The Hampstead 38 Blue Dial
- Case
- 38mm Grade 5 titanium, brushed finish with polished bevels, 9.2mm thick
- Dial
- Fumé midnight blue with a subtle sunburst under the centre, graduating to near-black at the edges. Applied rose gold dauphine indices and matching dauphine hands. Minute track printed in a fine pale cream. No date window — Harold refuses to cut the dial for it.
- Movement
- A&F calibre HF-201 (Sellita SW200-1 (Top grade))
- Power reserve
- 38 hours
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Crystal
- Domed sapphire, double anti-reflective coating
- Strap
- Hand-stitched navy alligator, 18mm, signed titanium pin buckle
Heritage
The Hampstead Blue was the piece that brought Ashworth & Finch its first coverage outside watch enthusiast circles. A journalist at Monocle spent an afternoon with Harold in 2022 and wrote that the dial "shifts from midnight to dusk depending on whether the sky is honest that day." The phrase has haunted Harold ever since — he now deliberately tries to photograph the watches on overcast days.
Design
The fumé gradient is a risk. Fumé dials in this price range are almost always printed or sprayed, which leaves a visible texture. A proper galvanic gradient requires hand-finishing each dial individually. Harold insisted on it from the first prototype and has not backed down.
Dial technique
Galvanic colour applied over a stamped brass base, then hand-polished at the centre to produce the fumé gradient. Each dial is individually inspected and rejected freely — the current reject rate is roughly one in four.