anOrdain
- Founded
- 2015
- Based in
- Glasgow, Scotland
- In our catalog
- 3 watches from $2,390 to $5,325
anOrdain is a small watchmaker in Glasgow built around one craft: vitreous enamel. Its dials are made by hand in the city, fired in a kiln and finished in the same workshop, which is unusual for a watch at this price and almost unheard of outside Switzerland. The result is color with real depth, and watches that are hard to get.
History
Lewis Heath started anOrdain in 2015. The name comes from Loch an Ordain in the Scottish Highlands, where he says the idea came to him while fishing. The early years went into teaching a small team how to enamel, a process that took roughly three years of trial and error before the first dials were good enough to sell.
The Model 1 launched in 2018 in a run of 250 pieces and sold out quickly. Since then the company has grown its studio, added the smaller Model 2 and the more complex Model 3, and developed fumé (smoked) enamel dials that fade from color to dark at the edges. In 2023 it took on Paulin, another Glasgow watch brand, as a sister company. The founders of the two brands are a married couple and share a workshop.
Signature models
- Model 1: The first watch, a clean three-hand automatic with a grand feu enamel dial in colors such as teal, blue and grey.
- Model 2: A smaller, more vintage-leaning model with a simple dial and a choice of enamel shades, including racing green.
- Model 3: A more elaborate piece with fumé enamel that darkens toward the edge, giving each dial its own gradient.
What it's known for
Grand feu enamel involves layering powdered glass onto a metal base and firing it at high heat, again and again. A lot of dials crack or bubble and are thrown away. anOrdain has made that process its whole identity, and its colors (teals, greens, deep blues) look different in every light. The cases are simple and the movements are Swiss automatics, so the dial does the talking.
Because production is small, new watches are released through registration windows or waitlists rather than sitting in shops.
Price and positioning
Prices run from around $2,400 to about $5,000. That's high for a young brand but low for enamel, which on Swiss luxury watches usually adds thousands. If you want something handmade and unusual from an independent maker, anOrdain is one of the most interesting options at this level.
anOrdain watches in our library
- anOrdain Model 1 Teal ($2,390 to $2,575)
- anOrdain Model 2 Racing Green ($2,575 to $2,770)
- anOrdain Model 3 Method Aqua ($4,945 to $5,325)