Luxury brands Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Breitling, Vacheron Constantin and Tudor include salmon-dial timepieces in their collections.
Watches with salmon-colored dials have had a resurgence among top watch brands in recent years. While white, blue, silver and black dials are by far and away the most common colors, salmon and similar shades are making their mark in haute horlogerie.
“Salmon-colored dials, also referred to as pink or rose dials, have since the early 20th century been used infrequently in some of the finest Swiss wristwatches,” said Paul Boutros, Phillips’ deputy chairman and head of watches, Americas. “Seen in some of the most desirable vintage Patek Philippe time-only and complicated watches, they command a significant [price] premium over identical watches fitted with silver dials due to their rarity and beauty.”
Boutros is not surprised by this resurgence. “Salmon-colored dials are absolutely classic, with a rich, luxurious and timeless look. They are aesthetically stunning, providing superb contrast when used in watches with white metal cases, and equally beautiful when used in a more monochromatic look with pink gold cases.”
A History of Excellence
Patek Philippe’s Calatrava collection was first launched in 1932, and it has remained a strong pillar for the manufacture. The brand is the oldest, and only, remaining family-owned watchmaking company based in Geneva. In 2025, Patek introduced a platinum Calatrava with a salmony dial that the brand describes as an “opaline rose-gilt decoration.” The watch’s white gold hands and hour markers provide a contrast that enhances readability. The 6196P has a small second hand at 6 o’clock, and its exquisitely finished manually wound movement can be viewed through a sapphire crystal caseback.
Over the Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre crafts movements with rare expertise and specializes in very slim movements.The brand recently introduced two new watches in its Master Ultra Thin collection, one with a date and the other with a moon phase. JLC adorned both versions with what it describes as a “grained copper-colored dial.” The Master Ultra Thin Date and the Master Ultra Thin Moon pictured here both have stainless steel cases. They feature slim self-winding movements that measure just 7.9 millimeters and 9.3 millimeters in thickness, respectively.
An Iconic Design
IWC added a salmon-dial watch to its iconic Portugieser collection in 2023. The Portugieser Automatic 40’s dial follows the design codes of all of the brand’s watches in this line. According to the brand, the Portugieser dial layout is “clearly organized and open.” The watch features IWC’s iconic minute scale, which encircles the edge of its dial. It has a small seconds display at 6 o’clock. The IWC Portugieser Automatic 40’s self-winding movement has a power reserve of 60 hours and can be viewed through the watch’s sapphire crystal caseback.
Royal Legacy
Tudor “has endeavoured to produce the best possible watches at the best price” since its founding in 1926. The brand, known for its robust timepieces, introduced the Royal collection in 2020. The name Royal was first used by the brand in the 1950s to emphasize the high quality of its watches. The sporty-chic watches are available in a variety of metals and case sizes. The salmon-dial timepiece pictured left features eight diamond-set hour markers and a date display.
1950s Inspiration
Vacheron Constantin’s Patrimony collection is “inspired by the ultra-thin, round timepieces crafted by Vacheron Constantin in the 1950s, [and] has embraced minimalism and subtlety for more than two decades,” according to the brand. The Patrimony Retrograde Day-Date displays the day of the week and the date in its dial. The watch features two additional hands at the 6 and 12 o’clock positions, and an in-house self-winding movement powers it. Measuring just 5.4 millimeters thick, the slim movement allows the watch to be just 9.7 millimeters high.
Functional Elegance
Breitling drew inspiration for its Premier B01 design from a 1940s chronograph created by Willy Breitling, the grandson of founder Léon Breitling. He wanted to create a chronograph that was “functional but also undeniably elegant and infinitely wearable,” according to the brand, and he called it the Premier. Like the original, the Premier B01 has two subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock and features Arabic numerals. Breitling’s in-house self-winding movement powers the watch with 70 hours of power reserve.
At Phillips’ New York Watch Auction in December 2025, Boutros said an Urban Jürgensen was the most noteworthy salmon-dial watch. “Our sale included a superb 18-karat white-gold Urban Jürgensen, the reference 1140WG with a salmon dial. Fitted with applied white gold Breguet numerals for the hour markers, this simple, time-only watch captures the ethos of Urban Jürgensen, uniting traditional craftsmanship with a refined, modern look.” Indeed, the watch is decidedly modern, having been made just four years ago in 2021.
Will this trend of salmon-dial modern watches continue? The future looks rosy.