2023-04-18 14:02:26
Why are watches usually set to 10:10?
Almost all watch and clock manufacturers have given themselves the word to present their products set at the same time: the small hand is on the number ten, the large on the two. Strangely, if you look closely, this position forms a wide V that even reminds of a smile. Here, look at your watch right now and you’ll see what we’re talking regarding. It’s funny, but it actually is. Would this amusing little trompe-l’oeil therefore serve to encourage us more to buy a watch? It is necessary to believe that the manufacturers use this strategy to attract customers. But is the expected result fully achieved? And wouldn’t there be another explanation for this practice?
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Ingenious selling point?
We must believe that this strategy does not really bear fruit. For proof: a study carried out in 2007 by the University of Jena was not frankly conclusive with regard to these “smiling” watches. The psychology students carried out a preference test on 115 subjects who had the choice between watches positioned at 10:10 and others revealing an opposite position. Result: the majority chose neither the “smiling” dial nor the “sad” dial. So, apparently, it’s not as attractive an argument as one might think.
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What is really hiding behind this precise setting?
In fact, this sales ploy dates back to the 1960s. It was the famous Japanese watch brand Seiko that came up with the idea and ordered that its watches be set to exactly ten hours, eight minutes and 42 seconds in all advertisements. . What incredible precision! This information is confirmed in the book “Japanese Times” by Florian Coulmas, a scientist at the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo. But then, is there a logical explanation for this position of the hands? Is it a cultural, aesthetic reason or is it just a purely tactic? In fact, nothing has really been clarified on the subject. The mystery is therefore not completely solved. Nevertheless, in the face of undoubtedly renowned Japanese expertise, manufacturers around the world have largely followed suit and set their clocks in a similar fashion.
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Another plausible explanation
To decide on this affair, it is Andrew Block, former vice-president of the Tourneau watch industry, who would have given a more valid reason to the New York Times. It turns out that in this position the hands do not hide the manufacturer’s brand logo or other important details like the date display. Indeed, this explanation seems more logical in the end.
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9:41 a.m.: iPhones also have a uniform time
And by the way, what regarding iPhones? Like the clocks, their in-store screens also mostly display a recurring schedule, precisely 09:41. Have you ever noticed it? Why would the Apple firm have chosen to also introduce a precise schedule on all its Smartphones on the shelf? The explanation is simpler: for that, it is necessary to make a leap in the past, more exactly in 2007. That day, January 9, Steve Jobs revealed to the world his very first iPhone. And, the press conference had then started exactly at 9:40 am. A minute later, the Smarthone was exposed live to the public!
You should know that Apple’s “keynotes” (presentations) have always been organized down to the smallest detail. Steve Jobs was rightly known for his legendary perfectionism. In other words, the very timing of the iPhone’s public launch was no accident. Oh well, how so? Traditionally, each Apple keynote begins precisely at 9 am local time. And at the time already, regarding forty minutes were planned to present the results of the past financial year. So that’s why iPhones always show the time at 9:41 when displayed on their displays.
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