Apple is officially a watchmaker. And like all fancy watchmakers, the company has created a trove of gorgeous marketing close ups of its timepieces, only Apple has hidden a subtle to diss to competitors that its way ahead of their analog challengers.
Most watchmakers set their watch faces to 10 past 10 o’clock in advertisements. Rolex is anal about using 10:10:31, TAG Heuer uses 10:10:37, and Bell & Ross are dedicated to 10:10:10, but Apple’s so far ahead, it set the clock of its watch to nine minutes past 10 o’clock.
It’s certainly not just as coincidence though, as Quartz noticed the subtle detail appears on every single Apple Watch image.
Apple also threw a nod to Steve Jobs on the face of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus advertisements by setting the time to 9:41 – the time of day he unveiled the original iPhone in 2007.
Watchmakers have preferred using ten past 10 for its symmetry and because it doesn’t obscure the maker’s logo below the 12. The tradition dates all the way back to 1926 with the Hamilton Watch Company. Apple isn’t the first to break from the tradition though, as others like Oris and Timex use different times on their ads.
Via: Quartz
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
49 responses to “Apple Watch clock face hides a subtle dis for competitors”
Isn’t 10:09 a minute behind 10:10? So Apple is a minute late? That makes some real sense!
In kindergarten we learned 9 comes before 10.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. <— see how 9 is ahead of 10?
AKC322 is right. Think about it. If the standard is 10:10 and Apple has 10:09 it means they’re one minute behind or late, behind all the other watch makers. 9 might comes before 10 but time moves forward. That’s too advanced for kindergarten.
No, they’re acting at 10:09, before others.
If 10.10, which is the standard for set by horologists for watch demos, then if Apple shows 10.09 it’s running late, one minute behind the accepted standard of demoing time on watches.
Yes, but even if their watch is better, it is not the first, so they are not acting before the others. Better maybe, but not before.
What..? No, you don’t make sense. 10:09 happens BEFORE 10:10, only exception is if you are taking AM/PM into the equation.
Yes I’m right, we take the standard 10.10 as the correct time, therefore if Apple shows 10.09 it’s a minute behind the standard … therefore late. It it showed 10.11 Apple would be early or ahead of the standard. When does one say, my watch is running early or my watch is running late? Think about it. If we counted time backwards, 10, 09, 08, then they would be ahead but we don’t do that.
Its not a minute behind.. ITs a minute BEFORE… to be very clear… BEFORE… precisely… BEFORE.. the standard.. which means they are early. According to al the “behind” mentioners if you wake up at 9:30 and you reach office at 10:00 you are half an hour late?? SERIOUSLY??
a minute behind is 10.11. That will be late, 10.09 is earlier than 10.10
This whole thread is ridiculous – didn’t you hear the product announcement? Apple is accurate within 50ms, so if its watch shows 10:09, it obviously IS 10:09 – therefore, if 10:10 is the “standard” demo time, Apple is simply choosing to demo their watch a minute early :-)
holy hell, this is not complicated math readers. If i arrive at an event at 10:09 when it was scheduled for 10:10, i am EARLY by one minute.
If i show up at 10:11 i’m a minute late.
I think you need to slow down and just think for a minute. Then you’ll realize, you’re wrong.
But then he’d be only be on time!
*FACE PALM*
Take a lap AKC322!
One minute before is not a minute late.
Douuuuuuuuchenozzle!
You’re right all others complaining can’t seem to grasp the fact that time moves forward or just don’t even know how to tell the time
You’re assuming one clock is wrong. Actually, they’re both right – the message is that Apple is acting at 10:09, before when others act. It’s not saying, “It’s actually 10:10 but our clocks are a minute behind.” It’s, “we act before others.” At least, that’s how I interpret it.
Every stopped clock or watch is absolutely accurate once a day.
Err, twice a day if it has hands
LOL which school are you from… Please let me know so i can NOT send my kid there…
AKC322, think a little harder. 10:09 comes before 10:10. So they are early.
Looks to me like they’ve done nine past so that the digital minute hand doesn’t obscure the ‘2’ mark and/or the number. Also, 10:10 on the digital watch faces doesn’t look very good, with 10:09 appearing much more aesthetically balanced. :)
Hardly a dis. Just Apple being a little different again.
huh, all of my clocks are stopped at 4:20
9:41 has been had on almost every device since the iPhone launched. This is not isolated to the 6. The original iPhone showed 9:41 so that the keynote screenshot would look live when Steve announced it. They’ve kept it on iPhone and iPad marketing ever since.
Do people at Apple really get up at 7:00 AM?
Wouldn’t it be more of a marking of the announcement date… September 9 (10:09)
Nevermind. Just realized my month math error. Ha.
Why not just delete your own original comment, using the popup control on the right? That way you save face and don’t need to apologise.
Breitling also use 10:09:00
Your phone already tells time.
Um I’m thinking 10:09 is the date the watch was announced… just saying
10:09 would have been October 9th in the US. The Watch was not announced on October 9th.
ummm, the keynote started at 10, and they didn’t get done talking about iPhone 6 until 1045
If I had to be in lecture by 10:10 and I got there at 10:09, would I be late or would I be early?
So how can 10:09 be behind 10:10?
“Watchmakers have preferred using ten past 10 for its symmetry”. The symmetrie is better at 10:09 and Apple is just more perfect in that regard ;) 10:09 has -54° and 55.5° while 10:10 has -60° and 55°.
Wow reading the comments is like watching that Family Guy episode where Peter asked “when did they changed the meaning of from too to”
10:09 is one min before 10:10 so if anything they are running early NOT late (last time i check we count time ascending not descending)
I think it’s numerical vs chronological. If two people started watching a movie, and one person is 10:09 into the movie and the other person is 10:10 into the movie, do you really think 10:09 is ahead? Sure one of them is “earlier” into the movie, but the later person is actually “ahead”.
Just different ways to consider it.
Numerical vs Chronological make no difference. Unless your counting backwards 10 comes after 9. We count numbers 7,8,9,10.
Now I get it. This spring when we all set our clocks “ahead” an hour, we’ll change it to 10:00 while you change yours to 9:00 because you’ve just demonstrated how 9 comes before 10, which means 10 is later. I’ve been doing it wrong all these years.
I work for Timex. All ouf our watch displays in marketing materials are set to 10:09.36.
Isn’t the point of it is: look, we don’t even need our logo in your face all the time, the design is our logo?
This has got to be the stupidest article ever written. You are so desperate to find something to criticize that you fuss about the time shown on the watch. They did it to diss the competition??? Get a life.
Timex also uses 10:09 in many of their promotional photos. Apple is just being thorough with watch advertisement conventions. It is interesting that there is a history to watch advertisement photos, but there’s no dis.
This is stupid who gives a rats ass.
“but Apple’s so far ahead, it set the clock of its watch to nine minutes past 10 o’clock.”
How does setting it to 10:09 instead of 10:10 put Apple “so far ahead”?