The various time display formats reveal each company's concept

A watch is a device that keeps time and displays it to the user. The watch face is the interface through which the user reads the time, and it is not difficult to imagine that various trial and error processes have been undertaken to find the optimal solution. When the display format changes, the requirements for the internal mechanism change, which has a major impact on the dial design. In other words, the choice of display format largely determines the design and concept of the watch. Therefore, this time we will focus on display formats from models released in recent years and explain their features.

The mainstream method of displaying time using rotating hands

　Most watches have hour and minute hands that rotate around the center of the dial. Some have a center second hand, some are located on a sub-dial, and some don't have one at all. The hand returns to its original position after completing one revolution, so for example, if the minute hand passes 59 minutes, it will become 60 minutes, which is the zero minute mark for the next hour. Considering that the movement of the watch is created by the rotation of gears, this is the most natural display format.

　Another benefit is that the time is indicated by the direction of the hands, making it easy to read intuitively. Even if the "6" index is hidden by a large small seconds dial, as on the IWC Portugieser Automatic 40, there should be no problem reading the hours and minutes.

Retrograde time display

　Retrograde watches often have a fan-shaped display of less than 360°, with a hand that rotates around the center of the arc. When the hand reaches the end of the arc, it returns to the opposite end and restarts from zero. This mechanism is often used to display the day of the week or power reserve, but some are also used to display the time.

　The retrograde movement eliminates the need for a circular in-dial, allowing for greater freedom in design and allowing for the starting position of the hands and their placement on the dial. Van Cleef & Arpels' Midnight Pont des Amoureux is a watch that skillfully incorporates the retrograde movement to express the brand's worldview.

　The woman displays the hours at 9 o'clock, while the man displays the minutes at 3 o'clock, each with a mechanism that moves back and forth across the dial. The dial features a Parisian night view painted in grisaille enamel, depicting lovers kissing as they meet on a bridge at exactly 12 o'clock. This motif is typical of Van Cleef & Arpels, which was founded by Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels to express family love through timeless jewelry.

Digital display using a 7-segment display

　Digital refers to the expression of numbers with no intervening values, such as integers like 1, 2, 3, etc. In the case of a clock, the time is clearly displayed in numbers, such as "03:10:03" for 3:10:3, and the time in between is not handled, such as 4 seconds after 3 seconds (note that this is referring to the display unit; internal processing counts at shorter time intervals).

　The most common method of displaying these numbers today is a seven-segment display, which uses seven bars arranged in the shape of a "day" to represent decimal Arabic numerals and gives them contrasting light and dark. This method allows the simplified display of Arabic numerals to be managed by combining the light and dark of each of the seven bars (bit values ​​of "1" and "0"). This was an advantageous feature, as it was well-suited to logic circuits and microcomputers, which were not yet capable of achieving high performance and compact size at the time digital watches first appeared.

　The Hamilton PSR is a reproduction of the Hamilton Pulsar, the world's first LED digital watch, which appeared at the dawn of the digital watch era. The Hamilton PSR features a hybrid display that combines LCD and OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology to constantly display the hours and minutes. Pressing the button at 3 o'clock lights up the LED, brightly displaying the time.

　Digital displays are characterized by their clear indication of time, making them a good match for stopwatches. Furthermore, they can display any number depending on the control, and even alphabets with some ingenuity in the display, creating the groundwork for the development of multi-function watches equipped with microcomputers.

　Casio is perhaps one of the biggest contributors to pioneering the world of multi-function watches. In the 1980s, they released the Databank, which featured a phone book function. In 2020, Casio added the GBD-H1000 to their G-SHOCK workout collection, the G-SQUAD. This model features an optical sensor for heart rate measurement, a triple sensor for measuring direction, barometric pressure/altitude, and temperature, an accelerometer, and GPS. The data obtained from these sensors is used to analyze workout progress and display various necessary information on the LCD screen. Since display visibility is crucial for instant reading during workouts, there's no doubt that Casio's digital display expertise has been put to good use.

Digital displays that go beyond 7-segment displays

　As mentioned earlier, digital means that the numbers are not displayed in a continuous manner, so digital displays can be made using methods other than the seven-segment method. The date display that instantly changes at midnight can also be considered a digital display. A similar approach is taken by the jumping hour display.

　The Chanel Monsieur de Chanel Blue Edition features an off-center retrograde minute display, a small second hand at 6 o'clock, and a framed jumping hour at 6 o'clock on the dial.

　Furthermore, when Bvlgari revived the Gerald Genta brand, which had been dormant in recent years, it chose the Arena Bi-Retro model, which features a retrograde minute hand. The model released in 20 is the Arena Bi-Retro Sport. It features a retrograde minute hand with a rotating axis in the center of the dial, a jumping hour display at 12 o'clock, and a retrograde date display at 6 o'clock.

　Like retrograde movements, jumping hours offer greater freedom in watch design. It is interesting to note that Chanel, Gérald Genta, and Bvlgari, all of which have clear design philosophies, have chosen jumping hours and placed the retrograde minutes in the most prominent position and size on the dial.

There are many variations even with rotating hands.

　There are various ways in which the hands move, such as step movement, where the hands change clearly every second, and sweep movement, where the second hand rotates smoothly without interruption.

　The Credor Eichi II lapis lazuli porcelain dial model uses Spring Drive, which allows for the sweeping movement of the second hand. Spring Drive draws its driving force from the mainspring and limits the speed at which it unwinds with an electromagnetic brake, making it possible to move thick, heavy hands. This model embodies the aesthetic need for a smooth second hand movement to express the uninterrupted flow of time.

　There are also models with only a single hand from which the hours and minutes can be read. While the styles mentioned so far show the hours, minutes, and seconds as separate elements, this method takes subtractive design to the extreme and displays the time with a single element. A prime example is Meistersinger, which only produces single-hand watches, and recently Montblanc added the 1858 Automatic 24H to its collection.

　The minute of the hour can be read from the position of the single hand, which makes one revolution in 24 hours, between the indexes. In the case of a 24-hour revolution, the angle equivalent to one hour is 15°, so hands with thin tips are often used to make reading easier. Furthermore, a dial design that makes it easy to read the time in 5- or 10-minute increments, even with a single hand, is essential. It can be said that this display format has a high degree of purity in the connection between function and design.

　While attention is often focused on improvements to the design, functions, mechanisms, or components of watches, considering the display format that determines the interface specifications for telling the time can help understand each manufacturer's concept. Considering this when choosing a watch may lead to a deeper understanding of the model.