anOrdain Watches: The Best Dial Face of any Microbrand

Today I wanted to throw a spot light on another micro brand out of Glasgow, anOrdain, that has some of the most beautiful dial faces you're likely to see. 

The idea for a watch company that could fuse contemporary design with traditional craft first occurred to Lewis many years ago, while he was visiting Loch anOrdain, a remote loch in the Scottish Highlands.

Some years later in 2015, he founded the company with a team of two: Imogen, their typographer, and Adam, our first enameller. Years of research work and design experiments first bore fruit in 2018, when we launched the Model 1, which took inspiration from cartographic maps of the area around Loch an Ordain. The watch quickly sold out its run of 260 pieces.

What is enamelling? 

Enamelling is a process by which powdered glass is fused to a metal substrate at high heat. It is a notoriously difficult to get right. Lots of trial and error and painstaking hours can go in to getting a useable result. 

In 2019 they launched the rugged Model 2, their take on the traditional field watch, in a variety of versions. In 2020, they revisit the Model 1 with a new interpretation of their original idea. Here are some of the photos from a review by watch expert and critic Teddy Baldassarre. This is called the Plum version.

The enameling is a excruciating process of painting onto a copper disc, then putting into a kiln lit to 830 degree Celsius. The enamels are painted by hand. The biggest issue with enamel dials is many of them crack in the kiln. Even the slightest imperfection render them useless.

There is a smoke effect on the dial and the plum darkens to a softer finish as it approaches the perimeter. I love everything about the details. Arabic markers at the even positions and linear indicators at the odd hour positions. The dial printing is a subdued golden shade that compliments the rest of the dial perfectly. It has a dressy polishing on the case top sides and bezel. 

One thing that has been noted is the dome with its sapphire coating. It gives it a less desirable reflective quality which detracts from the allure of the dial face itself. 

Today, their expanding team of skilled designers and makers, work together to explore new creative territories. Their home and studio is comprised of three distinct spaces created specifically for watchmaking, enamelling and design, housed in the Templeton Building on Glasgow Green. (If anyone is reading this I would love to get on the back of a press trip to see the facilities. Please message me on Insta thanks). 

Their facilities was originally built as a carpet factory that employed graduates from Glasgow’s renowned art school, anOrdain operates in much the same way: drawing on local talent to design and manufacture in Scotland.

The waiting list is interesting, I've heard some people have a slot for 2028. There is some information about the £350 order deposit on their site 

The presentation cases look beautiful. A nice calf leather and according to one unboxing video it comes with two additional straps. A python leather and a rubberized blue-teal version. 

Summary

The price point for these watches is understandable, (between £1300 and £4000) but makes it less accessible for those wanting to build their collection. Especially if you can't afford luxury watches, this puts me in a bit of a halfway house. It's a very desirable and aspirational watch, but the waiting list is also a bit nebulous). 

However, if time and money is no issue, I'd happily pull the trigger on one of these beautiful watches.