Logos & Typography/ Fonts

One more impression:

As you can see a very understated decision to put there logo on the dial.

You just spot the logo in the right angle.

I appreciate that a lot.

Do you think more brands should act like this brand?!

I am unconsciously a fan of having a brand name in fine print on the dial such that it's barely legible or all that noticeable unless one is deliberately trying to read it. I believe almost everything I own abides by this and the teeny applied Seiko 5 stuff is possibly the most prominent.

There are very few watches that I don't think benefit aesthetically from a sterile dial. I agree on the ring-around-the-Rolex and will add case embossments as seen on the Invicta Pro Diver and I think at least one VC. I prefer unsigned crowns as well.

If you like discreet, check this out. It's on Moser's new watches vs how it looked before. (Ignore the tourbillon, I wanted to see the dial color). I love this change. Keeps it very discreet and if you know Moser, you'll spot it a mile away bc of their amazing fume dials.

How about no logo at all!

Love that. A very pure and beautiful watch

I'm a bit of a font nerd due to my job and the choice of font on a dial or bezel can definitely make or break a purchase for me.

I also hate watches that display their entire resume on the dial like Tudor or Rolex. 6 lines of text, really?

Because they try too become a religion. The add a micro bible on the dial.

But without bashing the brands. Some models have a nice appeal because of the typo/ logo. And at the end it’s a totally personal thing.

What is your favorite brand in case of typo/ logo design?! :)

I only really notice if it’s bad. Like Swiss Watch Company. Love their designs but that logo…my eyes!!!

I mean if it’s bad it’s like someone poke with they finger in your eyes 👀👈😅

Let's put it that way. I don't like or hate typography on the dial, but the fonts can and will turn me off the watch. I think that text can make or break the watch. I like vintage inspired Hamilton logo, I think Seiko is great with fonts, while GS is kinda odd. I can handle the essays that Rolex puts on their dials, but old font on a vintage Rolex watches is superior.

This is cool.

this looks like it going on crusade or something.

Fonts are great, colour is great, snowflake hands - get me outta here please.

this - amazing typography work

this - feels like Comic Sans, because of this cartoonish font weight.

Applied Seiko logo. Honorable mention: Aragon logo with the large slanted letters.

No Comic Sans. That’s a hard rule of mine.

All kidding aside, it depends. I really like the Addiesdive AD2117, but I cannot even that logo. On the flipside, Orient has very contentious logo, and I don’t mind it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I know that it can be a bit busy, but the old Mido logo is part of what drew me into the Decompression Timer

Papyrus it is then!

A Rolex purist 😉

I like the newer Cellinis as well. There more timeless.

What’s about the Swiss brands there delivered as neutral to both parties Watches in Flieger design. I think some of them still produce Fliegers. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Nice. Never recognized that brand before.

It s true I can see the vibes 😁

Can you share picture of the back please 😁… I am curious 👀

Sorry, didn't take a pic of the movement, but here is a link from a watch blog. It's a beautiful movement designed by a famous watchmaker named Andreas Strehler.

Haha that's true. I used to not like the concept dials, but then I realized that it's not too hard to read the time. I guess it's less of a practical watch and a celebration of how amazing the dials look.

This article will give you a lot of background: https://monochrome-watches.com/the-history-of-the-pilot-watch-part-five-b-uhr/ Basically the suppliers were made up of four German and one Swiss company.

Thank you for your reply. That will be interesting if you could find out what Stowa says. I could be wrong. I'm guessing those that chose the sterile dial wanted the authentic Flieger look. I would have chosen the STOWA dial for myself because it does separate Stowa out from all the other Fliegers and you'll notice from photos that the STOWA name is not written very large.

You have raised a really good point about other design features being a signature. Yes, they absolutely are. Would I rather have design features as a signature or the actual name or logo? My answer is both. But I think the more obvious the design feature, the smaller the brand name and/or logo has to be. But I still want to see it on the dial. And it's another way for a manufacturer to display his art, because then the imaginative look and/or placement of the name itself becomes a design feature.

Two brands that come immediately to mind are watches by Anordain and Ming. Check out their photos and see how and where they've displayed their names. These are expensive brands but I have seen a Fossil watch that was part skeletonized and had a broad hour hand with FOSSIL written on the hand itself, showing that manufacturers in all price ranges can be imaginative.

But then consider Aragon. All of their watches feature big bold design. I have one. Their large conspicuous logo at 12 o'clock spelling out ARAGON in big slanted letters is one of my favorite parts of their dials. Subtlety wouldn't work at all in this case, because nothing about Aragons is subtle or minimal.

My personal preference is for at least a name on every dial. Like other posters, I can be put off by fonts, names, placements, etc. For one example, I like all the text on a Rolex dial but don't like ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX circling the inside of the dial. Having said that, I usually don't like anything else on the dial but the name at 12. But then sometimes a bit of text above the 6 balances out the dial. I guessing many of us have these same arbitrary individual preferences. Everybody is different. You came up with an excellent subject for us to discuss. Again, thanks.

I don't want a sterile dial ever. Having said that, I'm down with your first sentence. However . . . since I like obsessing over every watch detail even (especially?) when it makes no sense to do so, there are exceptions. There Are No Rules, Only Guidelines. I have an Aragon watch with big bold styling, like every Aragon watch has. One of my favorite things on its bluer-than-blue dial is the large slanted letters of the ARAGON logo. Anything subtle or minimal would be out of place on this watch. I also like the (rather) large applied SEIKO letters (almost) always at 12 o'clock. Gives a feeling of solidity sometimes sorely missing in this crazy Watch World.

I also couldn't care less about signed crowns, unless it's the most artistic logo there ever was. My $125 gloriously beautiful Tissot Everytime Large has the capital letter T on the crown, which looks just as exciting there as it does when you just saw it on the screen. I think there's no reason for a T to be on the crown, and the actual watch, Mademoiselle Tissot, agrees with me. She thinks it's too much frou-frou.

Oh, it’s a moser. I thought that looks like moser but was not shure ( because no text on the dial 😅😂) definitely a argument against to clean dials.

But because of the very unique design I thought it’s a moser.

The movement ist spectacular. I wished I can afford a watch like that 😭😅

Thanks for sharing 👌

Ahh yeah, I posted this one right after I posted some other Mosers as I was too lazy to edit. It is different to their usual dial colors and so easy to mistake it! Anordain gets close with it's enameled and patterned dials! MUCH more affordable

I didn’t realized that you posted the other moser 😅… now everything’s makes sense 😄

I thin anordain is really a brand they make a lot of thinks right. It’s kind of unique in there design language and they start creating a signature craftsmanship…. The stunning dials.

Like that Szene has this days pretty much for everyone a cup of tee to enjoy.

Way more personality then 10 years ago.

Brands like moser, anordain, kudoke and few more make me really excited 😊

Indeed those are brands with very signature styles. The one thing about kudoke that I can't unsee in their movement is...

I almost don't want to say it and ruin it for you... Is the balance cock or whatever that engraved piece is and the two ratchet wheels or whatever they are look like franks and beans. Bollocks and a c**k. Houdensack (thanks for my German childhood friend!) and a Weiner.

The choice of font can make or break the design of the entire watch. Surprisingly even brands in the higher price segments sometimes treat the typography like an afterthought. More or less like: “damn, we also need numerals and some words on the watch. Right, open MS Word and just take the most used ones”. And those are, without fail: Times New Roman and Arial. I kid you not.

Your right. Often I think It could be better.

For example I like open casebacks and a nice movement. But if see then a ugly fond that’s tell’s your 50m water resistant and other stuff I feel disappointed. That’s just crushing the overall nice design of case and movement. Equal happens with dial or with the bracelet.

Do you have a example you like a lot and one that’s a total no go for you:) ?