RE: clocks

on a clock, what would the glass surface covering its ticking fingers and numbers be called?
initially i called it "glass encasement" but I don't know if that would be correct.

also, i think the little and the long fingers indicating hours and minutes are called that, i mean "fingers".
is there any alternative way to put it?

The parts you ask about are "the minute hand," "the hour hand," and "the crystal."

On a watch, I'd call it a crystal.

On a clock, I'd call it a dial glass.

thanks

When learning to tell the time, English children usually refer to the hands as the 'big hand' and the 'little hand'.

To 889: I immediately thought "crystal" for a watch, but wondered if it also applied to the glass on a larger clock. I checked the dictionary, and it does.

To stormboy: one of the airlines here in the U.S. had a very funny radio commercial for flights from Chicago to New York. Flights on the hour left from O'Hare airport, and flights on the half-hour left from Midway. Then, the commercial continued:

"Or, to put it another way (sound of clock chiming), when the big hand is on twelve...."

#6 - LOL!

I can't think of a word for it other than face. To me that includes the glass frontage.

Its a watchglass if its on a watch.
THe word seems now more used by chemists than by jewellers.

Edited by: AndrewSmith