Why Are Watch Hands Always at 10 and 2 in Advertisements?

Have you ever noticed that advertisements for watches always seem to show the hands at 10:10--that is one hand at the 10 position and the other at the 2 position? An old myth says that this is in honor of the time of day when President Lincoln was assassinated (but he was actually shot at 10:15 pm). The real reasons are simpler and readily understandable. Consider the following:

• this is the perfect position to frame a company's logo
• it creates the appearance that the watch smiling (emotional marketing)
• aesthetically it's the best place for the hands
• it keeps the hands clear of signatures, subsidiary dials, and date windows
• it's been the industry marketing standard since watches went mainstream in the 1920s

Comments

[J. Peter]

I find this to be an interesting and fantastic phenomenon. There are however a few brands who always stray from this trend. One of them is Lange & Sohne whose hands (still point at ten and two) always say 1:51.

I like to celebrate this great phenomenon on 10/10 each year, the day we celebrate Synchronize Watches Day.

[Robert]

Yes, I use both the 10:10 or 1:50 while photographing vintage watches for my website www.vintagewatch.ca, mostly to show the name on the dial and details of sub-dials but I have tried other hand positions - this just seems to be what works best!