When the Big Hand Points to the IV, Some Get Ticked Off
NEW YORK -- Underneath the gleaming countertops at Tiffany & Co.'s flagship store, classic gold watches feature "IIII" as their fourth digit. John Loring, Tiffany's design director, says he wouldn't have it any other way.
"You cannot possibly balance the weight of the VIII on the left by putting an IV on the right," he says. "It unbalances the whole thing."
But now IV watches are sold at Tiffany, too, including models made by the tony Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe, of Geneva. The company has started using IV because that allows more features to fit on a dial.
The success of several new IV watches sold by Gucci Group's Bedat & Co., another Swiss watchmaker, is similarly challenging a central tenet of watchmaking that IIII goes better with VIII than IV does.
The new styles associated with European luxury and sophistication have sparked an outcry among purists who maintain that IIII is the proper way to represent 4 o'clock. "We clock people maintain that the Romans marked their fours that way, so that's why we do it," says John Metcalfe, former curator of the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors' museum in Columbia, Pa.
Patek Philippe's Annual Calendar, top, in contrast to its more traditional Calatrava, bottom
Historians agree. "IIII is probably the more normal ancient usage," says James J. O'Donnell, professor of classics and provost of Georgetown University in Washington. Though the ancient Romans sometimes used IV to save space, he says, the shorthand didn't catch on until after the Middle Ages when people began using Roman numerals as decorations and IV started appearing in textbooks. Some horologists -- experts on timepieces -- theorize that the Romans used IV as an abbreviation of the name Jove or Jupiter and therefore wouldn't have wanted the name of a god to appear as a number.
Those in the IV league say it's time for a change. "It's unique and different from the industry," says Christian Bédat, who founded Bedat with his mother, Simone Bédat, in 1996.
The clash over the fourth digit deepens a rift between European and American watchmakers. While the Europeans traditionally have emphasized handcrafting and limited collectors' items, Americans have focused on simpler watches that are easier to produce. Four I's was seen as the plainest way to represent 4.
"The American time industry was built on mass production," says Daryn Schnipper, director of Sotheby's Watches and Clocks department. "There were production contests over how many could you make in a day."
As a result, some see IV as an assault on American design. Using IV, says Tiffany's Mr. Loring, "would be completely against my intellectual principle of going back to basics."
"It looks terrible," says Fred Bausch, owner of the Clocksmith, an online antique-clock store. "The four ones balance the VIII. If you've ever seen where it's done the proper way, ... (the IV) really looks out of place."
Half a dozen Web sites have sprung up in defense of the IIII method. The National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors maintains a file on the subject.
Many people unaware of the history or the controversy believe IV is correct because that's what they were taught when they learned Roman numerals in school. Greg Sheehan, a financial manager for the state of Utah, for example, described the four ones as "elegant" as he browsed the Tiffany watch counter on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. But, he said, "I've never done Roman numerals with four ones. I learned it's IV."
Marcus Riedle, a German businessman checking out the watches in the windows of a Tourneau timepiece store in midtown, said he, too, had been taught that the Roman numeral four is IV. "I don't like it," he said of IIII. "I think it's wrong."
Officials at IV watchmakers in Switzerland also believe in the correctness of IV. And it can work better on more complicated watches. "As dials get busier and more things are going on, sometimes it's cleaner if you can put that [IV] in there," says Larry Pettinelli, vice president of sales for Patek Philippe in New York.
He notes customers are increasingly interested in large watches featuring dual time zones and celestial movements. As a result, he says, the IV "may be something that creeps in more." The Patek Philippe collection currently features two IV watches in its collection of mainly IIII watches: the Annual Calendar, which sells for $21,500 in yellow gold, and the Perpetual Calendar, which sells for $45,000 in yellow gold. While the company doesn't disclose sales figures for each style, it says the Annual Calendar watch is one of its bestsellers.
"The real collector ... may want one for their collection just because it's just a little different," says Mr. Pettinelli.
Mr. Bédat says his IV choice was primarily driven by a desire for authenticity. "I thought it was nice to use a real Roman numeral so that's what I did," he says. "I wanted to create a brand that even if it had been in the world only a few days, it would have an appeal like it has been here forever."
Bedat dials also stand out because they replace the Roman numeral eight with an Arabic eight, eliminating the need to balance a heavy VIII with a heavy IIII. "On my dial it balances. It's subtle, and lighter than the four bars," says Mr. Bédat of his IV. He says he has never heard a customer comment on the IV -- though many notice the 8.
The IV also appears in some unexpected places -- on the clocktower known as Big Ben in London and on a fall 2001, $65 Eddie Bauer watch. Even the 151-year-old Tiffany clock adorning the company's Fifth Avenue store features an IV, despite the more traditional view of Tiffany's Mr. Loring.
"The basic way of counting is on your hands," he says, "and your hand clearly has four fingers to get to four."
表盘设计上的罗马数字之争
Tiffany & Co.旗舰店内。在亮闪闪的柜台里，陈列的多款经典金表都将数字“4”标成“IIII”状，Tiffany 公司的设计总监约翰-罗林(John Loring)表示，他不愿意采用其他形状。
罗林说，如果左边镶嵌著代表数字8的“VIII”，而右边却采用“IV”来表示4，那么，根本不可能实现重量的平衡。
但目前Tiffany的旗舰店内也销售采用“IV”形设计的手表，包括由位于日内瓦的瑞士豪华手表制造商百达翡丽(Patek Philippe)生产的一些款式。该公司从一开始就采用“IV”型设计，因为这样可以在表盘上增添更多的功能。
古驰(Gucci Group)旗下的Bedat & Co.－－另一家瑞士著名手表制造商－－所销售的几款新“IV”型设计手表大获成功，这也对那种认为IIII比IV更与VIII相配的设计原则提出了挑战。
与欧洲奢侈品及精密工艺相联系的新设计风格引起了一些“正统论者”的强烈抗议，他们认为，“IIII”是表示4点钟的最佳方式。前博物馆（一家位于宾夕法尼亚州哥伦比亚、隶属于全国手表及钟表收藏者协会的博物馆）馆长约翰-迈特考菲(John Metcalfe)表示，他们钟表界的人士都认为古罗马人是用“IIII”来表示4的。这正是坚持那种设计的原因。
历史学家对此表示认同，乔治敦大学(Georgetown University)的古典文献学教授兼教务长詹姆斯-奥东奈尔 (James J. O'Donnell)说，“IIII”很可能是古罗马人更常用的写法。尽管古罗马人有时为了节省空间会把4写作IV，但这种简写直到中世纪人们开始用罗马数字来进行装饰的时候才流行起来，IV也才开始出现在课本里。
有些钟表专家提出这样一种理论：古罗马人用IV作为众神之王朱庇特(Jupiter)名字的缩写，因此，不希望神的名字看上去像个数目字。
那些支持“IV”型设计的人则表示现在应该与时俱进。在1996年与母亲一起创建了Bedat品牌的克里斯蒂安-贝达(Christian Bedat)说，那种“IIII”形设计与手表行业完全不同步，显得格格不入。
围绕4的设计之争加剧了欧洲和美国手表制造商的分歧。欧洲人传统上强调工艺及限量制造，而美国人则强调让手表更简洁，更容易制造。“IIII”被看作是表示4的最简洁的方式。
索斯比(Sotheby)手表和钟表部的主管达伦-施尼珀(Daryn Schnipper)表示，美国的造表行业是建立在大规模生产的基础之上。在每天的产量应该是多少这一问题上，美国人与欧洲人有分歧。
结果，有些人将IV看作是对美国设计理念的攻击。Tiffany的罗林表示，使用“IV”型设计与他的返朴归真的原则完全背道而驰。
网上古董表店Clocksmith的老板弗雷德-鲍施(Fred Bausch)说，IV看上去太难看了。而“IIII”则可以与VIII保持平衡。IV看起来跑到了错误的位置上。
有6家左右的网站出来为“IIII”说话。全国手表及钟表收藏者协会(National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors)就这一问题发表了一篇文章。
许多人对这段历史和这一纷争并不知情，认为IV是正确的，因为他们在学校里学罗马数字的时候就是这么学的。比如说，犹他州的一位财务管理者格雷格-谢汉(Greg Sheehan)在曼哈顿第五大街的Tiffany专卖店中看到“IIII”形设计的时候，他惊呼太“漂亮了”，但他同时说，他从不把4的罗马数字写作IIII，他从学校学到的是IV。
在中区Tourneau钟表店里浏览手表的德国商人马库斯-里德尔(Marcus Riedle)也表示，他从学校学到的罗马数字4也是IV。他说，他并不喜欢“IIII”形设计，因为那是错的。
采用IV设计的瑞士手表制造商的管理人士也笃信IV的天经地义。他们认为在更精密的手表上，IV设计效果更好。百达翡丽驻纽约的销售副总裁拉里-佩蒂内里(Larry Pettinelli)表示，由于表盘越来越拥挤，越来越多的东西出现在上面，所以有时候如果用IV形设计的话，显得更简洁。
佩蒂内里指出，用户现在越来越对显示双重时区和星座运动的大表盘感兴趣。其结果就是，IV形设计成为更适宜的选择。百达翡丽在其以“IIII”型设计为主的产品基础上推出了两款IV型设计的手表，一款是Annual Calendar黄金表，售价21,500美元；另一款是Perpetual Calendar黄金表，售价45,000美元。该公司没有透露每种款式的销售额，但称Annual Calendar黄金表是公司畅销表之一。
佩蒂内里说，真正的收藏者可能仅仅会因为这种手表与众不同就想要收藏一只。
贝达认为，他选择IV形设计主要是源于对真实的渴望。他说，他觉得使用真正罗马数字的手表感觉很好。他希望自己创造的品牌，哪怕只在世界上存在了几天，但也要充满著恒久的魅力。
Bedat手表的表盘也独具一格，因为它用阿拉伯数字8替代了罗马数字8，解决了使用VIII需要用IIII平衡重量的问题。贝达表示，Bedat手表是平衡的，并且比“IIII”型设计更精致、轻巧。他说，他从没有听到过客户对IV的评论，尽管有很多人注意到了数字8的变化。
在一些出人意料的地方也有IV的踪迹：比如在伦敦的“大笨钟” (Big Ben)上，以及在2001年秋季Eddie Bauer销售的65美元的手表上。即便是有151年历史的Tiffany也用IV型设计来装饰其在第五大街的商店，尽管该公司设计总监罗林持更传统的观点。
罗林说，最基本的数数方法就是数手指头，而显然，人们是用4根手指来表示数字4。
