Horological Meandering

Where have the dial variations gone?

 

As I was selecting a picture for the weekly 'Scan and admiring the sunray silver dial of the vintage Yacht Club:

I recalled that I had archived a photo of an amazing variety of Yacht Club dials from IWC:

(Photo by Michael Friedberg of the IWC forum.)

If I recall Michael's comments about the photo, he said the dials belonged to a European collector who obtained them in the late 70's/early 80's from IWC, who were throwing them out.  There isn't any evidence that these "exotic" dials were ever installed in a Yacht Club for sale, as apparently IWC was satisified with offering the silver sunray, the blue sunray, and an anthracite option for the YC.


A further thought and an open question:  were these numerous dials variations more common in the past than now?  It seems so to me as I consider the various dials of the vintage IWC ingenieurs, the old Rolex Cosmographs, etc.  Even the JLC Geophysic, a limited run, came with several dial types.

Today, beyond the Rolex Datejusts, can one still see a variety of dials?  Two options are pretty common, sure, but usually paired with a specific case metal.  Lange used to have several 1815 dials, but there are fewer now.  Perhaps manufactures are missing an opportunity here.  I'm not pushing full customization and tolerance of bad taste in case/dial/hand combinations, but given the adage that "the dial sells the watch" more options might be an idea worth considering.

Tom