Haven't you noticed that watches for sale are always pictured with hands pointed at 10:10? Now I picked up this explanation from the web. Mostly, clock companies and ad people think that they do so by aesthetic purposes and of course using the "smile" theory which will be explained better later on in this post.Aesthetics
I personally think that the 10:10 position (sometimes 10:12 or 10:08) was adopted for pictures of clocks and watches because it is symmetric and looks better. Today the symmetric positions are both aesthetic and customary. Other symmetric hand positions are also used, but not as frequently. Examples include 8:20, 8:18, and 2:50. Reviewing some Seth Thomas clock catalog illustrations, I see a gradually increasing symmetry of the hands as the catalogs progress from 1878 to 1940.
"We always put hands to 10.10 here and in other collections I'm responsible for. The answer is probably quite simply that it looks better, aesthetically and practically, as the clock has a 'smile' on its face (not just a marketing gimmick, it really does look better than a 'down turned mouth' at 8.20) and, as others have said, because it keeps the hands clear of signatures and other subsidiary dials. I note that not every firm uses that position in their marketing though. Synchronome, for example, appear to depict their dials at 3.00." - Jonathan Betts
"The opinions I've read tend toward 'framing' the maker's name on the clock face. Viz: when the logo is placed above the center, the hands are at 10:10 but when the logo is below the center, the hands are shown at 8:20 framing the maker's name. Wristwatch advertising follows this trend." - Les Lesovsky
"Thomas A. Frank wrote: '...most manufacturers trademarks are just above the center pipe, and having the hands at 10:10 causes your eye to naturally follow to the trough, thus bringing your view right to the trademark....' and often the Model name is centered under the center pipe, ruling out any hand more or less straight down (between 5 and 7). Date windows most often are at 9 or 3, and subsidiary seconds usually at 6. For aesthetic reasons you want the two hands neither nearly covering each other nor nearly in a straight line. By default the 10h10 looks pretty good." - Fortunat Mueller-Maerki
"Smile" Theory
It has been suggested that the 10:10 position is used because it resembles a smile.
"I too have heard the 'smile' theory, which makes some sense from the emotional marketing perspective. Equally likely is the fact that most manufacturer's trademarks are just above the center pipe, and having the hands at 10:10 causes your eye to naturally follow to the trough, thus bringing your view right to the trademark." - Tom Frank
Time of Abraham Lincoln's Death
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, although he was shot at 10:15 p.m. on April 14, 1865. Although this has been suggested, I doubt that the position of the hands commemorates the time of Lincoln's assassination or death.
References
* New York Times account of Lincoln's death, April 16, 1865.
I clicked this blog entry to answer the question. Apparently, the answers I am about to give are written. lol, my bad. :]
ReplyDeletei was gonna say the smile theory and the symmetry yadas. :] haha.
Hehehe.. Come on, I wont keep everyone guessing right?
ReplyDeletehehehe, here we go again, ,here are several reasons why watch companies use this time ( Well, the time varies between 10:08 to 10:10. ) :
ReplyDeleteA. The form of the hands has a positive effect on the view: the short hand pointing at 10 o'clock and the long hand pointing at 8 minutes is reminiscent of a check mark, which commonly means "ok" or "fine." Some observers further identify this appearance with a smiling face.
B. The position of the hands does not obscure the date on watches with a date-function at 3 o'clock or any other functions at 9 or 3 o'clock.
C. The position of the hands does not obscure the company logo, which is often printed under 12 o'clock.
D. The hands are nearly symmetrically balanced on the face of the dial at 10:08. The minute hand is 48 degrees right of vertical, while the hour hand is 56 degrees left of vertical. Exact symmetry would be achieved at 120/13 minutes past 10:00, approximately 10:08:13.8. Other symmetrical times would not meet the needs above.
E. At 10 o'clock in the morning, the day is young. There is still time to accomplish many things.
F . 10 o'clock is the time at which people typically wake up if they are able to sleep in. 10:08 is thus associated with weekend, leisure and relaxation
If you'd continued along the promising line of reasoning you've just described, it might have dawned on you that 8:20 makes for a pleasingly symmetrical arrangement of the hands. So does 10:10, an arrangement that shows up almost as often. Relative to the vertical axis they both make a sort of equiangular tripod, if you follow me, that strikes most people as more attractive than, say, 9:15.
well, here's one from a watch manufacturer, TIMEX says the hands on the timepieces are placed at 10:10 so the company logo on the face will be
ReplyDeleteframed and not blocked by the hands. TIMEX says the industry standard used to be 8:20 but that looked too much like a frown and created an unhappy look.
TIMEX says in it's add, the clock hands are placed at 10:09:36, exactly.
That's correct. well done Marty! 8:20 can work as fine as well, BUT it doesn't have the attractive and ergo positive vibe of the Smiling Face which 10:10 provides to the viewer.
ReplyDeleteTambay ka sa blog Marty boy ah!! But your comments are always welcome, I get to learn a lot as well. :)
10:09.36 - that's a tad precise eh?
ReplyDelete