Chanel, Christian Dior, Maurice La Croix, Gucci? the most popular brand names around the world. For the last 28 years, ISM Limited has been producing watch dials for these prestigious makes. The director, Alain Tennant, explains how complicated it is to produce one dial: ?It can take up to 10 weeks to complete the process for the most sophisticated ones, which show all the details of time and date and have luxury touches such as encrusted gems.?

The factory is efficient and neat. The departments are well structured and the employees are all busy at work. ?With thousands of watch dials constantly moving from one department to another, effective organisation is essential,? says Alain Tennant, heading for the room where the making of a sophisticated watch dial begins.

The process starts off simply with a small round metal plate, which will form the central disc of the dial. A worker delicately places the disc into a machine that stamps little holes which look like strange hieroglyphs into it. These are the holes through which the stems holding in place the hands of the watch will be inserted. Other workers are methodically cutting discs into different shapes and sizes. The grating sound of the metal being cut really sets one?s teeth on edge.

With incredible precision, another worker solders on tiny supports that have been cut out from strips of metal. He explains that they are the landmarks for the numbers and other features that will be added later. Sometimes tiny holes are also stamped into the dial, indicating the exact place ?to the millimetre? for the designs.

In another room, hundreds of dials are being treated and galvanized. Some are dipped into liquid gold, others silver or metallic blue, then left to dry. After the polishing, decorations made out of materials such as mother-of-pearl can be stuck on. Alain Tennant points to a long row of cabins that look like telephone booths. ?We spray-paint dials any colour we want in specially conditioned cabins.?

Once this is completed, the next step consists in imprinting the brand name and small details such as dates and phases of the moon through a transfer process. A man carefully places a disc in a complicated-looking machine, then activates it. The dial is repeatedly stamped until tiny characters appear on it. This fascinating process is completed by placing bigger numbers (for the time) in relief on the supports round the circumference. A worker, bent over a Maurice La Croix dial, uses a special eyepiece to magnify it. Using a fine pair of tweezers, she picks up the miniature numbers (hours and minutes) from little piles and presses them into place. ?Better not tremble!? warns the director, with a big laugh. Indeed, it seems that a mis-timed sneeze could send all the numbers flying.

What started off as a plain disc is slowly becoming a beautiful and ornate watch dial. Another department adds the finishing touches. There, workers encrust gems such as diamonds into the dial. The effect is immediate - that little sparkle undoubtedly adds an element of prestige. Another group gives the final polish with a fine brush and checks through an eyepiece that the dial is absolutely perfect. ?All our products are exported to Switzerland, so we have to carefully check that each dial is faultless?, Alain Tennant points out.

This factory, which makes between 500 and 600 thousand dials a year, is 100% locally run. ?All 270 employees are very talented Mauritians?, says Alain Tennant with a touch of pride. As a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, it is natural to feel proud that we have the expertise to satisfy the highest-class customers.