The Routes of Antiquity
In the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder described India in his Naturalis Historia as one of the Roman world’s primary sources of gemstones, spices, and precious materials. His writings remain among the most valuable accounts of the trade routes that, through the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean, fostered a continuous exchange of goods, cultures, and knowledge between East and West.
From India to Venice
In the centuries that followed, Venice inherited this legacy, establishing itself as the Mediterranean’s leading commercial hub. Through its merchants, precious stones and valuable materials from the East reached Europe, transforming the Serenissima into one of the world’s great centres of trade. It was along these very routes that Tiger’s Eye also made its way to Venice, inspiring Nereide Tigris, a tribute to a journey spanning nearly two thousand years.
The structure of Tiger’s Eye
Tiger’s Eye is a variety of quartz formed over millions of years through slow geological processes. Its distinctive fibrous structure creates chatoyancy, an optical phenomenon that gives the stone remarkable depth while changing its appearance as the light shifts.
The golden and amber bands running across its surface are not the result of artificial treatments, but of the natural arrangement of mineral fibres. Every slab displays a unique pattern, making it impossible to reproduce two identical dials.
From stone to dial blank
Transforming Tiger’s Eye into a watch dial requires an exceptionally delicate manufacturing process. Each slab is carefully oriented according to the natural direction of its fibres to enhance its characteristic chatoyancy.
The material is then cut using waterjet technology to preserve its integrity before being thinned to approximately 0.4 mm. Finally, it is polished and meticulously finished before the indices and remaining details are applied.
Dial finishing
Before final assembly, every dial undergoes a meticulous polishing process designed to enhance the natural depth of Tiger’s Eye without altering its surface.
It is at this stage that the stone’s characteristic chatoyancy reaches its fullest expression, revealing reflections that shift with the angle of the light. Only once this process is complete are the indices and other details applied, preserving the unique character of the natural stone.
NEREIDE 39