Do you know the reason why the watches use roman numberal IIII instead of IV

I like Roman numural on the Mechanical watches. my first watch was Longine Lyre with roman numbers and bought in 2007. I still remember the sales showed me 2 versions to check. one was roman another was arabic numbers 1,2,3. I took roman's. i think it is more Classic Watch. that is what i want.

Now I am working in watch manufacturing field. I found a interesting thing by a mistake. 2 years ago, one Watch Dial of my order was wrong number 4. the drawing IV, but our purchasing dept bought IIII. then we have to correct it to be same as drawing.

We all know the common writing IV in Roman numeric system. but most watches and clocks are in IIII.

that is weird and unusual, isn't it?

The Roman numeric system isn`t widely used anymore. Most of Western countries rely on Arabic numerals, Asian countries have their own numeric system and Arabic culture uses a typography that is different from the classical Arabic numerals. However, in watchmaking, Roman numerals have been used and are still in use on many Watch Dials.

Commonly, Roman numerals are written this way: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII and so on.

3. the visual balance, more rational theory. normally there are 12 hours on watch dial. one reason to use IIII instead of IV could be to get great visual balance. The dial features the following numerals: I, II, III, IIII, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, with this, you can see 3 identical areas on watch dial. each of them using the same numberals. the first third only uses I, the second third uses V and the last third only use X, this way, you can see there are in good balance to create the more elegant and harmonious dial. and these numerals are radially printed on watch dial. the numeral IIII is easier to read than IV.

and of course, there are always some in exception to the rule. below Big ben in London.

other watchmaker in IV instead of IIII