Personal opinion: I think that mechanically, the design of almost all A.E. dials is simpler, more compact, more elegant, and has fewer parts to go wrong than any W.E. (or copycat ITT and S-C model) dials do. A.E.'s ratcheting mechanism is a beautifully elegant and simple mechanism for the wind up compared to W.E.'s moving pulse pawl and governor clutch mechanism, which is noisier than the A.E. mechanism, and has considerably more room for error! (I have encountered at least a couple of cases where the pulsing pawl on the W.E. dials were sticking and failing turn out of the way properly on wind up, causing intermittent pulses on wind-up, and thus incorrect numbers getting dialed. There's no way that could happen with an A.E. dial!)
That said, it also seems like I've found a lot more sticky A.E. dials than sticky W.E. dials, and I'm guessing this may be mostly due to the fact that the front of the A.E. dial is not totally sealed like W.E. dials are. If only A.E. thought to seal the front of the dials, they would have been PERFECT! Did A.E. ever do this, or is there a way to do this? Anyone?