Why the time is always 10:10 in all the clock snaps?

Question

In the photography of analog clocks for magazines, newspapers and advertisments, the two hands are always set at 10:10...Why is it so?

Answer 1

it doesnt block the makers logo or the date display plus it frames the maker name...but what do i know ive got a digi watch

Answer 2

As a marketer & photographer of watches I often get asked the question:



"Why is the time always set to 10:10 on all watch ads?"







The simple answer is "Because it looks good."



Why it looks good though is getting to the heart of the question. All the watch manufacturers photograph their watches this way but I don't know if there has ever been extensive focus group research or if that is just the way it has always been done. I did come across a brief article that attempted to trace the history of it among watch manufacturers.



So I'm not sure that there are any definitive answers but here are some of the more popular answers according to wikipedia.com (which it identifies 10:08 as being the magical number):





The form of the hands has a positive effect on the viewer: the short hand pointing at 10 o'clock and the long hand pointing at 8 minutes is reminiscent of a check mark, which commonly means "ok" or "fine." Some observers further identify this appearance with a smiley face.





The position of the hands does not obscure the date on watches with a date-function at 3 o'clock or any other functions at 9 or 3 o'clock.





The position of the hands does not obscure the company logo, which is often printed under 12 o'clock.





The hands are nearly symmetrically balanced on the face of the dial at 10:08. The minute hand is 48° right of vertical, while the hour hand is 56° left of vertical. Exact symmetry would be achieved at 10:09:13.8. Other symmetrical times would not meet the needs above.





If a rectangle is drawn inside the circle touching where the hands are pointing the this will approximate the Golden rectangle which has been proven to be pleasing to the eye. Note: this is not exact and can be off by a few percent.





At 10 o'clock in the morning, the day is young. There is still time to accomplish many things.





10 o'clock is the time at which people typically wake up if they are able to sleep in. 10:08 is thus associated with weekend, leisure and relaxation.

Answer 3

That's a super interesting observation.



I did a little searching, and sure enough, 10:10 pops up quite a bit.



http://shopping.yahoo.com/s:Clocks:4387-Clock%20Type=Wall%20Clocks:browsename=Clock%20Type%20-%20Wall%20Clocks:refspaceid=14489115:squery=clock;_ylt=Aiq87qdemlf3iokuzT2wqQ4bFt0A;_ylu=X3oDMTBibWE2NGNjBHNlYwN3ZXN0bmF2



I don't know the answer, but my guess is



1) It's a pleasing angle. It looks like a smile, and it is much more pleasing to the eye than a clock with both hands pointing down.



2) 10 has positive connotations in our society. 10:10 incorporates 2 nice round numbers



3) It's all a conspiracy to get us to drive with "hands at 10 and 2 on the wheel" You see, clock makers are very concerned about good driving, because if you can't make it to their stores safely, how else are you going to buy their products?

Answer 4

i know TRUE the answer to this one!!! only because i wondered the same thing when i was working at Pier 1 in college (all the clocks came in reading 10:10).



In the old days, whenever they showed clocks in catalogs or pictures they used to put it at 8:20 to commemorate the time President Lincoln was killed. More recently, they decided that 10:10 makes the clock look like it's smiling.



Funny, eh? But true!

Answer 5

Truthfully I never noticed that. I've seen clocks set to all different times. I suppose it could be because that is very clock like with both hands open but not in a straight line?

Answer 6

Of the four American presidents who were assasinated in office, two of them,Kennedy and..kinsley(?)i guess were the ones who were assasinated at the same time...10.10 am....so as a mark of respect,all analog watches all over the world,show that time in their ad displays.It is also said that this position of hands shows the watch hands in the best possible way,but that does not hold good,coz the same position can be obtained by reversing the hands.Cheerio.

Answer 7

Jewelers understand that setting the watch to this time displays the hands of the watch (the hand design is different on many watches) as well as the completed face of a watch so thew potential purchaser can see what the numbers. date etc look like.

Answer 8

I read somewhere that clocks are set to that time so that the clock resembles a smiling happy face! its true!

Answer 9

start off with the smile face and also because this is the best position to show off all the others items on the clock , e,g, like the date and so on

Answer 10

at 10:10 most of the key features of the watch are visible.

Answer 11

yo momma

Answer 12

I never noticed that. But thanks. That will give me something to do today.

Answer 13

This is the sign of SMILE...........