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iang
 Post subject: IIII vs IV
PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:24 am 
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Very random question.

I notice that Breitling and pretty much every other high-end watchmaker use IIII when depicting 4 in Roman numerals rather than IV as was taught at school. I would have thought that IV would have fitted slightly better on the face.

Anyone know the history of this tradition?

Ian
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Sharkmouth
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:37 am 
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The accepted reason is that "IV" was an abbreviation for "Jupiter" in Roman times so they decided to use "IIII" so that their clocks didn't have "1 2 3 GOD 5..." written on them. This is plausible but why only clocks? What about every other instance where 4 would be written?

One notable exception to this tradition is Big Ben in London which uses IV.
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Roffensian
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:12 am 
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Sharkmouth wrote:
The accepted reason is that "IV" was an abbreviation for "Jupiter" in Roman times so they decided to use "IIII" so that their clocks didn't have "1 2 3 GOD 5..." written on them. This is plausible but why only clocks? What about every other instance where 4 would be written?

One notable exception to this tradition is Big Ben in London which uses IV.


I've never heard that story - I always thought it was simply an aesthetic thing. That the IIII was considered to balance the dial better than IV.
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Breitling Bloke
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:38 am 
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I'm ashamed to admit that I had never noticed this anomally :oops:

In my defence I would say that I have never considered a watch with Roman Numeral markers although I have to admit that some of the Chronomats look superb with them.

Good stuff - very interesting. :thumbsup:

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:54 am 
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Breitling Bloke wrote:
I'm ashamed to admit that I had never noticed this anomally :oops:

In my defence I would say that I have never considered a watch with Roman Numeral markers although I have to admit that some of the Chronomats look superb with them.

Good stuff - very interesting. :thumbsup:


+1

I never noticed this either.

Thanks for the history lesson Sharkmouth!!!

~Brian

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Tunnel Ling
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:04 pm 
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interesting. I learn something every day.
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aleister
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:05 am 
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Sharkmouth wrote:
The accepted reason is that "IV" was an abbreviation for "Jupiter" in Roman times so they decided to use "IIII" so that their clocks didn't have "1 2 3 GOD 5..." written on them. This is plausible but why only clocks? What about every other instance where 4 would be written?

One notable exception to this tradition is Big Ben in London which uses IV.


It's not only on clocks. Older coins for example (as I have a collection starting at medeival time going onwards) using IIII as a 4 in the year was quite common, even up into the 16th and 17th century. Then someone probably decided enough respect had been paid to the Romans. The watch industry is just a little late on arriving to the same conclusion I guess... :) Or, they are still doing it due to history.

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Driver8
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:58 am 
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Everyday's a school day. Interesting information. :thumbsup:

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