The Omega Constellation Pie Pan Factoid

The Omega Constellation pie pan dial was so named because of its similarity to an up-turned pie pan. Sounds fairly plausible, or does it? 

If something is said often enough, especially on the internet, the chances of it ultimately being perceived as fact are relatively strong. We encounter endless factoids in the mass media where reporters report something as fact, the 'fact' suddenly goes viral, only to be debunked or corrected down the line. 

In evaluating the pie pan story for its factoid-ness, what do we find?  On inspection, does a “pie pan” dial actually look like an up-turned pie pan? Ever seen a real pie pan with twelve facets?  Most have flat bases and rounded edges, more akin to the heavily domed dials of the earliest of Constellations, do they not?  It’s fair to say that it requires a reasonable stretch of one's imaginative faculties to perceive faceted Constellation dials as pie pans. 

Secondly, much of the nomenclature of horology is in Swiss French. Its elegant form lends itself to the horological lexicon, whereas Swiss German is a rather challenging and cumbersome tongue to non-speakers. Can you imagine a twelve sided dial being described as a “zwöufsiitigs ziffreblatt”, no?  

Omega’s main operations were based in Bienne (on the border of the French speaking population) and Geneva (right in the thick of the French-speaking zone) and hence it would be perfectly natural to describe the dial as “douze pans” (translated, “twelve-sided”), which was the legitimate description of it by Omega when first released and, indeed, long after. 

As a young pre-internet watch enthusiast, I never heard the description “pie pan”, but rather heard these dials described as “twelve sided” or “faceted” dials.  But someone, somewhere, at some time, probably after the advent of the worldwide web, was responsible for transforming “douze pans” into “pie pans”, and since that defining moment the “pie pan” factoid has been repeated so often by so many that Omega now uses the term in its printed and on-line material.  

  
So, pie pans it is, but if you’re a horological pedant feel free to call these dials “douze pans", or if you are a fine, upstanding citizen of German-Speaking Switzerland,  "zwöufsiitigs ziffreblatt” is perfect!