1. Dial Types

Dials are categorized by the type of numerals used to indicate the hours.

Roman Numerals

This type uses Roman numerals to indicate the hours.
It has a classic appearance, and many older clocks dating back to around the 18th century feature Roman numerals.

Arabic Numerals

This type uses Arabic numerals to indicate the hours.
Because they are easy to read, Arabic numerals are commonly used on practical timepieces such as railway and military clocks.

Bar Markers

This type uses bars (markers) instead of numerals to indicate the hours.
They are commonly found on relatively modern pocket watches dating from around the 1950s onward.

Other Types

Some dials exported to Turkey use Turkish numerals, while others feature both Roman and Arabic numerals.

2. Dial Materials

Here are some common dial materials.

Except for metal dials, the other three are difficult to distinguish by appearance alone.

Porcelain

These dials are made by shaping clay and firing it at high temperatures.
They are beautiful and translucent, but they are fragile and prone to cracking.

Enamel

These dials are made by firing a glass-like enamel onto a metal base.
Some feature colorful decorations.

Metal

These dials are made from metal plates.
Some are highly decorative and feature gold plating or engraving.

Resin

These dials are made from melamine resin or plastic.
They are lightweight and shatter-resistant, and are commonly used in relatively modern, mass-produced pocket watches.

3. Dial Decorations

Here are a few examples of dial decorations.
There are many other types of decorations as well.

Sunken Dial

This decoration creates a three-dimensional effect and improves readability by recessing parts of the dial.

• Single sunken dial: only the seconds hand area is recessed
• Double sunken dial: both the center of the dial and the seconds hand area are recessed in two steps

Cartouche Dial

This type of dial features raised markers.
Dials with recessed markers are sometimes called telephone dials.

Summary

Because pocket watches have larger dials than wristwatches, the dial—the watch's "face"—is very prominent.

We have introduced some common types here, but there are endless variations in fonts, marker styles, colors, and decorations.
Hands also come in many different designs, which we will introduce in another article.