Vintage "Open Face Pocket Watches"

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One of the most immediately visible features on any vintage pocket watch is the dial. Yes... it's called the dial, not the "face". (Then why is it called an "open face pocket watch"? Beats me...I don't have a clue). Anyway... the dial is one of the first things you see when looking at a watch, and the impression it makes can make a huge difference in the visual appeal and value of a vintage watch. If you love old watches, especially railroad pocket watches, then few things are more strikingly appealing than the crisp, clean elegance of a beautiful old enamel pocket watch dial.
A "sunk dial" on a pocket watch refers to the stacking or layering of various pieces of the dial to create a more interesting finished product. Typically the two areas of the dial that were "sunk" were the center (inside the chapter ring) and the seconds bit. The sunk seconds bit also serves the purpose of allowing the second hand to sit a little lower. A single-sunk dial usually just had the seconds-dial recessed, and a double-sunk dial usually had the center and seconds-dial recessed. There were even some triple-sunk dials, though these are uncommon.
Dials were produced in a huge variety of styles, ranging from the very simple to the very ornate. While dials could be painted with either Roman or Arabic numerals, simple Arabic numbers were preferred for railroad watches. Some "fancy" dials were beautiful works of art and were ornately decorated with painted or fired-on pastoral scenes or other embellishments.

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