Now, white ceramic watches are nothing new (and they've actually been unusually popular with manufactures over the last few years in particular). The very first white ceramic was came in 1986, and probably not from whom you'd expect. It wasn't Rado who made it, and it wasn't Chanel either. In fact, it was IWC who first created a white ceramic watch, in the form of a Da Vinci perpetual calendar (which as a matter of fact was the first ceramic cased wristwatch, period). In the above photo, you can see this watch (which looks a little grey in the old photograph) side-by-side with a similar model in black ceramic. In fact, IWC developed the technology to make these ceramic cases and made them in a number of colors, including some unusual ones like green. The manufacture would go on to make some slightly more celebrated watches using ceramic, including the famous ref. 3705 pilot's chronograph. It's worth noting here that Seiko also started dabbling in ceramic in 1986, putting a ceramic shroud over the case of a dive watch.

Rado is likely the brand that comes to mind first when you think of ceramic watches and for good reason. In 1990, the Rado Ceramica (which was just re-released) debuted as the first watch with a fully-integrated ceramic case and bracelet, and since then the brand has been known almost exclusively for its slim ceramic pieces. But in recent years, more manufactures have begun experimenting with the material and in the last few years we've even seen the likes of Omega and Audemars Piguet release their iconic sport watches in white ceramic versions. This is probably little more than a fad, but I'd rather a fad with some cool material science behind it than simply a dial color du jour.