Vantablack Watch Dials: The Blackest Black

Since the advent of wristwatches, the watch industry has continuously been defined by a constant drive to refine and innovate. In the modern context, we typically see that in the competition to make the thinnest watch ever, the most intricate, complicated movements, and recently, the most sophisticated complications at the most affordable price point. All of this is fine and dandy, and makes up much of the great majority of the stories your humble writer finds across her desk on any given week. But today, we’re getting into the weeds on an even more astoundingly specific side quest, possibly the most granular I’ve embarked on yet. That is, the pursuit of pushing the limits of one particular color. We’re entering the void of Vantablack – the blackest material in existence – and the few watchmakers out there that have dared to create Vantablack watch dials.

[toc-section heading="What Is Vantablack?"] 

I’m going to prepare you up top that this article will be touching on some pretty complex science elements. Largely, that’s what makes the subject at hand so interesting. Admittedly, it is also what took me the longest time to wrap my head around. It’s been a long time since I was in any sort of science class, okay? But the short answer to the question at hand is, put simply, Vantablack is among the darkest substances on planet Earth. 

Vantablack is not naturally occurring and is the brainchild of the British company Surrey NanoSystems, which, as its name suggests, has been developing nanotechnology tools to create unique materials on the nano scale. As a bit of a refresher, the nanometer as a unit of measurement is one-billionth of a meter, making the scale we’re working with here almost unimaginably small. When Vantablack is used as a coating, it absorbs 99.96% of all visible light it comes into contact with. All perceptible sense of dimensionality of the object Vantablack comes into contact with is erased. The effect is super uncanny. If you coated a piece of textured metal with Vantablack, when viewed straight on, that crumpled metal would appear to be uniformly flat. We perceive the dimensionality of objects from the light bouncing off them. Vantablack utilizes densely packed carbon nanotubes (more on that later) that essentially trap the light as it encounters its surface, absorbing the light and converting it into heat. Without the lightwaves bouncing back on our retinas, we can’t perceive the contours and dimensions of materials coated in Vantablack, producing the void-like effect. Words can only illustrate the dramatic impact of Vantablack so far. To accompany further reading, I recommend taking a quick detour to see the material in action with this video to see this disappearing act in action. 

Aside from the cool factor of Vantablack, one of the world’s darkest materials (I’m saying “one of,” as MIT did technically invent an even darker black back in 2019), it has found a myriad of different applications, from art to aerospace engineering. The light-trapping effect of the material has been particularly useful across satellites and astronomical telescopes, as well as for microchips, cameras, and other optical instruments that need to eliminate stray reflections. The “blackest black” has also stirred up a fair share of controversy in the art world, after visual artist Anish Kapoor purchased the exclusive rights to the artistic use of Vantablack shortly after its advent in a move not unlike Yves Klein's trademarking the pigment of his signature shade of blue. There is still an ongoing feud between Kapoor and artist Stuart Semple, who went on to first make the “Pinkest Pink” pigment in retaliation, available for purchase for anyone except, quite explicitly, Anish Kapoor, before making a direct Vantablack competitor, “blackest black,” acrylic paint. Funnily enough, this year, Semple was actually sued by the Yves Klein estate for making a tribute to Klein’s blue in acrylic paint, “Easy Klein.” 

[toc-section heading="How is Vantablack Made?"] 

This section is where we’re going to dive into the more heavily technical aspects of Vantablack, so bear with me. First and foremost, Vantablack is not a paint or pigment. While famous for making dimensional objects appear flat and 2-D, Vantablack is anything but. Structurally, Vantablack is comprised of a massive amount of carbon nanotubes aligned in a perfectly vertical “forest” formation. Varying in size, each carbon nanotube is approximately 3,500 to 50,000 times thinner than a single human hair. 

As you’ve likely already guessed, the growing of the carbon nanotube forest structures is an incredibly high-tech task. This is also what makes Vantablack so expensive. Originally, Surrey NanoSystems grew the microscopic nanotube forest using a patented Photo-Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition (PTCVD) process, though it has, in recent years, refined its process has been refined and reimagined. The process typically consists of 5 major steps: first, the substrate or base material has to be primed and prepared within a vacuum chamber and coated with a metal catalyst; next, the substrate is heated to around 400°C; then, carbon gas is introduced into the chamber; the combination of the heat and catalyst cause the hydrocarbon and gas to break down, and form those vertically aligned nanotubes; finally, the gas flow and heat are cut off, and the materials are allowed to cool from the top down. 

[toc-section heading="Vantablack Watches"] 

There have only been two watchmakers thus far who have been able to release a true Vantablack watch dial: Manufacture Contemporaine Du Temps and H Moser & Cie. As it stands, Vantablack is incredibly expensive, so it only makes sense that we’re working in the realms of real high horology here with Vantablack Watches. 

It only makes sense to start the Vantablack Watch roundup in chronological order, and Manufacture Contemporaine Du Temps (MCT) was the first to debut something of its kind. Defined by its inventive, modernistic style and technical prowess, MCT united with artist Anish Kapoor (remember him?) to create the S110 Evo Vantablack watch in 2017. A limited edition of just 10 pieces, the S110 Evo Vantablack utilized the unique material on the dial background, allowing the skeletonized, in-house movement to appear to be floating in space against it. The moon-shaped tip of the seconds hand also received a coating of Vantablack, creating the illusion that the moon shape disappeared and reappeared as it encircled the dial. Sadly, MCT ceased operations later that same year, despite its esteem and acclaim within the horological community. 

[toc-section heading="H. Moser & Cie: The Pioneer"] 

Moser has something of a rebellious reputation within the watch industry. From trolling the Swiss watchmaking machine with both a mechanical take on a smart watch or making a watch out of Swiss cheese, the brand’s boldness and sense of humor have set it apart from the crowd as much as its quirky, intricate pieces. It does not strike me as a coincidence that H. Moser is the only operating brand to have a bona fide Vantablack watch in its repertoire. 

The brand already had the perfect vehicle for a void dial with its signature Endeavor collection. Defined by its resistance to any typography or script, notably forgoing any branding or logos, the Endeavour provided a blank canvas for the Vantablack effect to dazzle and amaze. The first Vantablack watch from Moser debuted in 2018: the Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept with a Vantablack dial. Housed within the quite classical, round 42mm case, the dial is Vantablack in all its glory, sucking in any light or reflections, and making the moon-phase at 6 o'clock and the handset all appear to be suspended in mid-air. Available in both steel and a red gold model (made for the Only Watch charity auction in 2019), Moser’s first Vantablack watch was powered by the HMC 801 Manufacture Caliber, and was limited to just 50 pieces. 

In the years since the launch of its first Vantablack watch, Moser has riffed and expanded on its Vantablack takes on the Endeavour collection. If you were thinking that a Vantablack dial would be an incredible way to show off a tourbillon movement, you would be correct. In 2020, Moser released the Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Vantablack, starting out with a limited edition of 50 pieces, pairing the blackest black dial with a DLC-coated case and blackened hands. At 6 o’clock, you have what looks to be an act of modern-day sorcery, with the flying tourbillon floating against the black-hole-like surface of the Vantablack dial. 

Similar to the minimalistic design codes of the Endeavour, but with a thinner case and 39mm diameter, Moser has also given its Venturer collection the Vantablack watch dials remix. The most interesting to me are the models (of both collections) with the blacked-out hands, which really highlight just how black Vantablack is in their contrast. Most recently, Moser’s staple Streamliner sports watch has gotten its own Vantablack dial take with the Streamliner Tourbillon in red gold, which launched in 2022. 

[toc-section heading="More Conceptual Experiments with Vantablack Watches"] 

I’ve already mentioned that Moser isn’t afraid of a good horological prank, and it just so happens that the brand incorporated Vantablack into one of its practical jokes on the watch industry. In a classic act of "now you see it, now you don’t," Moser released what it called the world’s first “Invisible Watch,” with a lot of help from its favorite, photon-devouring substance. 

Turning up its use of Vantablack to 1,000, Moser unleashed its “Blacker than Black” Streamliner Chronograph in 2022, putting what looked like a vanishing act on display. Entirely coated in Vantablack and positioned against a Vantablack-coated background, the watch disappeared entirely, to the naked eye, that is, other than a floating set of hands. This display of good-humored absurdism is more form over function, and is best looked at as an art piece. Due to the fragility of Vantablack unleashed from its crystal protective covering, you cannot actually wear the Vantablacked-out Streamliner. But, you gotta give Moser props for attempting something like this.