A clock face is the part of an analog clock that tells time through the use of a fixed numbered dial or dials and moving hand or hands. Typically, the dial is numbered 1-12 indicating the hours in a 12-hour cycle. The time display on a digital clock is also known as a face.

Certain clocks have 24-hour analog displays and are marked accordingly. Some special purpose clocks, such darkroom timers and sporting event clocks, are designed for measuring periods less than one hour. Clocks can indicate the hour with roman numerals or arabic numerals. The two numbering systems have also been used in combination with the prior indicating the hour and the later the minute. Clocks using only arabic numerals first began to appear in the mid-18th century. In some instances, particularly in the case of watches, the numbers are replaced with undifferentiated hour markings. Occasionally markings of any sort are dispensed with.

Historical and Stylistic Development

Before the late 15th century, a fixed hand indicated the hour by pointing to rotating numbers (in contrast with the modern system of a fixed dial and rotating hands). Minute hands only came into use in the late 17th century after the invention of the pendulum allowed for increased precision in time telling. Until the last quarter of the 17th century hour markings were etched into metal faces and the recesses filled with black wax. Subsequently, higher contrast and improved readability was achieved with white enamel plaques painted with black numbers. Initially, the numbers were printed on small, individual plaques mounted on a brass substructure. This was not a stylistic decision, rather enamel production technology had not yet achieved the ability to create large pieces of enamel. The "13 piece face" was an early attempt to create an entirely white enamel face. As the name suggests, it was composed of 13 enamel plaques: 12 numbered wedges fitted around a circle. The first single piece enamel faces, not unlike those in production today, began to appear c. 1735.