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It's all a matter of timing

This has concerned me for a while now, not to the extent that I suffer of sleepless nights; however it is an issue that I get reminded of on a daily basis. Find yourself a glossy magazine, and look for the first watch advertisement…or just have a look at the back, normally you recognize Brad Pitt or Cameron Diaz Uma Thurman showing off a silver Tag Heuer.

Now, look what time it is on the watch and then brows through the rest of the glossy and compare the times. 99% of the time you will find that the time on watches in adverts is set between 10:07 and 10:10. The only reasoning I can find for this is that maybe that specific constellation of arms allows for the maximum exposure of the face (not of Brad Pitt, that of the watch). Or maybe it looks nice and balanced.

Whatever the reason is, it is an industry standard to present watches with this specific time constellation and now that you aware of it will haunt you for ever and ever!

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There

  1. Blogger Michelle | Monday, January 22, 2007 10:13:00 pm |  

    DAMN! You're right! And now you've scarred me for life - I'm going to see it constantly.. :-)

  2. Blogger It is the question | Monday, January 22, 2007 10:57:00 pm |  

    HA hA HA!

    Well that gives us some insight into the way your mind works.

    Of course its going to bother me almost as much as deciphering the timestamp on the right side of this page...

    IITQ

  3. Blogger Don | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 8:29:00 am |  

    Is that like industry standard or something? Bizzare.

  4. Blogger Peas on Toast | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:35:00 am |  

    Oh God. Groogle you've created a monster my boy.

    I will now think about this all day and study each magazine ad with new-found compulsion.

  5. Blogger Gregor | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11:51:00 am |  

    don - it seems like it, all brands do it...weird hey?!

    peas - this has been bugging me for a couple of years already, only found the strength now to out myself with such an immense problem :P

  6. Blogger Peas on Toast | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11:56:00 am |  

    Well done for getting it off your chest and coming clean.

    Now what am I supposed to do????
    Self-medicate? OK.

  7. Blogger Gregor | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:04:00 pm |  

    We need some watch-marketing-guru to help us out with this issue. The answer must be found somewhere!

  8. Blogger Carlz | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:10:00 pm |  

    i thought i told u to stop with the drugs! a typical groogle thing to notice. I could care less about the watch - but we can talk more about Brad :)

  9. Anonymous Anonymous | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 3:02:00 pm |  

    The hands are at 10:10 or there abouts because, as im sure u have heard, The front of the watch is called the face of the watch, and therefore the two hands are a subconcious representative for a smile, making you happy when looking at it. I make watches for a living, so im 100% on this reasoning.

  10. Blogger Meg | Saturday, January 27, 2007 10:00:00 am |  

    Further to the "smile" theory, the hands at 10.10 or thereabouts form a tick. And ticks are good, right? You get a tick when you answer a question right on your spelling test as a kid. And perhaps you get a big tick from society when you buy whichever watch it is they're flogging at the time. At the time haha, get it? Hmmm, not sure that joke gets a tick.

  11. Blogger Unknown | Thursday, March 01, 2007 7:23:00 pm |  

    It is not the time to skin up as that is 4.20. My favourite watchmaker is IWC. They still make their own movements and are cheaper if you buy them in Schaffhausen.