These wondrous watches have been millions of years in the making

If one trend is currently dominating the world of watchmaking, hard stone dials might be it. Look around the recent launches and you’ll see them everywhere.

Whereas big names such as Cartier, Bulgari and Rolex seem mostly to return to the stones that first cemented their status as paragons of the genre (lapis, malachite, turquoise, tiger’s eye and onyx), independent makers tend to be less orthodox, introducing watch aficionados to ruby root, charoite or moss agate.

There are few dial materials that I would choose over hardstone. Give me tiger iron over another gradient lacquer, lapis lazuli over another shade of sunburst blue or carnelian over another textured finish inspired by linen, sand or hammered metal.

It is not that I don't admire those techniques — or the craftsmanship behind them — but the fact is that no matter how skilled the artisan, they are still competing against something nature perfected millions of years ago.

Perhaps that is why stone dials feel so relevant today, in an age where watchmaking has become defined by technical progress. Every year brings advanced escapements, new alloys and increasingly elaborate finishes, each promising to produce something no one has seen before. Yet one of the industry's most compelling design stories has come from slices of ornamental stone that existed before civilisation.

‘The thing I like with hardstone,’ says Emmanuel Gueit of Dennison, who has previously designed for Rolex, Harry Winston and Hermès, ‘is that every single dial is unique. We take the raw stone and cut it wherever we can — and they are all different.’

For Gueit, who also works with Tiffany, that individuality has little to do with price and everything to do with design. ‘I'm interested in new materials,’ he says. ‘We've seen ceramics and all sorts of innovations over the past 20 years — and I admire them — but when I think about luxury, I keep coming back to materials that come from the ground.’

The apparent simplicity of a hardstone dial belies one of the most demanding manufacturing processes in watchmaking. Every dial begins with a carefully selected block of mineral that is assessed for colour, pattern and structural integrity and later sliced into sheets, often little more than half a millimetre thick. Many never progress beyond this stage — even a spectacular pattern can conceal a hidden fault. A section that is structurally perfect, meanwhile, may simply lack the visual balance that is required for it to stand out.

Once selected, the stone is bonded to a metal base before being drilled for the hands, cut for complications such as the date and fitted with indices. Every operation runs the risk of reducing the material to fragments.

Where this was once the preserve of the great jewellery maisons, smaller, more boutique brands are now having a go. Names such as Christopher Ward and Frederique Constant are making natural stone available to collectors who, until recently, might only have admired it from afar. Through them, hardstone is not only becoming more financially accessible but seeing its very definition broadened in real time.

As Christopher Ward's Biel-based product director, Jörg Bader, puts it: ‘Our role is not to lecture collectors: it is to spark curiosity.’ For Bader, the objective is not to imitate haute horlogerie at a lower price, but to introduce collectors to natural materials that they might otherwise ignore. ‘If someone buys one of these watches because they fall in love with the colour or pattern, then discovers the remarkable story behind the stone itself, that is a wonderful outcome.’

At the helm of the stone-dial watch’s revival is Piaget — which, over time, has become the maison most closely associated with the style. The brand never abandoned its belief in ornamental stone, just as its purveyors have never faltered in their remarkable appreciation for Piaget’s vintage creations: think of the 15102, a watch known for its galvanic anthracite dial, or the asymmetrical timepiece that would later be known as the Limelight Gala.

These were watches, after all, worn to the most glamorous events of the day, by the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol and Sophia Loren.

Although tempting to conclude that Piaget invented the hard-stone dial, the reality is rather more complex. The stone dial first ascended in the late 1960s and 1970s, its story shaped not by one house, but by a shared appetite for experimentation. Piaget produced some of the era’s defining models, pairing slices of malachite, lapis lazuli, jade and coral with ultra-thin movements and sculptural gold bracelets.

At about the same time, Chopard was creating equally accomplished stone dials and Cartier was incorporating ornamental stone into both jewellery watches and icons such as the Tank. Rolex, too, was experimenting with jasper, malachite and other natural materials in its most prestigious collections.

‘The 1970s was a period of remarkable creative freedom in watchmaking and jewellery,’ a spokesperson for Chopard explains. ‘Designers were moving away from convention, embracing bold colours, sculptural forms and unexpected materials.’ For the house, stones transformed the watch from a functional object into wearable art — a philosophy that continues to shape them today.

What has changed is not the material, but the speed at which ideas now spread. Fifty years ago, several brands arrived at similar conclusions through a common cultural consensus. Today, inspiration travels instantly. A handful of influential launches, strengthened by auctions, collectors and social media, has been enough to encourage brands to reboot the stone dial across the board.

Perhaps this is why the second gold rush feels so different from the first: the revival of the stone dial is no longer confined to a handful of household names. Trends come and go, colours rise and fall, materials drift in and out of fashion, but nature’s offering seems to endure as the watchmaker’s eternal muse.

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This feature originally appeared in the November 4, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.'