These secret signatures can be anything from an almost invisible dial engraving to a precious stone that distinguishes a platinum case from steel. For some, these hidden details are part of measures to combat fakes. For others, they are the hallmark of an exclusive creation. Here are some of the creative ways brands and artists are secretly signing their work.
Dominique Baron, who passed away in 2012, painted some of the most beautiful enamel miniatures for brands including Van Cleef & Arpels, Delaneau, Laurent Ferrier, Roger Dubuis, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Montblanc and Jaeger-LeCoultre. An artist of incomparable talent, she added a secret signature to every dial she created. One that so far no-one has found!
Anita Porchet is another exceptionally gifted enamellist whose studio is in constant demand, often crafting dials for Piaget. Porchet is proud to work with a team and to pass her skills on to them. She, too, systematically signs her creations: with her full name for a piece she has executed entirely herself and with her initials A.P. for a miniature painted by her atelier. A sure-fire way of knowing who did what!
Should you ever come across a Rolex with an ice-blue dial, you can be certain it is cased in platinum. Only models in this noble metal are paired with this dial colour, which was introduced in 2000. The brand has a second trick up its sleeve, this time as a counterfeiting countermeasure. Dots and dashes under the Rolex logo on the winding crown form a cryptic language that identifies both the watch and the material it is made from.
Like Rolex, Patek Philippe differentiates between its steel and platinum models. Since 1999, every Patek watch in platinum features a tiny diamond set in the caseband, between the lugs at 6 o’clock. Noticeable only on close inspection, this detail proves beyond any doubt the watch’s credentials.
Vacheron Constantin joins Rolex and Patek Philippe in distinguishing between steel and platinum. Not with a special dial colour or a diminutive diamond, but with a particular treatment of its Maltese Cross symbol: the brand affixes a rose-gold emblem to the salmon dials of its Traditionnelle and Patrimony watches in platinum. This is the only time the Maltese Cross appears “tone on tone” in the brand’s collections.
Possibly the ultimate personalisation: Czapek writes its secret signature inside the Grand Feu enamel dial of its Quai des Bergues watches… now with the possibility to add a second secret sentence, on request. The idea originated with a customer’s wish to address a personal message to their father. How is it done? Czapek is giving nothing away. The sentence is invisible, revealed only when the owner positions the watch so that a beam of sunlight bounces off the dial.
Breguet watches have been the victims of counterfeiters since the eighteenth century, prompting Abraham-Louis Breguet to introduce an identifying mark in 1795. This “seal of approval” was traced on the dial with a drypoint pantograph and could only be seen when viewed in oblique light. Breguet continues to etch a secret signature on the majority of its dials, followed by the watch’s individual number. Look out for it under the 12 on an enamel dial, or on either side of the 12 on an engine-turned dial.
Almost invisible inscriptions, miniature diamonds, special colours, coded references… these are just some of the strategies brands have imagined to prove their watches’ authenticity in a suitably subtle and exclusive way.
