YOUR WATCH HANDS ARE THE TIME EYES…

Switzerland has probably the most refined and sophisticated watch-making industry of the world. For centuries, Swiss brands reinvented time, or at least the way we can read time. but one thing many watches have in common, it is their “hands”, basically the little long, thin elements that allow you to measure the hours, minutes and often seconds directly on the dial of your watch. French called then needles “Aiguilles” because of their shape. Italians call them lancette, Portuguese will say Ponteiros or German will call them uhrzeiger. In english we say hands.


WHAT IS THE HAND OF A WATCH?

A Watch hands are indicators, usually made of a thin, light piece of metal, very variable in form, which moves over a graduated dial or scale. Watches usually have three hands showing the hours, minutes and seconds. The earliest watches had only an hour-hand. The English horologist Daniel Quare is believed to have introduced the minute-hand about 1691, though it did not come into general use until the early 18th century.

The body is considered the main element of a watch hand. It is the part that goes from the center to the extreme part of the hand. In the center, there is a hole, commonly called the center hole. In this hole a vertical pivot is placed in order to connect the hands to the Sprocket of the respective time wheel. The hand continues to the counter-weight. This part of the object has the role to bring balance and stability to the hands, especially the seconds hand as it is very long. Sometimes you can also find a counter-weight in several watches for aesthetics reasons only.

The hours hand is the smallest of all. It is the indicator of the hour, so it takes 12 hours to accomplish a full revolution of the dial. The hours hand travels 0.5 degrees per minute, around 30 degrees per hour.

The minutes hands is longer than the hours hands. It displays the minutes on the dial. It is often considered as the big hand. It travels around 6 degrees per minute, which is 12 times fasters than the hours hand (makes sense).

The seconds hand, also called Trotteuse, a french reference to the horse walk as the hand is always traveling non stop. It displays the seconds on the dial and it is not present in all watches. Most of watches have only 2 hands, hours and minutes. When a watch has a seconds hand, it is usually the longest of all 3. As the second hand displays seconds passing by, it travels by 360 degrees every minute. accomplishing a full revolution of the dial by that time. Very often, it has a different color or different shape as it is a very living element in the watch aesthetics.

Some watches also have only one hand, the hour hand. This is an aesthetic design decision that makes the watch look very original. You can read our full review about them here.
WHY WATCH HANDS TURN FROM LEFT TO RIGHT?

It sounds as simple as natural, but why do you think every watch hands turn from left to right and not the opposite? Good question and probably you never really wondered why as it seems natural that way. It is what we call “Clockwise”. Even if the first mechanical watch was invented in the 13th century, it was the Egyptians who invented the clockwise direction some how. In deed Ancient Egypt invented the solar clock. In the Northern hemisphere, the sun raises East, gets at the summit of the day plain south and then sets in West. This movement of the sun around the solar clock stick, gave the hours placement in the dial, so when the first mechanical watch was invented, watch-makers kept what they always knew to be clockwise. From left to right.

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