Ten minutes past ten

Why are all watches, used in advertisements and commercials, set to 10 minutes past 10? Some people say: it frames the brand and logo nicely. Others say when you are photographing a watch on this way, it smiles, instead of a sad face. I mean everybody wants to see a smile on the face of a watch, right? We searched for some pronunciations from experts.

Klaus Peter Mager, a spokesman for Swatch, said his 25-year-old company, based in Biel, Switzerland, has always photographed watches primarily at 10:10, because “they’re smiling instead of a sad man’s face.” Andrew Block, executive vice president at Tourneau (large watch retailer, which has 51 stores worldwide) said: Because brand names generally are centered on the upper half of a watch, hands positioned at 10 and 2 “frame the brand and logo”. He also said “It’s almost like an unwritten rule that understands to photograph a watch at 10:10” (NY Times, 2008).

Personally I think these are some statements that aren’t true or false, I like watches who are showing 10:10 because its symmetric, and usually that is experienced nicer by customers. The following marketing advertisement is a nice fact: Ulyssee Nardin had a wristwatch campaign where the watch was set on 8:19. Susanne Hurni, head of Ulyssee Nardin’s advertising and marketing, said they did this, because when watches have secondary dials and windows – for the day of the week, calendar day and year – that would be obscured by the hands at 10 and 2.

Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO of the Kaplan Thaler Group, a New York advertising agency, learned about the 10:10 rule when her firm worked on a campaign for Rolex several years ago, and was drawn to the notion that it was like a smile. “In advertising we would never expect someone to look at a watch and say, ‘The watch is smiling,’ but it’s just a feeling you get,” said Ms. Kaplan.

I think we never get to know if it is a rule or just a “guideline”, but I’m sure a watch that is smiling, is always good!

Written by: Tobias. S