This post is in response to Peter Balken's request for more info on a dial he had refinished sometime ago. My name is Robert Miller and I am the owner of International Dial Co., inc. The information in this post is for everyone's general knowledge and not intended to solicite business. If anyone has any questions on the dial restoration/refinishing I will try to answer them.

Now to Peter's. I'll start by relating some history that may be helpful, and this is from experience not actual research. Watch dials were generally made of porcalin. I believe this was just a normal progression from the clock dials made at the time. The cost of the watch certainly justified the expense of making the dials. The dials where never refinished. I believe the only way to fix a watch with a bad dial was to have the dial replaced. As there were so few manufacturers at the time these must have been easy to obtain. As pocket watches fell out of favor I believe the watch companies swithed to the plainer metal dials in order to save on cost.(again this is just a guess). In either case we end up with an interesting delema. The first being most dial refinisher's started in the 30's because thats when there was a need. ie-porcalin dials didn't need refinishing andthe metal dials didn't need refinishing as people were putting them up swithing to wrist watches. Consequently the refinisher's didn't make printing dies for the metal dials as they just were not being restored. Over the years some pocket watch dies have been made but it represents a pretty small percentage of my prints. In your specific case we used the closest die we had. In years past this was "good enough",but as these watches do become collectable we should have at least let you know we were changing the print. In the future we will work harder at letting the customer know when this is going to happen. We already write an estimate if the print is not going to match-this one must have just slipped thru. The customer can also help by indicating on the job envelope that "prints must be exact" or some such notation. I know the job envelope already has a box to mark "refinish as original" and this should be enough but please remember we do most of our work for repair/service people and jewelry/watch stores. Collectors are becoming an important part of our business andwe are trying to do more to help them in thier needs.

Thanks Robert.

And... I'm not complaining at all. I thought it looked very nice and the price was very reasonable. It certainly is worth the money, even thought I ought to (and will) replace it, someday, with a proper porcelain one.

In case some of us pocket-watch collectors are interested.... are there any brands or models where you have already made progress in matching numerals and logos?

We do have hundeds of prints for pocket watches, representing almost every manufacturer. Most of these are hamilton,Elgin, Waltham, some Ill. We also have South Bend, Studebaker, Hampden and some swiss makes. Most of these are for metal dials. We have remade some dies for enamel dials, but these are few. I am corrently working on one for an 18s Ill. Maybe I'll post a picture when that one is done.

Thanks Robert.

Collectors are split. Some would prefer an original dial regardless of how bad it looks (same with cases). Some believe that our watches were constantly upgraded, during their useful lives and redialing and recasing is ok.

I'm somewhere in the middle. I appreciate an original case and dial but... at some point of wear and damage, I simply cannot enjoy looking at them.

There's room for everyone and I'm glad to count on you as a valuable resource.