Roman War

Amused to read on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal that American watchmakers are campaigning against the recent use of the Roman numeral "IV" by luxury Swiss watchmakers Patek Philippe and Bedat & Co. Apparently, watchmakers have traditionally used "IIII" on the face as a means to counterbalance the visual weight of the "VIII" on the other side, and some of them view the use of "IV" as an affront to this age-old practice. In all my years of wearing watches with Roman numerals, I never even noticed the use of the "IIII". Somehow, it seems a bit wrong. In my numerous Latin classes, we were always taught to use "IV"; never, ever "IIII". The writer points out that London's Big Ben, the most famous of clock faces, also skirts the convention by using "IV". T and I were actually tipped off to the controversy earlier in the week by a saleswoman at the Kerns boutique in Burlingame as we were pricing some of their watches. We may actually go with the Bedats. Good thing too because, at $25,000 each, the Pateks may be a bit out of our price range.