New today from Baltic, a trio of limited edition versions of their Prismic “cocktail watch,” each with a colorful stone dial. The watches have been announced to celebrate Baltic’s new showrooms, one exotic dial for each. The Paris showroom is tied to the lapis lazuli dial, London to red agate, and New York gets green jade (as seen in the included photos). Stone dials are clearly having a moment, with approachable and affordable stone dial editions being released by many of our favorite brands over the course of the last year or so. Once considered extremely niche (and to be fair, it’s probably still pretty niche) stone dials are now seen as a way to have something genuinely unique on the wrist, as no two dials will be exactly the same. They’re also a natural fit for the Prismic collection, which is already set apart as something a little off the beaten track from Baltic’s heritage inspired sports watches.
As is the case with most stone dials, the texture and color of each stone takes center stage with these pieces. Each watch features simple applied hour markers and brushed dauphine hands, with Baltic’s wordmark near the 12:00 position and a small seconds register at 6:00. The case is the same five part design seen on the initial Prismic releases. It measures 36mm in diameter and is composed of both stainless steel (the bezel, lugs, and caseback) and titanium (the midcase, which has a contrasting “grain” finish).
The original concept of the Prismic, a tribute to old-school “cocktail watches,” is carried through in these stone editions. These are watches that put aesthetics first, and are made to be a little flashy. People don’t really wear stone dials to fly under the radar (not to mention, they are delicate enough that you probably wouldn’t commit to hardcore sporting activities with a dial like those seen here).
A large part of the Prismic’s identity is in its sub 10mm case height, which is achieved through the use of the manually wound Peseux 7001 movement. This is a classic movement known for its reliability and small size, making it a great choice for traditionally sized dress watches (it was the basis of the first Nomos manufacture calibers, for instance). It has 42 hours of power reserve and has been nicely decorated for the Prismic collection, with blued screws and Geneva stripes visible through the display caseback.
According to Baltic, the Prismic Stone edition is limited to 200 pieces per model, and will never be reproduced. Each dial variant will be available through the showroom tied to the city it represents, but Baltic notes that all three can be ordered from their website. The Prismic Stone watches go on sale September 19 at 4:00 PM, Paris time. The retail price is 1,310€ on the mesh bracelet, and 1,250€ on a leather strap. Baltic
