Fumé dials use a colour gradient: a centre tone (often lighter, sometimes brighter) transitions smoothly to a darker tone at the outer edge of the dial. The effect is created via vapour deposition or controlled hand-spray application of the dial colour, with the central area receiving more pigment and the edge less. The result is a dial that visually 'glows' at the centre and recedes into darkness at the chapter ring.
H. Moser & Cie. popularised the modern fumé dial as the brand's defining visual signature when Edouard Meylan took over the brand in 2012. Moser's Funky Blue, Burgundy, Cosmic Green, and Aqua Blue fumé treatments became signature; the brand's minimal-branding (often no logos on the dial except small Moser Cathedral hands) made the dial gradient itself the visual identity. Other haute-horlogerie brands have since adopted fumé: AP Royal Oak in fumé blue/burgundy, Patek 5172G in salmon fumé, IWC Big Pilot in fumé green.
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