In his excellent
link in-depth article on the Submariner 5512
link Dunne explained that the pad printing or tampography process was actually invented for watch dials by a German industrialist developing a process to print matte dials at scale by 1968. It's no wonder we
link saw brands like Rolex transition from those pesky gilt dials to matte dials in the late '60s. While pad printing would soon be used for all kinds of things it was invented for watches.