Earthy Tones Making The Statement: The Rise Of Rustic Brown In Contemporary Watchmaking

Time is a perpetual passage of humanly-perceived moments factoring in celestial, emotional, spiritual, and technical elements. It is the never-ending and all-encompassing dimension that surrounds the physical axes. In the journey of our evolving and somewhat controversial perception of time, this passage carved a wonderful moment when mankind discovered the art of timekeeping. The craft that melds technical with the aesthetic has reached a peak and we are just witnessing the grandeur of its complicated exhibit. While approaches to crafting timepieces vary between form and function, it is the faces of these humble timekeepers that express the beauty of time. When a higher epoch of artisanal mastery is reached, nothing matches the grandeur resulting from an opus derived from a fine execution of predominantly Swiss crafts - watchmaking finesse and chocolate hues. How they come together to shape the modern ecstasy of time is a tale we are going to delve deep into.

When a Chocolatey Hue Dresses the Sweet Tale of Time

By many means, a colored dial timepiece is an acquired taste. Since the age when the fleeting passage of moments got translated into the sweeping or ticking of a slender metallic needle, the case of legibility and timelessness in aesthetics has been attested to a winning reputation by the plain white dial. Sure, offsets to the achromatic #FFFFFF color did exist, but the realization of a non-white-hued dial was a late inception. In this exploration of brighter and nowadays more candy-ish hues for watch dials, a quite popular and for the purist tastes, a sort of color with non-understated versatility marked a genesis. It is the brown color dial we are talking about.

Witnessing a sparkling boom of late, the brown dial trend has gotten the interest of watchmakers and enthusiasts alike. In its execution and aesthetic realization, a brown dial timepiece evokes an earthly opulence and much like the color’s prominence in décor, has found a fitting pairing with timepiece design. To the credit of collectors and complementing the cause of exclusivity, it is the brown dial watches that stand to be limited in production and rarer within the buyer’s circles. When the grounding essence of the color brown dresses an artisanal masterpiece of sheer opulence, it brings about a merger of rustic minimalism and understated elegance.

Brown Dial Watches to Look Out For

The affinity of a brown dial timepiece stands equated among collectors and wearers with a gender-neutral appeal. Very few colors tend to do that! The richness of this earthly-hue plays well with a metallic case and complements both masculine and feminine style preferences. From casual to effortlessly cool, a brown dial watch is a do-it-all proposition that celebrates individuality and a factor of differentiation in the inclination towards nuanced aesthetics.

Now we get to the part where we discuss the best brown dial timepieces, starting with an aesthetically successful realization of the hue - the Vacheron Constantin Overseas 4500V. Daring to offer a distinctive aside from the beaten tracks of blue or black/silver dial steel sports watches, Vacheron Constantin introduced a third-generation Overseas at SIHH 2016 in a warm brown dial. When in production for its brief period from 2016 till 2018, this model was the least ordered iteration of the Overseas. The low take rate combined with a short production run cemented a recipe of high collectability, all credited to its rarity. This 41mm steel timepiece feels rigid yet exceptionally wearable across the wrist. The exquisite metallic brown sunburst dial features a couple of circumferential satin finishes for the flange and the minute tracks. The specific hue of brown which Vacheron Constantin chose for this iteration exudes a seemingly simple aesthetic but exponentially bursting with an extra layer of finesse.

Following the Vacheron with another take on the brown dial aesthetic is definitely going to be an exceptional trial, but we have the Rolex Day-Date 40 Everose gold with a chocolate dial to advocate for the case. Part of the current portfolio at the crown, the chocolate dial Day-Date 40 has a brown bronze metallic sunburst dial with gilt-style rose gold printing, enveloped with a railroad outboard track. This wonderfully warm dial is a fitting complement to Rolex’s proprietary in-house smelted Everose gold case with a sophisticated yet seemingly simple hue. For aficionados of the hue encased in a beefier aesthetic, Rolex also offers a similar chocolate dial in its 42mm Sky-Dweller with an Everose gold package.

Now that we’ve established the prominence of splendor from a couple of brown dial timepieces, we shift focus towards an astonishing entrée in the tale, the F. P. Journe Chronomètre Holland & Holland. A unique collaboration timepiece realized with the augmenting artisanal prowess of one of the greatest independent watchmakers of our generation and Holland & Holland, a bespoke British gunmaker. Monsieur Journe’s collaboration with the fabled gunmaker resulted in the 2017 Chronomètre H&H, a limited-edition timepiece with a brown Damascus steel dial. The wavelike patterns, a signature of Damascus steel, get a “Browning” treatment similar to the bluing process we are so familiar from traditional haute horlogerie crafts. This surface-treated brown hue is unique to any other brown dial timepiece where the hue is realized either from a lacquer application or an electronic coating. With the browning heat treatment, a resistant iron oxide layer garnishes the Damascus steel watch face with a protective surface that excels aesthetically at so many levels. This collaborative pursuit of excellence is surely a shared endeavor between masters of fine craftsmanship.

Another pleasing realization of the chocolatey dial aesthetic is the H. Moser & Cie Venturer Big Date where the dramatically cambered sapphire crystal reveals Moser’s fume fade dial in rose gold but with a hint of chocolate-brown hue. It’s a gradating hue with a golden bronze center transitioning radially outwards to a darker brown hue. The minimal watch face reveals a big-date and a sunken sub-seconds display. Overall, the timepiece exhibits a wonderfully beckoning amalgam of color and materials bringing so much warmth to the wrist.

The haute horlogerie epochs of the brown dial timepiece series include noteworthy mentions such as the Cartier Roadster XL Chronograph in rose gold with a brown dial. The tonneau shaped case envelops a chocolate brown dial with a wonderful depth exhibit emanating from its sunken middle part. Paired with the utility of a 12-hour chronograph, the timepiece is a sporty-elegant realization of the brown dial aesthetic. The Tudor Black Bay 58 Bronze with a gradient matt brown-bronze domed dial is a specialist of utilitarian craft making its way into our list. The watch is a “Boutique Edition” which pairs a brown dial with a brown bezel as well, serving an all-out earthly-hued assault in a 39mm case package. As a bonus, the bronze case develops a patina that ages gracefully to your bespoke wearability.

The tale of brown hued timepieces takes a twist with two specialist offerings from Audemars Piguet. One features a “brown dimpled dial” while the other is an openworked sapphire dial iteration (wondering where the brown goes on it?), with a case made from “brown ceramic,” a nonpareil execution of the hue. The former is the Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon and the latter is the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack,” a limited edition of 200 pieces. The pair of timepieces exhibits AP’s mastery of material and haute horlogerie innovation, packaged in the meticulously orchestrated hues of chocolate brown.

For those on a budget, the spectrum of brown dial timepieces offers a wonderful variety with the following watches that won’t set you back in five or six-figures:

• Seiko King Seiko SPB285J1 in brown dial
• Maurice Lacroix Aikon in chocolate-brown fume dial
• Mido Multifort TV Big Date with chocolate dial
• Omega Co‑Axial Master Chronometer Moonphase Chronograph in brown dial
• Seiko Presage SRPB46J1 brown dial
• Rado Centrix Automatic Diamonds with brown dial
• Oris Divers Sixty-Five brown dial
• Breitling Super Chronomat B01 44 in brown dial
• Longines Conquest brown dial
• Frederique Constant Highlife Automatic COSC in brown dial

We are used to seeing watches that look like rainbows and the metamorphosis of aesthetic preferences has surely witnessed an inclination towards a pop of hues. While not actually bland and avoiding an excessive imbuing of a bright palette, a brown dial timepiece is a beautiful expression of understated luxury that lets the color do all the talking. Synonymous with nature, brown is a color that can be expressed finely in a single word, “tradition.”