteorite
Zenith Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar Limited-Edition for Hodinkee
Like the idea of a stone-dial watch but prefer something more subtle? This incredible take on a recently reissued vintage watch from Zenith is just the ticket. Modeled on a rare prototype from 1970 housed in an El Primero case, it packs quite the complicated punch: In addition to a triple-calendar display with moonphase, it also has a modern 1/10th-second El Primero-derived chronograph. And those wild-looking subdials? They’re sections of the Gibeon Meteorite.
Diameter: 38mm
Movement: Zenith El Primero Caliber 3610 automatic
Water Resistance: 50m
Stone: Gibeon Meteorite
Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126719BLRO
The GMT-Master II is the gold standard for travel watches. Using its third “GMT” hand and 24-hour, bidirectional rotating bezel, one can easily view a second time zone as well as keep track of home time simultaneously. The ref. 126719BLRO provides a special spin on the typically utilitarian model by offering a white-gold case paired to a meteorite dial, making for interstellar riff on one of the most beloved tool watches in existence.
Diameter: 40mm
Movement: Rolex Calibre 3285 self-winding
Water Resistance: 100m
Stone: Meteorite
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding
“Jumbo”-sized 41mm Royal Oaks are wonderful and all, but there’s something about a 37mm version of Genta’s famed luxury sports watch that just…works. This version is all the more special due to its notable combination of materials: While the case and bracelet are machined from 18K yellow gold, the dial is made of turquoise. Powered by an in-house movement with 60 hours of power reserve, it’s a true showstopper of a stone-dial masterpiece.
Diameter: 37mm
Movement: Audemars Piguet Calibre 5900 automatic
Water Resistance: 50m
Stone: Turquoise
H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Tourbillon
Leave it to H. Moser & Cie to combine a complicated movement with a spectacular dial in an avant-garde design. This gorgeous take on the brand’s Endeavour Tourbillon features Abraham-Louis Breguet’s signature gravity-defying complication front and center at 6 o’clock, beneath which is an eye-catching slice of blue tiger’s eye stone — all housed within a well-sized 40mm white-gold case. (The watch is sold out, so you’ll have to check the secondary market — but it’s too good not to include here.)
Diameter: 40mm
Movement: H. Moser & Cie HMC 804 automatic
Water Resistance: 30m
Stone: Tiger’s eye
Biver Automatique Atelier Series Pietersite
Watch industry veteran Jean-Claude Biver’s eponymous brand crafts extraordinary watches in all manner of compelling configurations, but one of the coolest has to be its time-only Automatique Atelier Series with a pietersite dial. Housed in an 18K rose-gold case paired to either a leather strap or a matching gold bracelet, it features a mesmerizing stone dial swirling with white and orange veins. (Wait till you get a load of the incredible micro-rotor movement, too.)
Diameter: 39mm
Movement: Biver JCB-003 automatic
Water Resistance: 80m
Stone: Pietersite
Vacheron Constantin Tribute to Great Civilizations – Lion de Darius
This exquisite piece from Vacheron Constantin’s Metiers d’Art collection, produced in partnership with the Louvre, honors the Persian Empire of Darius I, who ruled in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. Its incredible dial — which depicts the Lion of Darius as seen on the Palace of Darius in Susa, Iran — is hand-engraved in 18K gold applique, while the background uses turquoise and jasper in stone marquetry. The sapphire glass is engraved in Old Persian, while champlevé enamel features on the outer frieze.
Diameter: 42mm
Movement: Vacheron Constantin Caliber 2460 G4/2 automatic
Water Resistance: 30m
Stone: Turquoise and jasper
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