Eberhard & Co. has built the Gilda into one of Swiss watchmaking’s few dedicated women’s collections, and the brand is now expanding it with a new dial that represents some of the most detailed work the women’s line has seen.
Named the Peacock, the new dial takes its inspiration from the bird’s feathers, specifically those circular, eye-like markings that give peacock plumage its striking, almost mesmerising quality. It is a well-chosen reference. Across cultures and centuries, the peacock has represented beauty, depth, and a certain self-possession, qualities that align naturally with what the Gilda collection has always set out to express, a timepiece for the feminine world in all its nuances, capable of expressing sweetness and delicacy alongside strength and character.
Craft is where this dial makes its case. The base is rendered in blue tones with a dégradé effect, a gradient coloring process that is already elaborate on a standard round dial but becomes considerably more complex on the Gilda’s elliptical case, where the shape works against the process at every step. Over that base, a laser engraving process runs for approximately eight hours per piece, carving out a radiating motif with raised relief detailing drawn directly from the structure of peacock feathers.
Those engraved sections are then colored to recreate the natural shimmer of peacock feathers, the way the blues and greens appear to shift and change as light moves across the surface.
Gilda’s elliptical case has been its defining feature since the collection launched, and it remains untouched here. Its fluid, enveloping lines are designed to naturally embrace the wrist rather than sit on top of it, a distinction that still sets it apart in a space where how a watch looks is often prioritised over how it actually feels to wear. A patented spherical sapphire crystal follows the curved profile of the case, keeping the overall silhouette clean and consistent.
Every element of the Gilda is crafted with close attention, down to the caseback, which carries an engraved floral motif with the model name marked in red. A lapis-blue alligator strap with silver lurex stitching completes the watch, secured with an elliptical buckle bearing the Shield, the official emblem of the maison.
Women’s watchmaking has shifted considerably over the past decade, with collectors and critics pushing back against the long-held assumption that watches made for women should default to diamonds and decorative simplicity. A dial built on eight hours of laser work, applied to a non-standard elliptical case with a dégradé base and a multi-step engraving and coloring process, makes a technical argument that holds up well beyond the aesthetic one.
