VIDEO: Inside the Omega Speedmaster ’57’s sandwich dial

Fergus Nash

Sandwich dials have always commanded a sense of mystery and luxury, with very few brands dipping their toes into the genre despite its popularity. Omega surprised many with its release of a second generation for the Omega Speedmaster ’57 in 2022, now featuring a sandwich dial construction against any semblance of vintage accuracy. Whether or not the original Broad Arrow watches used this technique, we can’t deny that it creates an absolutely stunning effect on this new watch thanks to the added depth of the aged Super-LumiNova. Andrew recently visited Greg Kissling, the VP of Product with Omega, to figure out exactly what goes into building a sandwich dial.

 

 

I’ll be the first to admit in my ignorance that I assumed the bottom layer of a sandwich dial was an entire disc of lume, but of course that would be an enormous waste considering it’s usually just the hour markers on display. The first layer of copper is oxidised to a matte black to form the base of the two subdials, then the 0.15mm deep cavities are painstakingly filled with the Super-LumiNova paste by hand with their flatness ensured. The printed numerals for the subdials are also applied before the next layer goes on. Using a mixture of stamping and CNC milling, the second copper dial layer is shaped to have its hour marker cutouts and the bevelled edges of the subdials. Once oxidised black, all of the printed markings are applied with the usual soft pad technique.

Finally, the two layers are pressed together aligning the four dial feet, and the sandwich dial is complete. The two feet remaining on the underside will be used to align the dial with the movement, keeping everything orientated correctly. For more details and in-depth visuals, be sure to check out the video on Time+Tide’s youtube channel.