Ziffernblatt

Ziffernblatt is the German term for the dial or face of a clock or watch. It is the surface on which hour markers are arranged and on which hands indicate time. The dial is typically a flat plate, often made of metal, enamel, ceramic, or lacquer, and may be finished with engravings, guilloché patterns, or textures. Numerals or markers are applied or printed; common numeral styles include Arabic and Roman numerals, while some dials use baton or dot indices and may omit numerals altogether. The outer edge frequently carries minute marks, and many dials include additional windows or subdials for complications such as date, day, chronograph counters, or moonphase.

Dial design balances legibility and aesthetics. Contrast between foreground numerals and the background, luminant material on numerals or hands, and the shape of the hands all affect readability. In mechanical watches, the dial is mounted on the movement’s top plate, and some high-end models feature multiple layers, hand-engraved or enamel-painted details. The choice of material and finish—enamel, lacquer, sunburst, guilloché—affects durability and aging.

Historically, enamel dials were common in antique European watches; early dials used Roman numerals, with Arabic numerals gaining popularity in later periods. Modern manufacturing includes mass-produced printed dials as well as handmade enamel dials for luxury pieces.

See also: watch dial, numeral dial, clock face, watchmaking.