Organised by Revolution and The Rake, who have partnered with Fratello, Time + Tide and The Eye of Jewelry, The Pink Dial Project is a charity auction set up to raise funds for breast cancer charities.

Inspired by the fundraising efforts of the global watch community - particularly throughout the pandemic - Wei Koh, founder of The Rake, enlisted some of the biggest names in watchmaking to create one-off Pink Dials.

These unique watches will then be auctioned off on super-collector Eric Ku’s new platform, Loupe This, at the end of October to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The donations will be split evenly amongst charities in the United Kingdom, United States, the Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and Switzerland, but the winning bidders may also elect any other recognised breast cancer charity in the world.

For our contribution to the cause, we’ve created a unique piece reminiscent of vintage, mid-century timepieces with our interpretation of a linen dial.

Not only was this a style we’d never tried before, but the textile-effect of linen dials refers to the texture of ribbon fibre, alluding to the international symbol for Breast Cancer Awareness, the Pink Ribbon.

To add to its allure on auction day, our Pink Dial also provides several sneak peeks of what to expect from our upcoming third watch, the Model 3.

anOrdain's roller mill

Defined by their crosshatched pattern, linen dials became prominent roughly around the 1940s, with their fabric-like texture created through processes such as etching and engraving.

We achieved our dial’s crosshatched effect by running the silver base, covered with linen, through a roller mill. Once rolled, our enamellers then applied six layers of transparent pink enamel to the textured silver base before working it down to achieve its glossy finish.

From here, the numerals were pad-printed onto the dial. Inspired by the Model 1’s numerical typeface, the Pink Dial’s numerals provide the first glimpse of our third watch’s future aesthetic.

Continuing to mix elements of the handmade with the highly technical, our in-house typographer modified the numerical design. With their sharp corners reduced and curves smoothed, the numbers sit elegantly yet prominently upon the dial.

The magenta outline brightly contrasts with the soft pink dial, creating the illusion of a gentle blush across the numerals' white infill and lifting them from the enamel below - as if floating upon its surface.

The Arabic numerals mark 11 of the 12 hours upon the Pink Dial, but at the eighth index, the number is missing. Instead, a small ribbon, outlined in pink, takes its place.

As the international symbol for Breast Cancer Awareness, the ribbon’s significance at the eight o’clock marker is twofold.

In addition to representing Breast Cancer Awareness, the ribbon substitutes the numeral to represent the 1 in 8 women who develop breast cancer during their lifetime – a staggering statistic that brings the cause behind The Pink Dial Project to the forefront.

Staying true to the project's theme, we’ve opted for red gold hands to accompany and complement the pink champagne tones of the dial.

In our first journey into manufacturing precious metal hands in-house, we created the handset for our Pink Dial from 9-karat red gold wire, rolled out and polished by our enamellers. The hands were then laser cut before being re-polished and staked by our watchmakers.

Much like the numerals, the syringe handset's design has been carried over from the Model 1 and scaled to fit the larger dimensions of our Pink Dial.

In another first, a 39mm silver case houses our Pink Dial. Not only is this our largest case size to date, but it’s the first time we’ve used 925 silver for cases, and this piece comes with the anOrdain, 925 and Edinburgh Assay Office hallmarks between the lugs.

With a lug-to-lug length of 46mm, and thickness of 10.4mm, the dusky tones and shimmer of our blush-hued Pink Dial complement the clean shine of the silver encasement.

The watch is powered by the robust SW 210-1, which will be regulated by our team to suit the winning bidder.

The Pink Dial Project auction will take place on 25 October 2021 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The date is yet unconfirmed, but it likely will occur in the last week of the month. To take part, simply enter your name and credit card details into Loupe This, and start bidding.

Thanks to Eric Ku and Loupe This, there's no platform fee, so 100% of the money raised will go directly to the charities. If you would like to suggest charities for consideration, you can email Revolution at the following addresses: auction@revolutionmagazines.com, sumit@revolutionmagazines.com or ross@revolutionmagazines.com