The Titan Black rare craft
Submariner Neptune re-imagines
the 40mm steel Rolex original
with a labor-intensive grand feu
enamel dial. It’s a limited edition of
31 pieces.
BLACK &
BLUE
A SUBMARINER GETS A FACELIFT
BY GARY GIRDVAINIS
WHILE MANY CUSTOM WATCH MAKERS DUTIFULLY RE-IMAGINE A
favorite Rolex, Audemars Piguet or TAG Heuer watch by blackening cases,
adding gemstones or personalizing a rotor, London-based customizer
T-Black (aka Titan Black) adds artisanal dial making to its long list of in-house
personalization processes.
One of the company’s latest examples is this ‘ocean blue’ grand feu enamel
dial, which T Black recently created to re-imagine the Rolex Submariner,
adding a more artistic feel to the legendary tool watch.
The grand feu enameling process requires firing a hand-finished dial (in
a gold alloy blank) that has been filled with successive layers of enamel at
temperatures in excess of 800 degrees Celsius. The dial must be re-fired
multiple times to get the color and texture just right.
T Black’s ‘Master in Custom’ Ben Waite points out that there are more
challenges than just creating a beautiful grand feu dial. The process creates
a dial that is more than double the thickness of the standard 0.4mm Rolex
original brass dial. The breakage rate during this process was three times
higher than normally expected, which is one reason T Black is limiting the
collection to thirty-one pieces worldwide.
“The only way to master these skills is to practice them regularly,” Waite
explains. “Enameling is likely the hardest challenge we have been presented
as a brand.” Other stylistic modifications include a custom color matched
ceramic bezel and blue SuperLuminova hands as well as eliminating the date
window on the dial and the Cyclops magnifier on the sapphire crystal. Ben
mentions that he not only likes the cleaner look on the dial, but also points
out his dislike of the dirt and debris that inevitably accumulates around the
perimeter of the external magnifier.
According to Waite, T Black is committed to cultivating ‘exceptional’
creations like this, using artisanal crafts, and will be releasing one ‘rare craft’
watch each month. This T Black Submariner Neptune is priced at $17,500.
If this particular version is not a great fit for your style, T Black says it is
also willing (and able) to make bespoke timepieces from almost any luxury
timepiece in your collection or available on the market.
SPRING 2019 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 115