[Pure incapacity to use] - Watches without hour markers.

i agree…I love The clean look but def. Hard to read time

No and it leaves me really torn. I'd love one of those Cartier - but I really hate the idea of not knowing the exact time and turning up for a meeting late! 

not precisely i guess since there isnt no indices. i really hate the full ceramic rado lol

you could read the shadows of your arm hairs easier which is true minimalist.

No problems for me, but i do say these kinds of watches were not meant for reading of time. Rather, to pull off a style meant for dinner and dress, an event where time doesnt bother its wearer, a true jewelry piece.

Yes, I can read the time unless it is a 24 hour movement.  Then it becomes a bit tricky.

Cartier is 4:42. Next is 4:45, and the Rado is 10:12.

No problem reading the time on an empty dial after decades of wearing analog watches. I just don’t enjoy wearing dials that empty. I found that I have a sweet spot in the middle of minimal and busy when I look at dials.

Don‘t have this one anymore, but I think this is a good example of not too much or two little on the dial of a simple three-hander: 

Never had a problem reading this style of watch. I didn't realise that other people had issues with it

more hard to set the time :) Even my one-hand MeisterSinger is much easier for me than adjusting my wife's rado without hour markers :) 

I can guess. From left to right, my guesses are 4:43, 3:43...dammit, they look the same, but not... and what I believe to be a modified happy hands of ~10:12 or so. I'm surely accurate to +/-35 minutes.

I don't like it and would never wear it

I used to love this design but now it just adds anxiety since I don’t know if its a 10:17 or 10:20 haha

I don't have a job so it's fine

I  similar, I really like a 3 6 9 at minimum 

4:40, 3:40, 10:10

A while ago Movado committed most of their watch line to this fad of dials void of induces.  Movado's significance disappeared just as quickly. 

Hey @chronotriggered, I was not trying to offend any of you. My apologies if the joke didn't land very well. Maybe it was a cultural gap between us. 

Cheers, 

It's a bit easier in the square watches, because the shape gives you more to go on.

I just ordered myself a watch without hour markers, but it is a bit different:

Thoughts?

I have no problem with it, I'm just not too fond of those dials. Unless it's the Movado, I sorta have a soft spot for that one :)

One intuits the time more so than reading it.

Yes, I'm old enough that analog time is THE time, so I can reasonably tell what time it is based on the position of the hands. 

Besides, if I'm wearing that type of watch, I'm not counting minutes or seconds anyway. Always remember the use case. 

I’d be very happy to know i bought these drunk (except the Rado) when i come to in the morning. OTOH imagine being sober enough and buying…. 

My favorite ‘what time is it, really?’ watch’. A fashion entry from ‘80’s, a gift because I like MC Escher Still in my box and still running. I mean how can I throw out an entire flock of geese? 🪶🪶🪶

Out of those 3, I wouldn't mind picking the Cartier for special occasions where I'm not keeping track of time 🥳

I'm a legibility addict, so pretty firm on markers for both minute and hour.  Though once in a while a dial or watch entrances me so thoroughly that I abandon those values. 🤷‍♂️

If I could even slightly afford one of these for example, I'd sacrifice that rule instantly.

No thank you. That's just a fancy jewelry with a movement. I wish I have the money to burn for jewelry like that.

Not to my liking. I think it is attempting to be “minimalist” but removed too much and then it doesn’t function as intended (to tell the time). 

Yes, I like these kind of dials. I think you have to read these dials differently. Its hard to read an exact time, but if you know the hour at hand, I just visually read the minute hand and "feel" the time as opposed to trying to determine an exact time

Well, they are meant to be more style than actual time telling.

You know, I was searching for advice on legibility of blank watch faces and trying to remember that famous brand (MOVADO! Ha: finally came to me).

Anyway, I've known this for years, and keep rediscovering it. I saw it right away when I came here to look at your pics after google brought up your post when I searched about difficult-to-read watches.

and the thing is, I can clearly tell what time it is on all of the watches you pictured, even the one with a little teeny tiny picture clearly shows if I remember correctly about 445. It definitely takes a second, I'm not saying that they're anywhere near as legible as a Citizen or Seiko tool diver.

But ya can figure it out. And I think that's part of the style: he may need to know the time frequently or quickly, but he's a hawkeyed observer and a quick read of situations.

Or the opposite message, which I think it might also say for many people: I live too luxurious and elegant a life to ever bother really needing to know the time with any kind of precision or urgency.