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The Art of Enamelling at Lange & Söhne
As you know, the Lange One Tourbillon Handwerkskunst features a stunning black enamel dial. During the event organized in Dresden, Romy Zimmermann was preparing the specific powder used to create the dial. Lange published a few days ago pictures which describe the full enamelling process. I propose to share them with you.
Romy Zimmermann:
1 Preparation of the Enamel
First of all, the basic raw material, a special kind of glass, is
reduced to microscopic fragments by rubbing and crushing in a mortar, so
that it can then be sieved or applied wet with a brush.
2 Treatment of the Back
Counter-enamel is applied to the back of the dial. This is necessary to prevent distortion of the enamel on the dial side through excessive stresses.
3 Filling Interstices
Small interstices between letters and figures are filled with enamel using a fine brush.
4 Sieving
The fine enamel powder is spread evenly over the dial with a sieve. The piece is then fired briefly at a temperature of several hundred degrees in a special kiln. These steps may be repeated several times.
5 Enamel Dust
During sieving, the fine enamel dust is collected on a piece of aluminium foil.
6 Firing and Cooling
After each firing, the dial is cooled slowly on a fireproof support. Only when the dial has been completely dried and cleaned can the sieving operation be repeated. This process takes several days.
7 Metamorphosis
The more enamel layers are applied, the darker the final surface appears. Thus, the blue shimmering enamel particles turn into the black dial eventually.
And the result is even more beautiful when the watch is put on the wrist! Why? Because the dial creates subtle shades of light...
Thanks a lot to the Lange team for these great pictures.
Fx
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The Art of Enamelling at Lange & Söhne
As you know, the Lange One Tourbillon Handwerkskunst features a stunning black enamel dial. During the event organized in Dresden, Romy Zimmermann was preparing the specific powder used to create the dial. Lange published a few days ago pictures which des...
Looks like...
this is very meticulous and hard working process and it also looks like some text is missing :) Between picture 6 & 7 there are surely some important steps + is the dial of Lange one cut out before or after enameling to reveal tourbillon? Sincerely Da...
I like when such craftmanship is used from time to time
and remain rare as well. The result must be beautiful, with maybe a little shade of blue from some angle ? Thanks for sharing Fx. Cheers, Mark
"The more enamel layers are applied, the darker the final surface appears."
Any idea how many layers are needed here in this case? Looking forward to see it (the watch, not the process) "live" some time soon. Hopefully! Thanks, FX! Oliver
Awesome post Fx...............
Thanks for sharing, such a beautiful watch. There are 20 very lucky people out there! Tony
I finally saw the beautiful black enamel on this watch last night!
Thanks for the wonderful post Fx! Good read and great pics to show the hard work involved in enameling. I will post some live pics of the watch soon :) cheers robin
Thanks for sharing.
I saw the watch in the metal. The dial is exquisite but it's not easy to photograph it. But I thought your pic came pretty close. Regards, Ian
very cool pictures
and explanation of the enamel creation process...thanks for sharing!!
