Watch Dial Tools – Inkscape Extensions

Watch Dial Tools is a small open-source toolkit of Inkscape extensions for designing real, production-ready mechanical watch dials.

It provides three generators:

• 🕒 Watch Dial Generator – hour markers, minute ticks, numbers or symbols (CSV driven)
• 🎨 Dial Pattern Generator – guilloché, sunburst, concentric, crosshatch, and multi-layer “auto complex” textures
• ⚙️ Blank Dial / Movement Template Generator – NH35, ST36 layout templates (holes, date window, feet, sub-dial)

I have a rough demo video you can watch here.

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Features

Watch Dial Generator

• Arabic, Roman (IV or IIII), or custom CSV labels
• Emoji / symbol support (vector-safe fonts)
• Date-window omission helper
• Hour markers + minute ticks with alignment control
• Precise millimeter sizing (document-unit aware)
• Rotation modes (upright, tangent, radial, readable tangent)

Dial Pattern Generator

• Pattern types:
  • Guilloché (rosette)
  • Concentric rings
  • Sunburst
  • Crosshatch
• Stroke width / opacity control
• Automatic circular clipping
• Auto-complex mode:
  • Multi-layer stacked patterns
  • Presets: Breguet-ish, modern, pocketwatch, rosette stack
  • Deterministic random seed

Blank Dial Generator

• Movement presets:
  • NH35 / NH36
  • ST36 / 6497 style
• Center hole
• Hand holes
• Date window
• Sub-dial
• Dial feet markers
• Outline compensation

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Requirements

• Inkscape 1.1+ (1.2 / 1.3 recommended)
• Python (bundled with Inkscape)

Works on:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux

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Installation

1. Download

Download or clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/brianjo/watch-dial-tools.git

Or use GitHub’s Download ZIP button.

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2. Locate your Inkscape user extensions folder

Windows

C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Roaming\inkscape\extensions

Quick way:

• Press Win + R
• Paste:

%APPDATA%\inkscape\extensions

macOS

~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscape/extensions

Linux

~/.config/inkscape/extensions

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3. Copy the extension files

Copy all .inx and .py files into the extensions folder:

watch_dial_generator.inx
watch_dial_generator.py

watch_dial_pattern_generator.inx
watch_dial_pattern_generator.py

watch_dial_blank_generator.inx
watch_dial_blank_generator.py

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4. Restart Inkscape

After restarting, you will find the tools here:

Extensions → Watch Dial Tools

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Usage

Each tool opens as a dialog window with tabs:

• Adjust parameters
• Click Apply
• A new grouped SVG layer is created at the document center

All generated elements remain fully editable in Inkscape.

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Recommended Fonts for Symbols

For vector-safe symbol / emoji dials on Windows:

Segoe UI Symbol

Backup:

DejaVu Sans

Avoid color emoji fonts (they export as bitmaps).

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License

GNU General Public License v2 or later (GPL-2.0+)

Copyright (C) 2026
Brian Johnson
https://github.com/brianjo

Contributing

Pull requests, feature ideas, and improvements are welcome.

Interesting future ideas:

• More movement templates (ETA 2824, 2892, Miyota, etc.)
• Dial preset packs (Breguet, Flieger, Diver, Sector)
• Multi-depth engraving layers
• Lume mask generation
• Export helpers for CAM workflows

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Disclaimer

These tools generate geometry only. Always validate dimensions and tolerances before manufacturing real watch components.

Use at your own risk.

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Enjoy designing dials 🛠️⌚