Hello all,

Just for curiosity sake and nothing else,(it's a slow day) I would like to draw your attention to this watch "dial". This is one of the very few dials (and I mean few) that shows the 4 as IV instead of IIII as was always done since the Middle Ages starting with the sundials.

Also the orientation of the roman numbers follows the style used by the arabic numbered dials.
A very unusual layout.
The second chapter is also a bit questionable...what were they thinking in Switzerland in 1940?

Regards,
Peter

Lindell, Thank you for your comment.

I found out that IV instead of IIII is extremely rare on watches dials and there are quite a few debates on various sites on the net about why this is. Some explanations are quite amusing.

The picture below shows the "Millennium Stein" that I received as a gift at the turn of the century. The pocket watch is shown prominently as an example of human achievement but is missing the second chapter and the 4 is IV!

As I said "just for curiosity sake".

Regards to all,
Peter