A mother of pearl dial is not paint, enamel or lacquer. It is shell — a natural material, cut thin and set into a watch. It asks for slightly different care than a metal dial, and almost all of it is common sense.

What is a mother of pearl dial made of?

Mother of pearl, or nacre, is the iridescent lining that forms inside certain shells. The mollusc builds it one microscopic layer at a time. Light enters those layers, bounces between them, and returns shifted — which is why the surface appears to change colour as you move, holding tones that were never painted on.

Because nacre is grown rather than manufactured, every disc carries a different grain. Each Andrina Yvette Classic dial is cut from a single shell, so no two are alike. Your dial will not look exactly like the photograph, and that is the point of it.

How do I clean a mother of pearl watch dial?

You do not clean the dial itself. It sits sealed behind the crystal and should never be touched, opened or wiped directly.

What you clean is the crystal and case. Wipe them with a dry microfibre cloth after wear. If the case needs more, a barely damp cloth followed immediately by a dry one is enough. Do not use household cleaners, alcohol, solvents or an ultrasonic bath — nacre is largely calcium carbonate and reacts badly to anything acidic.

What damages mother of pearl?

• Chemicals. Perfume, hairspray, nail varnish remover, chlorine, household cleaners. Put your watch on last, after fragrance and hairspray have settled.
• Prolonged direct sunlight. Nacre is stable, but long unbroken exposure can dull its play of light over years. Store the watch out of a sunny window.
• Moisture past the seals. A mother of pearl dial that gets wet is a serious problem, because the staining is permanent. Andrina Yvette timepieces are water-resistant to 50 metres, which covers handwashing and rain — not swimming, diving, hot showers or saunas, where steam and heat work on the gaskets.
• Impact. Nacre is brittle. A hard knock that cracks the crystal can chip the dial beneath it.

Can a mother of pearl dial be repaired?

Scratches and water stains on nacre cannot be polished out the way they can on metal. A damaged dial is replaced, not refinished — which is why prevention is worth more here than with an ordinary watch. If moisture ever gets inside the case, stop wearing it and write to us straight away rather than waiting to see whether it clears. It will not clear.

How should I store it?

Somewhere dry, dark and stable. A drawer or the pouch it arrived in is ideal. Keep it away from strong magnets — speakers, laptop lids, magnetic clasps — which affect the movement rather than the dial, but affect it permanently enough to need a watchmaker.

If you have not worn it for a few days, an automatic movement winds down and stops. Wear it again, or turn the crown gently, and it restarts; then reset the time and date. Nothing is wrong.

Does it need servicing?

The dial does not. The movement does — every few years a mechanical movement should be cleaned and re-oiled, the same as any automatic watch. Every Andrina Yvette timepiece carries a two-year international warranty; register yours to activate cover.

The short version

• Watch on last, after perfume and hairspray
• Dry microfibre cloth on the crystal and case, never on the dial
• Handwashing and rain are fine; swimming, showers and saunas are not
• Store dry, dark, and away from magnets
• Let a damp leather strap dry naturally, never on a radiator

Treated this way, a nacre dial does not fade or wear out. It is one of the few parts of a watch that looks exactly as good in thirty years as it does today.

See the Classic Mother of Pearl collection, or write to hello@andrinayvette.com — we reply personally.