Upright vs. Revolving numerals?

I might be using the wrong terms to describe these, but what is your preference here? 

Two nearly identical watches with different positioning of the numerals have a totally different feel imo.

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upright indices is more neat for me 🍺

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I'm not a big fan of numbers that go completely upside down or mixed arabic and roman numerals. Something like this is ok though.

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Upright.  No contest.

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I generally prefer the upright, but showing them on a couple of DJs got me thinking. The upright digits are more of a field watch/Flieger trait. Military watches need to read quickly. For a DJ, or anything that leans dressier, having the arabics radially aligned looks better.

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Yeah definitely upright. That DJ looks all kinds of wrong!

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I prefer the upright too. Looks like the general concensus agrees!

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MissingMilo

I generally prefer the upright, but showing them on a couple of DJs got me thinking. The upright digits are more of a field watch/Flieger trait. Military watches need to read quickly. For a DJ, or anything that leans dressier, having the arabics radially aligned looks better.

I think I still prefer upright regardless of situation, but I think you are correct in what they are going for. I think it's a choice made for purely stylistic reasons, because upright is always going to be more legible. 

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Upright all day & forever

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In horological circles this is referred to as "radial flip".

Heated discussions have taken place over the years.

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The correct answer is "upright."

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Upright as it suits the position of the person reading the time.  Radial isn't logical as you aren't revolving the watch.

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Upright for the Arabic but radial for Roman Numerals has always been the norm for me. I am sure examples of the opposite that I would adore though. Not a huge fan of the radial on the DJ, feels odd especially with the date window.

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None of them 🤣 I always prefer Datejust with indexes instead of numerals

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I think upright looks better most of the time. But there are also watches that can pull off these rotating ones. It's difficult to get them right but if they are, the dial is nearly always stunning. 

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bevelwerks

Upright for the Arabic but radial for Roman Numerals has always been the norm for me. I am sure examples of the opposite that I would adore though. Not a huge fan of the radial on the DJ, feels odd especially with the date window.

That's because Roman numerals aren't meant to be read....I feel a rant coming on.

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Aurelian

That's because Roman numerals aren't meant to be read....I feel a rant coming on.

Nah agreed they are meant to look fancy

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gbelleh

I'm not a big fan of numbers that go completely upside down or mixed arabic and roman numerals. Something like this is ok though.

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I generally dislike watches where the orientation flips on the bottom half, but that is due to the adjacent numerical indices that are basically facing opposite directions. The "evens only" dial avoids this.

I'm on team radial Roman numerals though. Bases toward the center. 

So with Arabics, I'm say slightly favor upright over unflipped radial. Detest flipped radial: too inconsistent.

Then there is this...

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Upright for sure.

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PoorMansRolex

I generally dislike watches where the orientation flips on the bottom half, but that is due to the adjacent numerical indices that are basically facing opposite directions. The "evens only" dial avoids this.

I'm on team radial Roman numerals though. Bases toward the center. 

So with Arabics, I'm say slightly favor upright over unflipped radial. Detest flipped radial: too inconsistent.

Then there is this...

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What the flipping heck is that?? I'm assuming the clock is just mounted upside down lol

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rocksinger89

What the flipping heck is that?? I'm assuming the clock is just mounted upside down lol

Yup, supposedly some Pottery Barn that was inexplicably mounted upside down.