THE Ulysse Nardin wristwatch in an ad in the most recent Sunday edition of The New York Times is unlike 22 of the 24 watches featured in that issue’s ads, but chances are that didn’t register with most readers. For horologists, however, whose scrutiny of watches tends toward the Talmudic, it’s a lapel grabber: all the other watches — from brands like Rolex, TAG Heuer and Gucci — are set at 10:10, but Ulysse Nardin’s watch is set at 8:19. (The only other exception is an Oris wristwatch, one of four featured in an ad by the retailer Tourneau, which is set at 8:03.)
In a recent check of the 100 top-selling men’s dress watches on Amazon.com, which included models from 20 brands, all but three watches were set to 10:10. To be watch-shopping online and first notice that every model arrayed on the screen is set to an identical time can feel like crossing over into the Twilight Zone.
But the explanation turns out to be a simple matter of aesthetics.
Because brand names generally are centered on the upper half of a watch, hands positioned at 10 and 2 “frame the brand and logo,†said Andrew Block, executive vice president at Tourneau, the watch retailer, which has 51 stores worldwide. “It’s almost like an unwritten rule that everyone understands to photograph a watch a 10:10.â€
In previous eras, the more popular time in ads was 8:20, which shared the attributes of being symmetrical and not overshadowing logos, but hands pointing down struck some as, well, a downer.