Sector Dials: The Past has a Bright Future
The revival in vintage fashion has led to a minor style detail making a discreet comeback of its own: the sector dial. This segmented minute track, popular in the 1960s, is everywhere to be seen once again.
It is very often said that the dial is the face of any watch. That being so, its outer edge is its most critical feature, since it frames everything to be found within it. Despite this fact, sector dials are not actually an institutional category, but more of a term used by collectors to describe hour and minute tracks in which each increment has its own marker.
A Long History of The Sector Dial
The sector dial first appeared in the early days of the wristwatch, in the 1920s, and became even more prevalent in the 30s and 40s. Later, in the 1960s, many models aimed at the general public boasted added precision; prior to that, the most precise timepieces had historically been the preserve of professionals: seafarers with their Marine Chronometers, and astronomers with Observation Chronometers (such as Louis Moinet’s Compteur de Tierces, back in 1816). By the mid-twentieth century, however, watchmaking was becoming an industry, capable of supplying more watches that were also more precise, less expensive, and destined for many more people.
As is still the case today, the quest for precision sixty years ago was essentially a marketing pitch: having a watch that loses two seconds per day rather than three is not exactly life-changing. Despite this, the sector dial enjoyed a boost in popularity based on this never-ending quest.
Everyone’s Got One (Or Nearly)
From Patek Philippe to Longines, most brands carry at least one model with this feature. Patek Philippe’s Ref. 5296G is an example of a sector-dial Calatrava, released in 2005; there’s also the brand’s very latest Perpetual Calendar Chronograph 5270J-001. At the other end of the price scale, Longines has just re-issued its Longines Heritage Classic, reminding the world that the sector dial made popular in the 60s actually dates back to the 30s.
Nevertheless, this distinctive design has not been to the taste of all firms. Breitling, Breguet, Blancpain, and Jaquet Droz have barely used it at all; neither have firms that rely on a decidedly contemporary positioning, such as Bulgari, Corum, Dior, and Chanel.
On the other hand, manufacturers that enjoyed their heyday in the 1950s or 60s are harking back to it with multiple re-issues of sector dials from their archives: they include IWC, Omega, and Jaeger-LeCoultre (with its recent re-issues of the Master Control and the Reverso), as well as Vacheron Constantin, with its FiftySix collection launched in 2018, recalling the Valjoux chronographs it produced between the 1930s and the 1950s.
The independents have joined the fray as well. After 30 years with Patek Philippe, Laurent Ferrier has gone on to use the design on his own models. The young watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi has hopped on the bandwagon too, with his Chronomètre Contemporain, and the Atelier de Chronométrie (Barcelona) is another firm that has made extensive use of the sector dial – destined, it seems, to enjoy a bright future.