Posted by Kim on 7/10/2014 to
General
What is it with 10:10? I recently bought some watch faces to incorporate in to some Broken China Jewelry designs. Then I purchased a beautiful oval clock for my table top. And last by not least, several of my watches I had taken to a jeweler for repairs and cleaning came back. Each and every one was set to 10:10.
It got me thinking: why 10:10? Then I remembered someone telling me years back that new timepieces were all set to that to memorialize the bombs dropping on Pearl Harbor. Another friend said that it was the time that Kennedy and Lincoln were shot. And yet again, I was told by someone else that it was when Martin Luther King was shot. Just when I thought it couldn't get more confusing, I was told it was when the bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ok. Well...which explanation is it? Come to find out, none of them. Yep, you heard me right.
Apparently, watches are set to so that makers' names, that usually appear right below the 12, will be framed by the arms. It also won't interfere with any other features that usually appear by the 3, 6, or 9. Add to that, it is symmetrical. Well, so is 8:20 and that was used by watch makers long ago. But, apparently, we like up better than down. The 8:20 made the hands look like a frown so it lost out to the happier looking 10:10. There. Now I know.
1 Comments
Marie-Helene Meunier
Date
8/21/2014
How very interesting. Thank you so much, Kim, for this information.