American Pocket Watch Dials
A Basic Primer on Porcelain Dials For Antique American Watches
Nov 5, 2009
American manufactured watches were fitted with porcelain dials from 1852 to the 1930s. Made from different colored ground glass that was applied to a copper disk and fired in a kiln at high temperature they were relatively durable and easy to read. There were three basic types of porcelain dials manufactured.
- Double-sunk: Those made in three parts and lead soldered together are generally known as “double-sunk” because the inner field was lower than the outer dial with numbers and the small seconds dial was set even lower than the field. Dials with wind indicators often were made in three parts, but these weren’t called double-sunk. True double-sunk wind-indicator dials (four parts) are frightfully rare.
- Single-sunk: Made in two parts with the sub-seconds dial soldered into position.
- Flat: Made as a single disk, they would evolve to have recessed fields and sub-seconds as manufacturing methods became more sophisticated.
Special Watch Dial Design Styles
Particular watch models and grades such as chronographs, those showing sidereal time, calendars, or fitted with wind indicators required special dials that were produced in very limited quantities. Furthermore, those with the model on the dial – Father Time, Bunn Special, Vanguard – command prices far above those showing just the company name.
Dials for railroad grade watches that have official railway logos or particular styles such as the Ferguson and Montgomery often are more expensive than the movement and case combined! Even dials with the names of known railway time inspectors (those who were responsible for adjusting the watches used on different railway lines) can command premiums. americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_railroad_grade_pocket_watch
Elgin Watch Company offered a great range of dial styles. D155 was a double-sunk porcelain dial with Arabic numerals for hours and continuous Arabic numbers (1-60) for minutes. D-22 was a Canadian railroad dial with Roman numerals for I-XII and Arabic for 12-24; D23 was similar but all numerals were Arabic. In fact, dozens of styles and all types of graphics – especially for 12-size dials – were available on order from Elgin, Waltham, and other American watch companies from the 1920’s onwards.
Fancy Porcelain Dials
Fancy dials are those made with different colored enamels and metal foils. Top-quality dials may have four or five different colors of enamel, each requiring a separate firing in the kiln. These dial have always been expensive, but their tendency to crack due to unequal expansion cause by temperature changes makes surviving flawless dials extremely rare. Fancy dials are almost always flat or single-sunk; double-sunk fancy dials are exceedingly rare. Fancy dials were produced for a few expensive watches but generally they were fitted to less expensive models.
Just as with porcelain vases and figurines, porcelain watches dials also were hand painted with glazes and fired. Such watches dials could be custom ordered from the factory or were done as one of a kind by skilled ceramic workers on regular production dials. Those with fraternal organizations and company logos were produced in quantity.
Porcelain dials also had oil painted and silk-screen images applied to them. Some were even painted with light-sensitive emulsion painted and were developed with a photographic image. With the exception of certain company logos these were all done as after-market products. These have to be evaluated on an individual basis and their personal appeal determines their value.
Evaluating Watch Dials
Appeal is everything, but scarcity and condition are the driving factors behind prices. A dial made at the factory by a watch company like Waltham or Hampden is generally more valuable than those made by third parties. Dials that fit watches produced in low quantities will command premium prices even when in less-than-desirable condition. Hairline cracks in porcelain enamel reduce value, but unfortunately they are more prevalent in the highly desirable double-sunk and fancy dials than with single-sunk and flat dials and this is taken into account when pricing them.
Names on dials should match the era in which the movement was produced. The National Watch Company began producing movements in 1867. In 1874 they changed their name to Elgin National Watch Company. The National Watch Company produced 210,000 movements; their successor produced millions. Therefore, dials with National Watch Co. on the dial were produced in much smaller numbers and value is adjusted accordingly.
Railroad watch dials are in their own class. Particular styles can command several hundred dollars for a pristine dial. Those with official railway logos and names of railway inspectors can also bring premium prices. Combine a railway logo with a highly sought after style made for a premier model movement – for example, a double-sunk Montgomery dial marked Santa Fe Special for an Illinois Santa Fe Special – and the price becomes whatever the seller and buyer can agree upon.
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