Fresh-faced watches; Renault Megane RS Trophy

An exquisitely crafted dial can lift a watch into the realms of ine art

NIPPLE, CHOCOLATE, SANDWICH, panda and reverse-panda: not a random selection from The Joy of Sex, but some of the nicknames given by watch geeks to their favourite dial designs. Creating these tiny slivers is a separate art within watchmaking, and the best incorporate engineering, material innovation and craft skill out of all proportion to their size and mass. Three new watches with stand-out dials have just been launched, and not all at the high prices you might expect when this much work is involved.

BEN OLIVER @thebenoliver