Hey guys,
Anybody out there know the name given to this type of textured
dial face? Been searching for weeks and haven't seen one. Is it rare?
It's a 1962, original, untouched face.

 

Alternately called a waffle, hobnail or simply the generic therm guilloche.

(edit: "therm"? Really? Where does autocorrect get these things from? I swear I typed " term").

 

Pedantically, I'd refer to it as "Clous de Paris", my preferred therm.

 

Who doesn't love a good pendant?

Genuinely asking, though: "clous de paris" (because I've just looked the term up) seems to be defined as horizontal and vertical lines forming pyramidal squares. The OP's dial, to my old eyes, doesn't look like it comes to a point on each square. Despite the lack of a minute track (and the clearest Omega engraving I've ever seen in a photo of a crystal), I don't think the dial has been redone ... so is there a clear distinction between a hobnail and clous de paris finish?

Note: I'm not saying that the minute track hasn't been totally cleaned away, just that the rest looks original.

 

I think it may be like the hobnails on an old Parisian street sweeper's boots, the points have simply been worn down by the cobbles on the Rue de la Paix.

Without pushing my pedanticity too far, a waffle dial would be the reverse imprint of the OPs dial, i.e.:



thus we get:



If anything, the OPs dial may resemble........




We could go on forever, there are many styles of guilloche patterns based on straight intersecting lines, and just as many opinions on what they are called.

If only somebody could author a definitive reference article all of these questions would be resolved.

 

Volunteering again, Jim?
A fresh bottle, your computer, your Annie and your incomparable expertise (I'm being damn serious here), should knock this out in short order!

 

When should I crack the Lagavulin Jim, before I start or after I finish?

 

You sir have a keen eye. I never paid attention until your post and yep, the waffle design is the same as your PAM but OP's is a touch different. More like that Cadbury's one.

 

The Glossary says:

Clous de Paris
A guilloché pattern on the dial of hollowed lines that intersect to form tiny pyramidal shapes.

 

I'd let Annie monitor progress and make the final call.....but I'd say at half done!

"A job well begun is a job half done"

 

Whatever it’s called, I like it. Never seen a dial like this on this reference.

 

Yes, we know that, but where the points are worn down, or simply in the form of a truncated pyramid, what is the correct description?

I can hardly imagine any WIS referring to a "Frustrum dial".



BTW, I don't think the OPs dial is guilloche, more likely stamped or hydraulically formed to look like a guilloche cut or engraved dial.

 

A similar dial here ... a '53 from memory, but I can't remember the exact reference.

 

Well, since you're writing the official definitive reference article, you get to call it what you want! Technically the shape is a square pyramidal frustum...

as opposed to a conical frustum...


Now all you need to do is give "square pyramidal frustum" a romantic sounding name and you're done. One vote here for the "cadbury" pattern.

 

I've always thought of this as a hobnail dial...


...since the round bumps resemble hobnails on boots:


...or the bumps on hobnail glass:

 

Since Cadbury has unequal sides, I insist the pattern be called a "Chunky Chocolate" pattern as made famous by Arnold Stang in the '50's.
I mean, my God man, we are establishing horological benchmarks!

Note the close-up at 36 seconds.

 

Ref. 2627
Beautiful BTW