Salmon-dial watches: The perfect option for people after a classic watch with a big point of difference

Once a colour reserved for special editions or contemporary remakes of vintage pieces, salmon dials have gained such popularity in the last few years that they’ve gone from being an ever-present micro-trend to one of the biggest of the year. It’s not hard to understand why. Though once popular in the 1940s, their rarity and exclusivity in the past five decades or so have seen them attaining cult status, with collectors turning to auctions and resale markets to assuage their desire. (Coincidentally, the most expensive watch to go under the hammer is Patek Philippe’s Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010, which sold for about S$47.11 million at the Only Watch Auction in 2019. One of its two dials is salmon.)

Then, there’s the fact that salmon dials are incredibly pleasing to the eye. The warm, golden tone is poised and elegant, with none of the showiness or tackiness of their gilded counterparts. It makes a statement without saying a word, exuding the understated elegance so embraced these days. It’s classic but fresh; different but comforting. Plus, they go with almost everything you might possibly have in your wardrobe with a lot more flair than a white or black dial does.

This year sees watchmakers tapping on the popularity of the luscious hue in a big way. And that’s nothing but good news for consumers who are sure to find one that caters to their style preferences. Here are eight timepieces to get you started.

For a faultless time-only dress watch, you could do no better than Chopard’s re-edition of its original LUC 1860 from 1997. Still present is the 36.5mm case size with a gold guilloche dial. What’s visibly different is the absence of the date function, which has led to a cleaner, more elegant dial. And that’s not where all the differences end. Instead of a white gold case, Chopard has turned to its proprietary Lucent Steel, which comprises 80 per cent recycled elements while offering properties comparable with surgical steel. As for the dial, it’s adorned with a hand-guilloche centre, paired with a snailed small seconds counter that’s driven by the automatic L.U.C 96.40-L movement.

If you’re after a watch with more girth, IWC Schaffhausen’s newest Portugieser Automatic 40 should do the trick. Like the precursors that were launched in 2020, this steel Portugieser bears a 40.4mm case that houses IWC’s self-winding 82200 calibre with ceramic components (for added durability) and a 60-hour power reserve. The dial design remains unchanged, with slender leaf hands pointing towards rhodium-plated applied Arabic numerals and markers, and a small hacking seconds counter at the six o’clock position. The salmon hue, however, completely transforms the watch’s looks and adds a new facet to a collection already graced with red, blue and green dials.

Over at Vacheron Constantin, it’s the Patrimony Retrograde Day-Date that has gotten the rosy treatment. Introduced in a 42.5mm platinum case (previous editions are in either white or pink gold), this sophisticated timepiece bears a clean, minimalist dial graced with two additional retrograde indicators with blue steeled hands to mark the day and date. White gold hands point to the applied hour markers and white gold pearls of the minute track, which add to the reflection of lights that plays out on the convex, sunburst dial. Equipped with the calibre 2460 R31R7/3, this self-winding watch offers a 40-hour power reserve.

H. Moser & Cie is known for presenting impeccable watches with a hefty dose of humour, and its latest Streamliner Centre Seconds Smoked Salmon timepiece’s name says it all. The three-hand watch features a salmon fume dial (darkened or smoked around the edges) within a 40mm cushion-shaped steel case with a fully integrated bracelet. It’s a vision of sporty modern-retro stylistics, completed with hands featuring Globolight (a ceramic-based material that contains Super-LumiNova) inserts. As for the unique shade featured on the HMC 200 automatic calibre watch, brand CEO Edouard Meylan quips that the inspiration comes from Coho salmon, and not the “traditional Atlantic salmon” so regularly featured—on plates as well as timepieces.

Also found in this category are the new Tudor Royal watches. Available in four sizes — 28mm, 34mm, 38mm and 41mm — the 1950s-inspired automatic timepieces come with various design features that include metal choices (steel or yellow gold bi-colours), diamond-set bezels options, and several dial preferences: In addition to mother-of-pearl, there are sunray-brushed dials that introduce salmon and chocolate brown to the range. Baton hands with Super-LumiNova and integrated bracelets complete the picture.

Look two decades forward, and there you’ll find Vulcain’s Chronographe 1970's, the latest revival model from its 165-year archives. The 38mm manual-wind watch comes in four colour options: A blue dial with grey counters in true homage to its inspiration, a silver dial with black counters, a black dial with silver counters and a monotone salmon dial that the brand reserves for its limited editions (in this case, it’s 50 pieces). Snailed counters accompany the sunray-finished dial within a 12.40mm thick step-case that remains identical to the original chronograph.

If there’s one brand that knows how to cause a reaction, it’s Franck Muller. And that’s precisely what the brand did when it revealed its all-new Vanguard Slim Vintage collection this year. This is, after all, a watchmaker famed for producing watches that could be likened to the party animals of the horology industry. The Vanguard Slim Vintage, on the other hand, is surprisingly understated by Franck Muller standards. The automatic steel collection bears brass dials in various pastel hues — including salmon, pistachio green, lead grey, sky blue and mocha — with a Côtes de Geneve decorated centre surrounded by applied numerals and a black small seconds counter at the six o’clock position.

Salmon has proven so popular this year that watchmakers have not limited themselves to using it on just dials. Take Richard Mille’s first-ever ladies' sports watch, for example. The RM 07-04 Automatic Sport took three years of development to produce, not least because it features a new skeletonised automatic movement: The CRMA8 calibre with a guaranteed resistance to 5,000 g’s of acceleration. The lack of a dial has not stopped Richard Mille from offering the watch in six colour-saturated options. Available in black Carbon TPT, or Quartz TPT in salmon, cream white, mauve, green or dark blue, the watches come with vibrant velcro straps for an impressive total weight of just 36g. 

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