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Perlée and perlage are French words for ''pearl pattern'', a decorative metallic finish consisting of a pattern of small circles (''pearls'') applied to a surface by grinding. It is mostly used in the automotive and 
Perlée and perlage are French words for ''pearl pattern'', a decorative metallic finish consisting of a pattern of small circles (''pearls'') applied to a surface by grinding. It is mostly used in the automotive and watchmaking
A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...
industries as an indicator of expensive craftsmanship, particularly if applied by hand rather than machine.
Perlée in the watchmaking industry
Watch components that are given a perlée pattern may include the movement main plate and bridges, the inside of the watch case and the watch-case bottom. The perlée patterned parts of a wrist watch are commonly invisible from the outside except if the watch has a transparent casing or deliberately exposed internal parts. Further grinding patterns used by watchmakers include the ''clavus'' pattern, also known by the French term ''oeil-de-perdrix'' (partridge eye).Perlée in the automotive and aviation industries
The automotive industry has used perlée patterns on surfaces such as car dashboards since its infancy, but these days it is generally confined to luxury vehicles such as the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. Many aircraft of theGolden Age of Aviation
Sometimes dubbed the Golden Age of Aviation, the period in the history of aviation between the end of World War I (1918) and the beginning of World War II (1939) was characterised by a progressive change from the slow wood-and-fabric biplanes of W ...
had perlée engine-turning finishing used on their sheetmetal components, with one of the best-known examples being Charles Lindbergh's ''Spirit of St. Louis
The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...
'' trans-Atlantic Ryan NYP aircraft of 1927.
See also
*Engine turning
Engine turning is a form of ornamental turning. The finishing technique may use lathes or engines to produce a pattern. Aluminium is often the metal chosen to decorate. The technique has been used in various industries, including aircraft and doc ...
* Guilloché
Guilloché (), or guilloche (), is a decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into an underlying material via engine turning, which uses a machine of the same name. Engine turning m ...
External links
* {{commonscat inline, Turned metal Visual motifs