anOrdain’s enamel dials have earned the Glasgow maker a five-year waiting list – proof of how badly people want them, but a real frustration for anyone stuck with a half-decade wait. The new Model 1 Porcelain is anOrdain’s solution: a crisp white porcelain dial with custom numerals by typographer Kia Tasbihgou, on the brand’s core model, and buyable without joining the enamel queue at all.
The case is the familiar Model 1. At 38mm across, 46mm lug-to-lug and 11mm deep, it wears easily on almost any wrist and slips under a cuff. It’s 316L steel, brushed and polished, with a sapphire crystal carrying three layers of anti-reflective coating and a screw-in caseback rated to 5ATM. It arrives on a new in-house 18mm leather strap – the first straps to ship from anOrdain’s own textile department, set up last year. That decision traces back to the brand’s bespoke service, where leatherworker Abbie can spend up to three days on a single strap. Gorgeous, but not something you can scale, hence the new department.
The dial is really why you should care about this launch, and it’s where anOrdain quietly puts the rest of the industry to shame. Most brands reach for pre-made zirconia ceramic sheets and still slap “porcelain” on the spec sheet. anOrdain actually makes the real thing: a clay-based dial, fired using traditional pottery techniques in Glasgow. anOrdain started developing this process back in 2022 and launched the Model 2 Porcelain two years later, this is only the second watch to use it.
And it is punishing work. By anOrdain’s own numbers, around 300 dials are attempted a month with up to 90% getting rejected, and a single specialist ends up finishing just 30 to 40. However, that’s still far more efficient than enamel. For comparison, seven enamellers turn out around 50 vitreous enamel dials a month between them, and each dial needs a minimum of twelve hours’ work, which is exactly where that five-year queue comes from.
On to that pure white dial go Tasbihgou’s numerals in a rich blue – a playful, modern spin on traditional dial lettering, inspired by the detailing on Breguet pocket watches. It’s clearly designed as one composition rather than a dial with hands bolted on: the off-centre hole in the hour hand echoes the “0” numerals, the angular minute hand adds a bit of contrast. The heat-blued steel hands pick up the same blue as the print.
You get a choice of two movements: the La Joux-Perret G101 or the decorated A1. Unsurprisingly that’s what decides the price: £2,200 +VAT ($2,950) for the G101, £2,520 +VAT ($3,400) for the A1. It goes on sale 27 August 2026 through anordain.com, with existing customers getting first dibs via 24-hour priority access. There are 70 watches at launch, with small monthly batches to follow, and orders ship within two weeks.
But honestly, the real draw here isn’t on the spec sheet at all. If you’ve ever wanted a Model 1 but couldn’t stomach a five-year wait, this is your best shot at getting one: same case, same hands, same Glasgow craft – just without the queue.
Price and Specs:
More details at anOrdain.
