Tiffany & Co. Dial Freshly Stamped Patek Philippe has had a close, continuous relationship with Tiffany & Co. since 1851. And back in November, Patek Philippe released the limited edition "Tiffany dial" 5396G annual calendar to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their boutique in Tiffany & Co.'s Fifth Avenue flagship (John Mayer goes into more detail on this collaboration here). Tiffany & Co. is the only co-branding Patek still offers, and this week we had a chance to visit the brand's new New York headquarters to see how these special dials are produced - and we even got to stamp one ourselves. Stamping The Dial While the 5369G is a limited edition piece exclusive to the Fifth Avenue Patek Philippe boutique in Tiffany & Co., many Pateks purchased at this location can have "Tiffany & Co." added to the dial. On some models the stamp is added as soon as the replica watches arrive in New York, while on others (often models which don't have an obvious place on the dial for the extra signature) the customer must specially request the logo be added after purchase. Carefully inking the plate The process of adding the tiny text to the dial is deceptively simple at first glance. A special piece ofequipmentkeeps everything lined up properly and helps ensure the type comes out clean. But, when you actually sit down at the bench, the whole process suddenly seems much more complicated. The first step is to load the dial into the vice and to align it properly - each dial has a precise location for the signature, and a millimeter in anydirectioncan completely throw off the dial's visual balance. Scraping Extra Ink From The Plate Once you've got the dial secured, you have to ink up the signature plate. A metal plate has the logo etched into it, and you must fill the recessed areas with a special ink (Swiss, of course). Next is the first really difficult step - you need to scrape the extra ink off the plate, without leaving any ink streaks on the plate. Sounds easy, right? You have to keep the palate perfectly flat (to avoid missed streaks) and if you have to scrape too many times you will take too much ink out of the signature, resulting in a light print. After watching a few demonstrations I managed to get by with only two passes - more luck than skill panerai swiss replica panerai swiss replica , I think. Stamping The Ink On The Dial Once you have everything set up, it's a straightforward manual operation to actually stamp the dial. Using a lever, diamond dior watches replica diamond dior watches replica you press a soft rubber stamp onto the ink-filled "Tiffany & Co." before sliding the carriage over and pressing the stamp back down, this time onto the dial. When you release the lever, there is a satisfyingly deep, inky "Tiffany & Co." sitting in thepreviouslyblank space on the dial. Dial, Pre Stamp My Finished Tiffany & Co. Dial It's a very fine operation, and getting the placement right is far from the only concern. Any errant ink on the plate will leave extra tiny specks on the dial, and if the ink density and pressure applied were not spot on cartier watches cartier watches , you end up with a logo that doesn't perfectly match the "Patek Philippe" signature. As you would expect from Patek Philippe, there is a very narrow range ofacceptableresults - anything less than perfect is immediately wiped off with benzine and re-done from the beginning. A Closer Look At My Less-Than-Perfect Print My dial looked great to my eye swiss watch replicas swiss watch replicas , but closer inspection by my instructor revealed a few little spots and some color consistency issues across the lettering. Even when I was shown under a loupe, it was difficult to understand exactly what wasn't right. Suffice it to say I won't be leaving HODINKEE for the Patek Philippe workshop anytime soon.