Roman Numeral fail

[FreezerBurn 0]

[dingle 57]

Freezer Burn fail

 

even gen rolex have this

[KeNnY 29]

what the hell ?

[Andei3000 0]

Quite common on watches, has something to do with readability.

 

Have alook here: IIII vs. IV on watches

 

Nothing to worry about...

[graman 2]

Just about all Roman Numeral watches look like that @ 4.

 

It goes back to the 17th century, I think, or at least the earliest watch makers, who went with 4 strokes due to the alleged confusion between 4 & 6 formats.

 

It's rare to see a IV on a watch, rather than a IIII

 

Go figure!

[KBH 7]

NON FAIL!

 

 

Clocks have been like that for centuries.

 

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/4...i-instead-of-iv

 

Also from Wikipedia:

 

IIII and IV

 

The notation of Roman numerals has varied through the centuries. Originally, it was common to use IIII to represent four, because IV represented the Roman god Jupiter, whose Latin name, IVPPITER, begins with IV. The subtractive notation (which uses IV instead of IIII) has become the standard notation only in modern times. For example, Forme of Cury, a manuscript from 1390, uses IX for nine, but IIII for four. Another document in the same manuscript, from 1381, uses IX and IV. A third document in the same manuscript uses IX and a mix of IIII and IV. Constructions such as IIIII for five, IIX for eight or VV for 10 have also been discovered. Subtractive notation arose from regular Latin usage: the number 18 was duodeviginti or “two from twentyâ€; the number 19 was undeviginti or "one from twenty". The use of subtractive notation increased the complexity of performing Roman arithmetic, without conveying the benefits of a full positional notation system.

An inscription on Admiralty Arch, London. The numeral translates to 1910.

 

Likewise, on some buildings it is possible to see MDCCCCX, for example, representing 1910 instead of MCMX – notably Admiralty Arch in London. The Leader Building in Cleveland, Ohio, at the corner of Superior Avenue and East 6th Street, is marked MDCCCCXII, representing 1912 instead of MCMXII. Another notable example is on Harvard Medical School's Gordon Hall, which reads MDCCCCIIII for 1904 instead of MCMIV. In Dubrovnik, Croatia, a commemorative inscription marking the 1000th anniversary of King Tomislav’s coronation (Croatia’s first King), appears as DCCCCXXV - MDCCCCXXV instead of CMXXV - MCMXXV (925 -1925).

[edit] Calendars and clocks

A typical clock face with Roman numerals

The Shepherd gate clock with Roman numbers up to XXIII (and 0), in Greenwich

 

Clock faces that are labelled using Roman numerals conventionally show IIII for four o'clock and IX for nine o'clock, using the subtractive principle in one case and not the other. There are many suggested explanations for this, several of which may be true:

 

* Louis XIV, king of France, who preferred IIII over IV, ordered his clockmakers to produce clocks with IIII and not IV, and thus it has remained.[7]

* Using the standard numerals, two sets of figures would be similar and therefore confusable by children and others unused to reading clockfaces: IV and the VI; and IX and XI. Since the first pair are additionally upside down on the face, an added level of confusion would be introduced. It is used to make greater character distinction between them by using IIII and VI

* The four-character form IIII creates a visual symmetry with the VIII on the other side, which the two-character IV would not.

* With IIII, the number of symbols on the clock totals twenty Is, four Vs, and four Xs,[8] so clock makers need only a single mold with a V, five Is, and an X in order to make the correct number of numerals for their clocks: VIIIIIX. This is cast four times for each clock and the twelve required numerals are separated:

o V IIII IX

o VI II IIX

o VII III X

o VIII I IX

 

The IIX and one of the IXs are rotated 180° to form XI and XII. The alternative with IV uses seventeen Is, five Vs, and four Xs, requiring the clock maker to have several different molds.

 

* Only the I symbol would be seen in the first four hours of the clock, the V symbol would only appear in the next four hours, and the X symbol only in the last four hours. This would add to the clock's radial symmetry.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Clocks with Roman numerals

 

* Many clocks use IIII because that was the tradition established by the earliest surviving clock, the Wells Cathedral clock built between 1386 and 1392. It used IIII because that was the typical method used to denote 4 in contemporary manuscripts (as iiij or iiii). That clock had an asymmetrical 24-hour dial and used Arabic numerals for a minute dial and a moon dial, so theories depending on a symmetrical 12-hour clock face do not apply.[9]

[FreezerBurn 0]

Everyone here to ruin my fail/WTF with facts.

Edited December 10, 2010 by FreezerBurn