How Aventurine Is Used for Watch Dials

In the luxury watch world, a lot of intriguing substances are used for dial making. Earlier this month we brought you news about meteorite dials. Today, we take a look at the use of aventurine in watches.

Aventurine is a part of the quartz family. It is translucent in appearance but is most known for its many mineral inclusions that give the material a shimmering effect. The stone gets its name from the Italian word “a ventura” which means “by chance.” The most common color of aventurine is green, but it can be found in brown, gray, red or orange in its natural form. There is also aventurine feldspar — sometimes referred to as sunstone or goldstone — that can be confused with red aventurine.

Additionally, there is aventurine glass that was invented in the early 18th century by a glassmaker in Murano, Venice, who accidentally mixed metal (copper) powder into his glass paste. The glass format was actually invented before the stone format was discovered. Predominantly, watch brands use the glass version of aventurine in watchmaking. The glass is specially cut to form dials and disks for moon phase and other indications. The stone is less often used than the glass because of the difference in color and vibrancy.