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Let’s take a quick inventory of some of the small watch brands making enamel dials of some kind. This is a segment that’s become ultra competitive in the wake of anOrdain, the Glasgow based indie that popularized this style of artisanal watchmaking in a more accessible way, coming on the scene several years ago. There’s 5280 Watch Company, based in Colorado and creating a truly unique enamel dial that is also decorated with an old fashioned engine turning technique. Then there’s Statera, based in Brazil, a brand that makes grand feu enamel dials that are meant to evoke midcentury classics from Patek Philippe and others. There are a bunch of brands who don’t specialize in enamel, but have dabbled in it, one way or another. We can include De Rijke & Co. here, who produced a limited run of champlevé enamel dialed watches with designs by Guy Allen last year. There are others: Louis Erard and Seiko have had notable enamel releases in the last few years, and we can even include James Lamb in the conversation, although the handmade silver cases he produces push his watches just a bit outside that tempting sub $5,000 price point.
This much enamel would have been unthinkable in a pre anOrdain world, and I think it’s important to recognize that at the outset of any discussion of a new enamel dialed watch, because any new watch in this category will be seen, perhaps unfairly, as a challenger to anOrdain’s crown. Their waitlist now reportedly stretches to 2029, so it makes a certain amount of sense that we’d see brands swoop in and try to snap up some of that enamel dial demand. All of these brands, of course, offer something distinct – none are straight up copies of anOrdain’s style. But it’s undeniable that they exist in the vacuum of their waitlist.
The latest entry in the enamel sweepstakes is from Selten, with their Grand Feu Enamel Series, officially unveiled today. Selten describes itself as a “contemporary microbrand” and was founded by Leonardo Tsai, whose family has a background in watch and dial making. Based in Hong Kong, Selten has gained notice in recent years for design-forward watches with exotic dials made from meteorite, Tahitian mother of pearl, aventurine, and other materials.
The new enamel dialed watches are the first in what Selten calls their metiers d’art collection, which promises to add genuinely hand-made and craft focused watches to the Selten lineup. According to Selten, the dials for the Grand Feu Enamel Series are produced by a single enamel artisan. In addition to the enameling itself, which is part science, part art, and requires a deep understanding of your materials, timing, and the application of heat, Selten’s artisan hand carves 700 lines in a decorative pattern into the silver dial blanks before the enamel is applied (multiple dial patterns are being produced, including the “Spiral” seen here, and the “Flare,” which features straight lines, and takes less time overall to produce). This gives the dials their distinctive texture, and is how Selten sets these watches apart from other brands producing enamel dials at a similar price point (regular retail pricing starts at $2,599, but there are launch price discounts for customers getting in on the first batch).
A variety of colors are available, including blue, red, and gold. My review sample is a vibrant purple called “Prism Violet” and features the “Spiral” pattern which Selten says takes around five hours to engrave. The end result is a very nice looking dial, but one that doesn’t have the obvious qualities we normally associate with enamel. A classic enamel dial is characterized by a glassiness and depth of color that is hard to achieve by any other method. The Selten, by contrast, is all about texture. If that’s your thing, you’ll probably get a lot out of this dial. The way that it plays with light is impressive and there’s no denying the intricacy of the craft involved – the engraving work is heavy and well defined, and rewards examination under a loupe. But I found myself wondering why this needed to be an enamel dial, and if the end result would look much different if a varnish or lacquer had been applied instead.
Marking the time we have Roman numerals at the cardinal positions and simple, long indices at every other hour. A railroad style minute track circles the dial’s perimeter, and I found legibility to be easy regardless of viewing angle. The hour hand, with a circular arrow design at its endpoint, is a tribute to the watches of Urban Jürgensen. The circular ring is polished on all sides and is an impressive small detail.
The stainless steel case measures 39mm in diameter, 45.5mm lug to lug, and 10.9mm tall. The wide midcase is horizontally brushed, and accented with polished elements on the sides of each lug and the bezel. I’d characterize the finishing as rather contemporary in character, and its clear definitions between finishing techniques and its overall shape reminds me a bit of the Zeitwinkel 273 in my own collection. One curious thing about the case construction is that, visually, there appears to be quite a bit of space between the dial and crystal on the front side of the watch, as well as (to a lesser extent) between the movement and the exhibition caseback on the rear. The case isn’t prohibitively thick by any means at roughly 11mm, but I suspect that if Selten had gone with a more classically inspired case shape it could be trimmed just a bit thinner.
Selten uses the Soprod M100 automatic movement for this watch, and my review sample has an optional hand engraved rotor (an extra $100). This extra cost, I think, is tough to justify. It’s not bad looking by any means, but lacks the immediately impressive qualities of the hand engraved dial. It’s also not a great complement to the Soprod’s perlage finishing, which it will always be bumping against, literally and figuratively. Still, credit to Selten here for including this engraving as an option. They also offer a bracelet as an upgrade, and you can choose one with on-the-fly microadjustment capabilities.
I wore my review sample primarily on the included leather strap, which is in a light lavender shade and complements the dial nicely. The bracelet is perfectly adequate, but I think a watch like this belongs on a strap, personally. Putting it on the bracelet neutralizes a bit of what makes the dial special, and reduces the whole project to something vaguely resembling a sports watch. This is decidedly not a sports watch, though. It can be better understood, I think, as a piece of artistic craft first and foremost – a somewhat experimental one at that – and I imagine finding the right strap combination could really elevate the dial.
I’m a little torn about these hand engraved dials because while I think they are objectively very nice looking, they don’t really fit into my own notions of what an enamel dial should be. That’s on me, obviously, and it’s also kind of the point of Selten’s project to begin with. Their stated goal is to “bridge heritage and modernity,” which is an idea that many brands seem to be reaching for in one way or another. It’s a license of sorts to tweak craft techniques that date back centuries into something that might be more palatable to a modern audience, or stand out from watches that are more traditional. In doing so, however, you inevitably lose something inherent in the craft that makes it special.
But we need watches like this to move the ball forward, and expose new audiences to old craft techniques. Having a marketplace full of choices is an undeniably good thing, and just as anOrdain very likely created a small submarket for enamel dials, it stands to reason that Selten and other brands in a similar position might encourage collectors to experiment, take risks, and expose themselves to materials and techniques they’d have otherwise ignored. Selten
