9 of the Best Accessible Guilloché Dial Watches to Buy Now

Once upon a time, guilloché used to be a byword for the kind of upper echelon of watchmaking that doesn’t have factories – it instead has maisons, all hand-made artisan crafts and eye-watering price tags. Well, no more. The fine art of regularly engraved dials has been democratised, and more brands than ever are offering mesmerising patterns at worryingly accessible price tags.

Now, a large part is because of the prevalence of CNC machines, which can precisely engrave a dial in comparatively no time at all. Sure, that loses some of the mystique, and if you’d prefer your dial to take one obsessed artisan a week to make, more power to you. But given most of us can’t afford a Voutilainen or Garrick, this more readily available approach means everyone can get their hands on a beautifully engraved, guilloché dial.

Here then are our favourite accessible (under £3,000) guilloché dial watches available right now.

Minim MN01 Laan4

Shiny new watch brand Minim has made a big splash with their debut collection and it’s not hard to see why. The dial consists of three different types of guilloché across the main dial, the subdial and the periphery, separated by an elegant track of Roman numerals. Available in a trio of fantastic colours, there’s something about the orchid-inspired royal purple of the Laan4 that’s downright delicious. Measuring 36.5mm across, Minim’s debut fits a lot to love in a small package.

More details at Minim.

Heinrich Radiance Guilloché Burgundy

Colourful swirls of spiralling guilloché, the latest dials from German watch brand Heinrich are absolute stunners. Aptly named the Radiance, the mesmerising dials are paired with the kind of 70s-flavoured bracelets the vintage-obsessed brand loves, and 38.5mm stainless steel cases. Set with a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock with a concentric guilloché, this is the kind of watch you can spot from a mile off – and not just because of the colour.

Available at Heinrich.

Etien T04 Aqua

The Etien T04 offers a double whammy of Metiers d’Art. Sure, the guilloché is magnificent with a pattern inspired by the maestros of Faberge. But over the top of that – and giving the dial its gorgeous light blue colour – is coloured enamel, making it technically a Flinqué enamel dial. If that term’s unfamiliar to you, educate yourself here. Bordered by a more readably black hour track outlining the roundly tactile 39mm case, Etien are really punching above their price tag, even on this list.

More details at Etien.

Selten M1 Moonphase CNC Guilloché

We’ve been fans of Selten’s stunning enamel dials for a while now, but their new M1 Moonphase ups the ante into the realms of mother-of-pearl. The brand has CNC machined incredible, slightly eye-watering waves directly into a dark Tahitian pearl dial, emanating from the 6 o’clock moonphase emphasising the natural variations in the material. The end result is an iridescent guilloché that, close up, looks like a machined take on the aurora borealis. Somehow, Selten have kept the price under £700, even with an automatic movement.

More details at Selten.

Celadon Imperial Plum

If you want to really explore what Chinese watchmakers have to offer in the realms of finishing and Metiers d’Art, check our Celadon. Enamel, stone dials, you name it, they do it – including of course guilloché. Their signature is this Imperial Plum pattern, a guilloché flower blooming from the centre of the watch. It’s available in a few colours but the pale, minty colour here shows it off fantastically. It’s backed by watchmaking chops too, specifically the Celadon-Grade B18 made by the Beijing Watch Manufactory. Chinese horology has no better champion than this.

More details at Celadon.

Jianghun Classic Guilloché

If you’re looking for a replacement for the sold-out Atelier Wen Perception (hopefully they’ve not moved onto bigger and better things permanently), the Jianghun Classic Guilloché is a stunner. The Diamond & Paris motif works incredibly well with the large, faceted indexes and svelte lines of the 39mm case. It’s available in a few colours, but one of the more unusual is this copper take, which gives the Chinese watch a fittingly dragon scale-like feel. It might be one of the best ways to spend just under £340. And yes, automatic movement, too.

More details at Jianghun.

Farer Three Hand Series III Aurora

British brands don’t have much truck with guilloché; we’re more about colour and sports watches than the innate ornateness of engraving – unless of course you’re the ultra-exclusive Garrick. Nevertheless there’s not a dial technique Farer hasn’t tried their hand at and their salmon-adjacent copper dial here adds some serious horological heft to their streamlined Three Hand Series. The guilloché itself is very fine, so from afar you only really see the radian lines where the arches meet, nicely subtle compared to other guilloché. Powered by the superb La Joux-Perret G101 (a new, higher-end microbrand staple), it’s a daily wearer with dress watch sensibilities.

More details at Farer.

Anoma A1 Optical

The A1’s pebble-smooth case shape was already a lovely nod to 1950s design (specifically a Charlotte Perriand table). The 50 offset triangles that make up this optical illusion of a dial however mirror that shape, emphasising its sculptural look. It’s particularly cool in the monochromatic silver version, 39mm x 38mm case and dial coming across more like a single piece of art than two separate elements. Finished with curvaceous hour and minute hands (nothing so prosaic as seconds here), this is a watch that really illustrates why we love asymmetrical cases.

More details at Anoma.

Longines Master Collection Annual Calendar

Finally, we have classical Swiss guilloché from a classical Swiss brand – in their most classically Swiss collection. The Longines Master Collection is home to the storied brand’s most timeless timepieces and this refined take on the day-date, replacing the date with the month, is a beauty. A silver barleycorn dial, blued steel hands, elegant Arabic numerals and a weekend-proof 72-hour power reserve, I’m never quite sure why Longines don’t make more of this collection. Maybe then they’d need to reintroduce their crisp, streamlined worldtimer version.

More details at Longines.