Watches with precious stone dials have been positively inescapable this year. Influential dealers like Analog:Shift, Wind Vintage, and Meta Watches have been all over vintage Piagets with these entrancing faces. We aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed. Etienne Malec, the founder of French microbrand Baltic, clearly has his finger on the horological pulse. The brand is releasing three additions to its new Prismic line with semi-precious stone dials that makes this red-hot trend much more accessible.
Baltic’s new stone-dial pieces show the brand pushing further into dressy territory. The Prismic collection that first released in February was all about elegance. They serve as a natural template for these new saucier watches. While the original Prismic dials featured applied, prism-shaped indices; an inner section with a guilloché finish; and a sub-seconds dial in brushed steel with polished chamfers, the new watches put their respective stones front and center: The green jade version is named for Baltic’s New York showroom, while the red agate is for London and the blue lapis lazuli is for Paris. Each version features faceted, applied steel indices rather than the prism type seen on the original Prismic; the sub-seconds display, meanwhile, has been retained in the form of applied indices only, doing away with the outer seconds track. The dauphine hands appear identical between versions.
Getting rid of the eye-catching, prism-shaped indices and outer seconds track on the sub-seconds display allows the stone dials to really shine, and as each is a naturally occurring mineral, every watch will be slightly different. (Each is a numbered edition of 200 pieces.) Other than that, the case has been carted over from the original Prismic, and still clocks in at 36mm with a smooth bezel, lugs, and caseback in steel and a Grade 5 titanium midcase topped by a double-domed sapphire crystal. Measuring 9.2mm thick, it includes polished upper surfaces and circular or horizontally-brushed lower surfaces. Water resistance is 30m, meaning that you probably don’t want to be pushed into your above-ground jacuzzi while wearing one.
Baltic’s adventures deeper into the world of dress watches might signal something larger about the industry at large, too. While the brand has offered dress watches throughout its history, those pieces were always backstage to Baltic’s main offerings: vintage-inspired divers and chronographs. Now, Baltic seems to be keeping up with collectors’ changing tastes. The original Prismic collection was a nice alternative to the brands’ sport watches but these new stone-dial pieces really put a fine point on what customers are looking for today. Baltic has always served the customer looking to get vintage style at affordable prices, but the same clients who may have been looking for a bi-compax in the late 2010s are now searching out the best lapis lazuli they can buy. These new Baltic watches are an excellent solution.
