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Craft · 3 November 2026

On Patience: Inside a Guilloché Workshop

Two days, one rose engine, and a dial no two of which are alike. We spent a week with the engravers of Ondine & Fils.

There is a particular sound a rose engine makes — a soft, regular ticking as the cutter moves across a blank of solid silver. In the Geneva workshop of Ondine & Fils it is the only sound for hours at a time.

Each Méridien dial passes beneath a single artisan's hands for the better part of two days. The pattern is not printed or stamped; it is cut, line by line, each groove a fraction of a millimetre from the last.

Why it matters

A guilloché dial plays with light in a way no printed dial can. Turn your wrist and the pattern seems to move — waves becoming stillness, stillness becoming waves.

The pieces

The Méridien 38 and Méridien 34 are both available in the boutique now. Our client advisors and LUMI are happy to talk you through dial, case and strap options.

The Luminous Journal

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