US3633355A - Watch crystal and hands with reflective mirror dial - Google Patents

Abstract

Transparent or translucent watchglasses provided with indications- such as graduations of hours, minutes and the like combined with hands, both said indications and said hands having different colors on the undersides thereof so that a reflective dial face reflects the contrasting color of the undersides to the wearer to prevent parallax reading errors.

Description

United States Patent Inventor Taketoshi Sakata Tokyo, Japan Appl. No. 41,000 Filed May 27, 1970 Patented Jan. 11, 1972 Assignee Sakata Watch Co., Ltd.

Tokyo, Japan Priorities July 5, 1969 Japan 44/63829;

July 5, 1969, Japan, No. 44/638130; Dec. 12, 1969, Japan, No. 44/118125; Dec. 16, 1969, Japan, No. 44/1 19404 WATCH CRYSTAL AND HANDS WITH REFLECTIVE MIRROR DIAL 8 Claims, 12 Drawing Figs.

11.5. C1 58/91, 58/127 R, 116/129 K Int. Cl ..G04b 39/00, S G04b 19/06 [50] Field ot'Search 58/90, 91, 127; 116/129 K, DIG. 45

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,224,421 12/1940 Aaron 58/91 X 2,179,294 11/1939 Heit 58/91 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,258,179 2/1961 France 58/91 347,143 7/1960 Switzerland 58/91 899,341 6/1962 Great Britain 58/91 Primary Examiner-Stephen J. Tomsky Assistant Examiner--George H. Miller, Jr. Attorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman ABSTRACT: Transparent or translucent watchglasses provided with indications-such as graduations of hours, minutes and the like combined with hands, both said indications and said hands having different colors on the undersides thereof so that a reflective dial face reflects the contrasting color of the undersides to the wearer to prevent parallax reading errors.

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WATCH CRYSTAL AND HANDS WITH REFLECTIVE MIRROR DIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is concerned with glasses for watches, especially for Wristwatches. More particularly, it relates to glasses provided with indications, such as graduations of hours, minutes and the like, of various different designs formed on the reverse side of the glasses made of various different materials.

2. Description of the Prior Art In watches and especially Wristwatches, graduations of hours, minutes and the like were formed on the upper surface of the dial plate of the watch. These graduations were given a color or colors in many cases to facilitate easy reading of time. The faces of the colored graduations were often exposed directly to solar rays during the use of the watches which were carried on the wrists of the users. With the lapse of time, however, the colors of these graduations tended to fade gradually, and the initial aesthetic features of the graduations were lost accordingly.

Graduations made of metals, on the other hand, often developed rust on their faces due to their contact with moistures creeping into the space defined between the upper face of the dial plate and the lower face of the glass through a very narrow interstice present between the peripheral boundaries of the glass and the upper edges of the watchcase into which the edges of the glass were snap-fitted, resulting in ugly discoloration of the faces of the graduations provided on the dial plate.

Some users of watches may desire to replace the old dial plates bearing wornout or rust-covered graduations with new dial plates. Other users may desire-soon after they have bought the watches-to replace the still fresh dial plates with different ones because they do not like the designs of the graduations or other patterns of the dial plates.

In such an occasion, the serviceman of the watch shop will first have to take out the old dial plate together with the movement frame and the glass from the watchcase, and then he will have to unscrew the attachment projections of the dial plate from the frame of the movement in which the projections are threadably received to detach the dial plate apart from the movement frame. Then, the serviceman may place the new dial plate selected by the user. To assemble them together, the serviceman will first have to position the dial plate attachment projections in register with the small threaded openings formed in the frame for receiving the projections before screwing the projections into the openings. At times, the user may choose a particular dial having attachment projections which are located in such positions as are not in agreement with the positions of the projection-receiving openings already formed in the frame. In such an instance, the serviceman will first have to remove the projections from the new dial plate selected by the user and then he must weld them to the back side of this new dial plate at such positions as will abut exactly with the receiving openings provided in the movement frame. Such operations consumed a great deal of time and labor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel glass for a watch and especially for a wristwatch, which carrieson the reverse face of the glass--indications such as graduations of hours, minutes and the like that can be viewed externally of the glass, and which not only serves as the cover glass in its primary sense, but also takes the place of the conventional dial plate carrying such indications, and which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks and inconveniences encountered in watches of the prior art, and which-without the need of any complicated operations-can be very easily replaced by new one that carries the same indications or indications of a different design to suit the desire of the user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel glass of the type described for use in a watch and especially wristwatch, which is such that the indications formed on the reverse side thereof will not easily discolor or rust during the use of the watch for a prolonged period of time and which, when viewed externally thereof, will give a gorgeous impression since the graduations appear as if they were embossed on the glass.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a watch and especially a wristwatch having a glass of the type described, and also to provide a watch provided with a reflecting mirror plate in association with a glass of the type described, so that the watch presents a novel and fresh aesthetic sensation to the user.

The term glass" herein used does not means that the cover member of the watch case is always made of a glass composition. Instead, it is used herein to point generally to a cover member of the watchcase.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view, partly in section, showing an example in which a glass of the present invention is applied to a wristwatch;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a glass representing one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a glass representing another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of an essential part of the glass shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the portion of a glass similar to that shown in FIG. 4 but representing a slightly modified example;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a glass representing still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, similar to that shown in FIG. 6 but representing a slightly modified example;

FIG. Bis a top view, partly in section, showing an example in which a glass embodying the present invention is mounted on a wristwatch in association with a reflecting mirror plate;

, FIG. 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, showing an essential portion of the wristwatch shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the reflecting mirror plate provided on the wristwatch shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the graduations provided on the reverse side of the glass embodying the present invention and being shown in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of a hand of the wristwatch shown in FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention features that indicationssuch as graduations of hours, minutes and the like that have been pro vided on the upper face of a dial plate in conventional watches-are formed on the reverse side of the glass of the watch.

For this reason, the glass which carries such indications preferably is made of a transparent material so that the user of the watch may be able to have a clear view of these indications externally through this glass. Depending on the users taste, the glass may not necessarily be completely transparent. At any rate, the glass must have at least a transparency such that will permit the user to see through the wall of the glass. More specifically, the glass must have a transparency such that the user is able to read--from the upper or front side of the gIass-the indications such as graduations of hours, minutes and the like which are formed on the reverse side of the glass as well as to clearly ascertain the positions of the hands of the watch.

To this end, the glass" of the present invention is made ofa material selected from the group consisting of transparent glasses, transparent synthetic resins, transparent crystal glasses, manmade noble stones such as manmade transparent sapphire, natural noble stones, thinly colored glasses and thinly colored synthetic resinous materials. On the other hand, indications provided on the reverse side of the glass of the type described are formed with antifading color prints, inlays of antifading colored synthetic resins, inlays of colored manmade or natural jewels or metals, antifading color-coated recesses, antifading color-coated or colored projections made of synthetic resins, manmade jewels, natural jewels, metals or any other suitable materials and having their roots adhesively embedded within the recesses formed in the reverse side of the glass and extending from said side, and their combinations.

Referring now to the drawings which areprovided simply by way of examples, FIG. I is a top view, partly in section, showing an example in which a glass of the present invention is applied to a wristwatch. In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 represents a watch casing. Numeral 2 represents a plate which takes the place of a conventional dial plate. Numeral 3 represents a glass. This glass 3 shown here is made of a transparent hard synthetic resin, and hason the reverse side-indications which, of FIG. 1 consist of graduations of hours 4 and graduations of minutes 5 such as those provided on conventional dial plates, are formed on said reverse side in an appropriate manner. Therefore, the plate 2 which takes the place of the conventional dial plate has no indications such as hour graduations 4 and minute graduations 5, but this plate 2 serves according to the present invention simply as a protective plate for the movement of the watch that is housed in the casing 1.

It is only necessary for the proprietor of a watch shop to keep in stock various kinds of glasses of the type described. That is to say, the shop keeper needs only a stock of those glasses of various different size and those having indications of various different designs. Then, the serviceman will be able to very easily replace the old glass with a new one which may be the same in the design of the indications or may have graduations of such a different design as will suit the taste of the purchaser or the user of the watch, without taking the trouble of withdrawing the movement frame for each replacement of the glass as was necessary when the conventional dial plate was to be replaced.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a glass representing one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the glass is made with the same material as that for the glass of the watch shown in FIG. 1. The graduations of hours 4 and the graduations of minutes 5 which are both provided on the reverse side of the glass 3 consist of those formed by printing, encoustic painting or any other appropriate printing techniques thereon by the use of antifading colored materials. Since these graduations are not printed on the upper or outer surface of the glass 3, the printed areas of the indications are not susceptible to contact by external objects and accordingly these indications are not rubbed or scraped away from the reverse surface of the glass 3 on which they are formed, or they will hardly detach off said face of the glass or discolor during the use of the watch for an extended period of time. Thus, the glass having such graduations can be used continuously almost pennanently unless the glass itself is broken, without causing any undesirable change in the printed areas. In case the user has lost his interest in the design of the graduations of the glass during the course of use of his watch, or in case the glass itself has sustained a damage, the owner may be able to have it replaced quickly with a new one having a different design of graduations or with a new one having the same design.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a glass representing another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the glass is made of the same material as that for the glass of the watch shown in FIG. I. The graduations of hours 4 and the graduations of minutes 5 which are both provided on the reverse side of the glass 3 are constructed, as shown on a still more enlarged scale in FIG. 4, by forming recesses 6 of an appropriate configuration in the face of the reverse side of the glass 3, thereafter applying an antifading coating material 7 of an appropriate color onto the inner surface of each of said recesses 6, and then adhesively inlaying a filler 8 ofa metal or a synthetic resin or any other appropriate material as enumerated previously by the use of an appropriate adhesive.

In case of a glass having the aforesaid construction of graduations, the color coating of the graduations which are provided in the form of recesses 6 in the reverse face of the glass 3 will, when viewed from the outer side of the latter, give a three-dimensionally embossed sensation to the viewer. More specifically, the color coating 7 and the color of the filler 8 will make a good harmonized combination in presenting a threedimensionally embossed view. These graduations 4 and 5 will appear to the viewer as if they were formed on the plate 2 shown in FIG. 1. If the graduations of hours 4 and graduations of minutes 5 are formed with recesses 6 each having an inclined bottom face located closer to the upper face of the glass 3, then the color of the coating 7 in combination with the color of the filler 8 will present colors rich in variation depending on the angle of view through which the incident visible rays are reflected at the coated bottom faces of the respective recesses 6 inlayed with the filler 8.

The graduations of hours 4 and the graduations of minutes 5 may be made in such a fashion as shown in FIG. 4. In the example shown in this latter drawing, the glass 3 is provided with a recess 6 formed in the reverse face of the glass 3. The bottom face of the recess 6 located closer to the upper face of the glass 3, however, is of a relatively flat inverted Wshaped profile. An antifading gold color coating 7 is applied onto the appropriate sections of this W-shaped bottom face. Thereafter, a silver color filler 8 is inlayed in this coated recess 6 so as to have a complementary flat W-shaped bottom profile and to provide a two-tone color effect. The graduations 4 and 5 which are formed in this manner will provide a still more gorgeous color effect.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of an essential part of the glass bearing a graduation formed in the inner face thereof, which is similar to the example shown in FIG. 4 but represents a slightly modified example. In this instant example, there is formed in the reverse face of the glass 3 a recess 6 having an inverted conical bottom profile. In this recess 6 is adhesively inlayed a filler 8 without any coating layer of a color agent. This filler 8 may be either a metal, a synthetic resin, manmade jewel, natural jewel or any other appropriate material. Also, the filler 8 may have an appropriate color. Thus, when the graduations are viewed externally of the glass 3 which may be made with a transparent or substantially transparent material, they will appear as if they were embossed three dimensionally in the glass wall. Accordingly, the graduations 4 and 5 will give the user an impression as if the graduations were formed in the surface of the plate 2 which is shown in FIG. 1. In this example, the bottom of the recess 6 located closer to the upper surface of the glass 3 is an inverted conical in profile, that is to say, two inclined sections of the recess 6 are joined at an apex. Therefore, the filler 8 will also have a complementary conical bottom profile. Thus, as in the case of the graduations shown in FIG. 4, the filler 8 which is adhesively inlayed in the recess 6 will present a varying color effect depending on the angle of view through which the incident visible rays are reflected at the inclined bottom facial sections of the filler 8.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a glass representing still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the glass 3 is made of the same material as that for the glass of the watch shown in FIG. 1. Graduations of hours 4 and the graduations of minutes 5 are prepared with small pieces of a material or materials selected from the group consisting of hard synthetic resins, hard synthetic resins having appropriate antifading colors, metals,

manmade colored jewels, natural jewels having appropriate colors and other appropriate materials. These graduations 4 and 5 are secured to the reverse side of the glass 3 by the use of an adhesive. Needless to say, these small pieces which constitute the graduations or the like may be coated with an antifading color material.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, similar to that shown in FIG. 6 but representing a slightly modified example. In this example, the graduations 4 and 5 are prepared with small pieces of a material or materials selected from the group consisting of hard synthetic resins, hard synthetic resins having appropriate antifading colors, metals, manmade colored jewels, natural jewels having ap propriate colors and other appropriate materials. A minor part 9 of each of these graduations 4 and 5 is adhesively embedded in the recess 6 formed in the reverse face of the glass so that the major part of each graduation projects into the space beyond said reverse face of the glass 3. It is needless to say that these small pieces which constitute the graduations or the like may be coated with an antifading color material.

In the example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the projecting graduations of hours 4 and the graduations of minutes 5 which are both provided on the reverse side of the glass 3 are made with small pieces of a material or materials selected from the group as enumerated above which will hardly fade in their colors during the use of the watch, and they are not provided on the upper or outer face of the glass 3. Therefore, these projecting graduations 4 and 5 will never be contacted by external objects and, accordingly, they will never be rubbed or scraped off by external objects. Besides, these graduations are pro vided on said side of the glass in such a way as will not detach off the supporting glass 3 or undergo any discoloration from being exposed to solar rays during the use of the watch, and thus, the glass having these graduations may be used continuously almost permanently. Furthermore, since these projecting graduations 4 and 5 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are not those printed on the reverse side of the glass 3, they will appear, whenviewed from the outer side of the glass 3, as if they were embossed three dimensionally, and thus, they will give a very gorgeous impression to the viewer.

FIG. 8 is a top view, partly in section, showing an example in which a glass embodying the present invention is mounted on a wrist watch in association with a reflecting mirror plate. FIGS. 9 through 12 are representations to facilitate the understanding of the details of this example.

In FIGS. 8 through 12, reference numeral 1 represents a watch case. Numeral 2 represents a plate carrying no hour or minute graduations but only symbols or letters relating to the name of the manufacturer or the number of jewels incorporated or the like. Numeral 3 represents a glass which is made with a material same as that for the glass of the watch shown in FIG. 1. The reverse side of the glass 3 is provided with graduations of hours 4 and graduations of minutes 5 both having an appropriate color or colors. These graduations 4 and S in this instant example are coated-at the surfaces remote from the upper face of the glass 3with a material having a color different from the color or colors of the materials or materials of graduations 4 and 5 themselves. Altematively, as shown in FIG. 11, the graduations 4 and 5 may each be providedon their surfaces remote from the upper face of the glass 3with a layer 12 of a material having an appropriate color different from the color or colors of the material or materials of the graduations and being adhesively attached to said surfaces. The hands generally indicated at I0 of the watch also may each be providedon the reverse side either locally at the distal end portion or entirely-with a coating of a color material preferably different from the aforesaid color or colors of said surfaces of the graduations 4 and 5. Alternatively, the hands l0 may each be provided with a layer 11 of a material of an appropriate color which preferably is different from the color or colors provided on said surfaces of the graduations and which is adhesively attached to the reverse side either locally as shown in FIG. 12 or entirely on said side.

Numeral 13 represents a reflecting mirror plate having a donutlike annular shape and having a mirror face formed on the upper side thereof and being securely mounted on the upper face of the plate 2. The annular mirror face of this reflecting mirror plate 13 in this example is of an area defined between the extreme distal end of its radius about the center axis of the plate 2 corresponding in position to at least the distal end edges of the graduations 4 and 5 and the proximal end of its radius about the center axis of the plate 2 corresponding in position to at least the proximal end edge of the color material II applied to the reverse side of the hand 10. This reflecting mirror plate 13 may be made with an annular metal plate having one of the faces polished to provide a reflecting mirror face, or it may be made with a mirror glass plate. It should be understood, however, that said donutlike reflecting mirror plate 13 may be replaced by a continuous circular or polygonal mirror plate.

In watches thus constructed, it is possible that the color of the material 12 which is provided on the reverse side of each hour projection 4 and minute projection 5 is reflected on the mirror face of the reflecting mirror plate 13. Not only that, the color of the material 11 which is provided on the reverse faces of the hands 10-such as hour hand, minute hand and second hand-may also be reflected on the mirror face. For example, when the graduations 4 and S and the hands 10 are viewed from directly above the front side of the glass 3, the colors of the materials 12 and 11 are provided on the reverse sides of both the graduations 4, 5 and the hands 10 are reflected at the mirror face-perpendicular to the plane of the mirror-of the reflecting mirror plate 13 secured to the plate 2. Accordingly, the reflected images of the graduations 4, 5 are not viewed because they are hidden under the graduations 4, 5 and the hands 10 whose tops are viewed from the above the glass 3. In case the graduations and the hands are viewed slantways, however, the reflected color images 12 and 11 of these members 4, 5 and 10 are reflected perpendicular also relative to the plane of the mirror but they can now be viewed at the mirror face of the reflecting mirror plate 13. Thus, by providing an appropriate color or colors to the material or materials constituting the graduations 4, 5 and the hands 10, and by providing the reverse sides of the graduations 4, 5 and the hands 10 with a color 12, 11 or colors 12, 11 different from the color or colors of the material or materials of the graduations 4, 5 and the hands 10, there may be obtained a watch of a novel mode that can provide colorful representations of the graduations 4, 5 and the hands 10 depending on the angle of view through which the graduations 4, 5 and the hands I0 are seen through the wall of the glass 3.

In a watch of the prior art, the graduations formed on the upper face of the dial plate were positioned at some space from the positions of the hands. Accordingly, when the time was read substantially slantways relative to the watch, there arose the inconvenience that no accurate positions of the hands were ascertained. However, according to the present invention, the graduations and the hands are both reflected at the mirror face. Thus, the images of these members are reflected on the same plane of the mirror, and accordingly, an accurate time can be read.

Furthermore, the glass of the present invention is such that indications-such as hour graduations and minute graduationsmay be formed in an appropriate manner on the reverse side of the glass. Accordingly, such graduations may be simply recesses-either coated or not coated with a color material on the inside faces thereof-formed in the reverse face of the glass or they may be projections made of the same material as that of the glass per se and arranged so as to protrude from the reverse face of the glass as an integral body with said glass.

As described above, the present invention contemplates a glass made of a material having a transparency as will permit one to easily see through the wall of the glass and equipped with indications such as hour graduations and minute graduations formed on the reverse side of the glass. Thus, this glass not only serves as the cover glass in its own sense, but also serves concurrently so as to take the place of the conventional dial plate. As such, the replacement of the glass to suit the desire of the purchaser or the user of the watch requires no troublesome and complicated procedures to remove from the watchcase the dial plate of the prior art together with the movement frame to which the dial plate is secured, But, unlike the conventional watches, the glass is very easily replaced with a new one having the same pattern or a different pattern as desired. Besides, the glass gives a beautiful appearance. Thus, the glass of the present invention has a number of advantages.

Furthermore, the watch having the glass of the type described in association with a reflection mirror plate will give a new beautiful mode rich in variation depending on the angle of view externally of the glass, and thus it has an increased ornamental value and gorgeousness.

I claim:

1. A watch having a dial plate with a reflecting surface presented toward frontal viewers of the watch and having timekeeping hands mounted for movement in planes generally parallel to, but above, the reflecting surface, the upper side of each hand having a substantially different color than the underside thereof so viewers can tell from the appearance or nonappearance of the color of the reflected undersides of the hands whether they are observing the watch straight-on.

2. A watch having a dial plate with a reflecting surface presented toward frontal viewers of the watch and having a watchglass covering the dial plate, the watch glass overlying and being spaced above the dial plate; indicia useful in timekeeping disposed upon the watchglass, the upper side of said indicia having a substantially different color than the underside thereof so viewers can tell from the appearance or nonappearance of the color of the reflected underside of said indicia whether they are observing the watch straight-on.

3, A watch comprising:

a watchglass made of light-transmitting material;

a faceplate disposed beneath and spaced below the watchglass;

means defining a reflecting surface upon the faceplate, the

reflecting surface facing the watchglass; and

timekeeping indicia means disposed on the watchglass and presenting an outer surface directly toward the viewer for visibility from exteriorly of the watch; said indicia means presenting an inner surface toward the reflecting surface upon the faceplate, so that the reflection of the inner surface of the indicia means is visible from exteriorly of the watch only when the viewer consults the watch from an aspect that deviates from straight-on;

said outer surface and said reflection of said inner surface of said indicia means being substantially different from one another in appearance, so that the viewer can tell from the absence of the appearance of indicia reflections that he is viewing the watch straight-on and thus can obtain an accurate impression of what time is indicated by the timekeeping indicia means.

4. The watch of claim 3 further including timekeeping hands mounted for revolution in planes intermediate of the faceplate and the reflecting surface;

said hands having an outer surface presented toward the viewer and an inner surface presented toward said reflecting surface;

the outer surface of said hands and the reflection of the inner surface of said hands from said reflecting surface being substantially different from one another in appearance, so that the viewer can tell from the absence of the appearance of indicia reflections that he is viewing the watch straight-on and thus can obtain an accurate im pression of what time is indicated by said hands.

5. The watch of claim 4 wherein the outer surface of the indicia means and the reflection of the inner surface of the indicia means are contrastingly colored.

6. The watch of claim 3 wherein the outer surface of the indicia means and the reflection of the inner surface of the indicia means are contrastingly colored.

7. The watch of claim 6 wherein mdlcla means are recessed into the underside of the watch glass.

8. The watch of claim 7 wherein the outer surface and the inner surface of the indicia means are of substantially different shape.

Claims (8)

1. A watch having a dial plate with a reflecting surface presented toward frontal viewers of the watch and having timekeeping hands mounted for movement in planes generally parallel to, but above, the reflecting surface, the upper side of each hand having a substantially different color than the underside thereof so viewers can tell from the appearance or nonappearance of the color of the reflected undersides of the hands whether they are observing the watch straight-on.

2. A watch having a dial plate with a reflecting surface presented toward frontal viewers of the watch and having a watchglass covering the dial plate, the watch glass overlying and being spaced above the dial plate; indicia useful in timekeeping disposed upon the watchglass, the upper side of said indicia having a substantially different color than the underside therEof so viewers can tell from the appearance or nonappearance of the color of the reflected underside of said indicia whether they are observing the watch straight-on.

3. A watch comprising: a watchglass made of light-transmitting material; a faceplate disposed beneath and spaced below the watchglass; means defining a reflecting surface upon the faceplate, the reflecting surface facing the watchglass; and timekeeping indicia means disposed on the watchglass and presenting an outer surface directly toward the viewer for visibility from exteriorly of the watch; said indicia means presenting an inner surface toward the reflecting surface upon the faceplate, so that the reflection of the inner surface of the indicia means is visible from exteriorly of the watch only when the viewer consults the watch from an aspect that deviates from straight-on; said outer surface and said reflection of said inner surface of said indicia means being substantially different from one another in appearance, so that the viewer can tell from the absence of the appearance of indicia reflections that he is viewing the watch straight-on and thus can obtain an accurate impression of what time is indicated by the timekeeping indicia means.

4. The watch of claim 3 further including timekeeping hands mounted for revolution in planes intermediate of the faceplate and the reflecting surface; said hands having an outer surface presented toward the viewer and an inner surface presented toward said reflecting surface; the outer surface of said hands and the reflection of the inner surface of said hands from said reflecting surface being substantially different from one another in appearance, so that the viewer can tell from the absence of the appearance of indicia reflections that he is viewing the watch straight-on and thus can obtain an accurate impression of what time is indicated by said hands.

5. The watch of claim 4 wherein the outer surface of the indicia means and the reflection of the inner surface of the indicia means are contrastingly colored.

6. The watch of claim 3 wherein the outer surface of the indicia means and the reflection of the inner surface of the indicia means are contrastingly colored.

7. The watch of claim 6 wherein indicia means are recessed into the underside of the watch glass.

8. The watch of claim 7 wherein the outer surface and the inner surface of the indicia means are of substantially different shape.

Images