Why Are Watches Set At 10 10 

To be more specific, why are watches set at 10 minutes past 10 o’clock? Watches are set at 10 minutes past 10 o’clock to prevent the hands from overlapping the signatures and other details that showcase the beauty of watches.

What Is Special About 10 Minutes Past 10?

There are numerous myths created in an attempt to explain why watches are displayed at 10 minutes past 10 o’clock. Most of them are however not true. We will look at some of these myths later but the surprising fact is that 10 minutes past 10 o’clock as a time have no historical significance as to why watches are set at 10 10. The attention given to 10:10 is more of a psychological one caused by human nature of attaching meanings to repetitive information.

Myth About 10 Minutes Past 10

Here are the top 5 myths that attempt to explain why watches are set at 10 minutes past 10.

The Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki

There is a myth that states that watches are presented at 10:10 to mark the bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as one of the two atomic bombs was dropped at 10 minutes past 10. This myth is easy to prove wrong as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima known as the little boy was dropped at 8:15 in the morning which is roughly two hours short of 10:10. The other bomb dropped on the city of Nagasaki nicknamed fat man was dropped at 11:01 in the morning which is roughly one hour ahead of 10:10. With these in mind, it’s easy to see this myth holds no water.

Symbol Of Victory 

Here is another myth that sounds logical. Some people theorize that 10 minutes past 10 o’clock resembles the letter ‘V’ as a symbol of victory. While this myth sounds logical, it is however not the idea behind watches being displayed at 10 minutes past 10 as we will see later.

Death Of American President

Here is another wild theory. The time 10 minutes past 10 o’clock is said to be the death time of a particular president of the United States of America. This myth is also not true. The United States has had 46 presidents with 8 of them dying while still in office but none of them died at 10:10. Some of the popular presidents who were assassinated in the office include Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, Williams McKinley, and John F. Kennedy who died at 7:22 pm, 9:30 am, 4:07 pm and 12:30 pm respectively.

End Of The World

Some conspiracy theorists believe that 10:10 means doom for the world. They believe that 10:10 may not have meant anything in the past but it is a marker for the future destruction of the world. This theory seems like one that can withstand the test of time however, a look into the real reason why watch retailers set watches at 10:10 will surely throw this theory out of the window.

The First Watch In History

Another myth states that the first watch ever made was set at 10:10 and has inspired watch retailers to use 10:10 as a golden standard. This myth is also highly unlikely because the invention of watches was a process that spanned generations with different people improving on the existing works of others. This means no single person can be credited with inventing the ‘first watch’ which also means that the default time of the so-called first watch cannot be determined. Setting watches at 10:10 is a practice that started in the 1950s which also discredits this myth.

Reasons Why Watches Are Set At 10 Minutes Past 10

Watches are set at 10:10 for aesthetic and psychological purposes.

Aesthetics

Appearance is very important in making a positive impression and it is this mindset that brought setting watches at 10:10 into existence. Most watches have subdials at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock while also having their signatures at 12 o’clock and dates at 6 o’clock. Having the hands of watches over these points will overlay these displays putting them out of view and making it impossible for the beauty of watches to be fully appreciated. 

With this in mind, it is obvious that the best alignment for the hands of watches is to have them pointing diagonally and there are two time settings for such alignment which are 20 minutes past 8 o’clock  (8:20) and 10 minutes past 10 o’clock (10:10). 

Psychology

As we have seen, 10:10 and 8:20 are the best time settings to spread out the structures on the face of watches to make it possible to appreciate the beauty of watches fully. The 8:20 option used to be very popular until the 1950s when watch retailers opted in for the 10:10 option which has survived through time to date. 

8:20 was dropped because of a phenomenon known as Pareidolia. Pareidolia is the tendency of humans to impose meaning on visually perceived objects or patterns. It is basically drawing meaning from where there may be none. Like in the shapes made by the cloud or emoji on mobile phones. People tend to perceive watches set at 8:20 as a crying face and this can stimulate negative emotions towards the watch itself which will not be good for business. 10:10 on the other hand look like a smiling face which is believed to arouse positive feelings making it the ideal option for watches.

Research That Supports 10:10 As The Best Time Set For Watch Display

A group of researchers in 2017 investigated the psychological effects associated with 8:20, 10:10, and 11:30. 

In their research, they showed 46 participants 60 watches which randomly read 8:20, 10:10, and 11:30. The participants were then asked to comment on their emotions towards the watches and their tendency to buy them based on the times they are set at. The participants found watches set at 10:10 more appealing and said they have a higher tendency to buy the watches at 10:10 than the other watches set at 8:20 or 11:30.

FAQs

We Have Seen That

watches are set at 10 minutes past 10 o’clock mainly for aesthetic and psychological purposes, there are a lot of theories that aim to attach historical meanings to why watches are set at 10:10 but none of them are true.