jmpTT
732
With the Piguet 1185, the two essential subdials are on the same axis!
Jul 23, 2014,08:53 AM
Put simply, locating the hours and minutes subdials on the same plane allows for additional design variations, without destroying the balance of the dial.
The seconds subdial isn't *that* useful on the El Primero and the Piguet 1185 because it doesn't hack in either case. It indicates, at a glance, whether the watch is running or not. It can be shrunk down or even eliminated without affecting the utility of the watch. If the seconds subdial is eliminated from the FP 1185, the resulting designs are still nicely balanced. In order to achieve the same look with the El Primero, the hours subdial must be eliminated instead.
If the design team wants to increase the diameter of the watch, they will often increase the diameter of the subdials to keep the dial from appearing empty (there are other tricks, of course). With the FP 1185 layout, the designers can increase the size of the hours and minutes subdials and, in turn, decrease the size of the seconds subdial. This cannot be done with the El Primero because the seconds subdial is located at 9 o'clock and the hours subdial is located at 6 o'clock. In this case, the dials overlap and one important elapsed time measuring scale is compromised.
It is a small detail, but an interesting one.