3,776 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 28, 2001
Looking at all kinds of watches in different books and at watch fora you see so many different designs. In the end all those watches have to show time, preferably but not necessarily in a clear way. The whole picture should look nice too, not awkward. The minute and hour hands are crucial in this respect. The minute hand should be quite a bit longer than the hour hand, but the hour hand should not be a stub. Also, the minute hand is a bit shorter than the diameter of the dial, of course, but sometimes you see hands that are quite a bit shorter, making it difficult to read time excactly. The latter is of course always the case with non-round watches, like the Da Vinci. An example of relative long hands can be seen with the Portuguese.
I have seen pictures of watches where the hour hand is almost as long as the minute hand: not too nice and not clear at all. I wonder whether the watch industry, IWC, has decided on a ratio number for the length of the minute and hour hands: do the specialised manufacturers of hands have some standards for this? I guess that the ratio of the length of the minute hand and case diameter is a question of style and taste, although I read somewhere that too small hands were chosen by the cheaper brands because they always fit, you don't have to be precise then.
Any information, ideas on this?
Kind regards, Paul
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
2,085 Discussions and CommentsMember since Jan. 7, 2005
This is an elementary but nicely done video by the Fondation de la Haute Horologerie, which includes IWC as brand partner, that might be of some interest:
585 Discussions and CommentsMember since Feb. 16, 2009Levadia,
Greece
flyrobyfly36 Wrote:This is an elementary but nicely done video by the Fondation de la Haute Horologerie, which includes IWC as brand partner, that might be of some interest:
2,085 Discussions and CommentsMember since Jan. 7, 2005
Mark,
I remember your post about it, the more time passes by, the more I consider yours as a true and inspired dedication of love to the great caliber ensouls your watch, very nice piece indeed.
3,776 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 28, 2001
I googled a bit on watch hands. I found quite some manufacturers from China, delivering standard sized and shaped hands. As far as I can see not bad at all, and cheap. But judging by some comments here, high-end watches use high-end hands, custom made. I wonder if the hands are part of the design of the total watch, the case with the dial: I guess so. An alternative could be to choose the hands from a huge catalogue of a first class hands manufacturer, but I guess, preparing manufacturing from an external design source is just as feasible. Which leads to my question: does IWC design the hands as part of the total watch design in-house? Do they use certain ratio metrics for the hands or is it foremost an artistic issue? There is so much going on when you visit the factory in Schaffhausen, that would maybe be the place to ask the question. But as I cannot visit Schaffhausen that often, maybe here is the second best place for answers.
IWC use hands from Aiguilla SA (http://www.aiguilla.ch/home.htm) as outlined in Watch International # 3 2004. The article discusses manufacture but not the ratio between the hands.
As part of the "face" of the watch, so being mainly an aesthetic issue, I guess the process starts from designers, after that, an engineer will take care of technical specifications to make design compatible to technical issues - mtc.
I can't tell about every model and it's always difficult to speak unequivocally, but at least some of IWC model hands are designed specifically for that model. A good example is the Da Vinci, where the custom-designed hands were designed to look like pen nibs, which to my knowledge is unique. As such, the process starts with a designer at IWC, and certainly not an inexpensive Chinese supplier nor simply picking from a catalog.
Also, the ratio of width and relative length varies from various products, and as such there are neither magic ratios nor strict rules that must be observed. If one compares various products over the past decade, especially among product lines, both similarities and differences will be noticed, although usually there is consistency for any given model.
All products at IWC start in the design department, first as sketches and then technical drawings. They then go to product management which checks on production issues (availability, cost, etc.). This sometimes involves a dialog among the supplier, product management and the supplier.
I have seen pictures of watches where the hour hand is almost as long as the minute hand: not too nice and not clear at all. I wonder whether the watch industry, IWC, has decided on a ratio number for the length of the minute and hour hands: do the specialised manufacturers of hands have some standards for this? I guess that the ratio of the length of the minute hand and case diameter is a question of style and taste, although I read somewhere that too small hands were chosen by the cheaper brands because they always fit, you don't have to be precise then.
Any information, ideas on this?
Kind regards,
Paul
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
Last edited: 23 October, 2011 - 13:31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4FJ8elHJPI
In the High wacthmaking, hands are custom made, even the hub of each hand type is different from a model to another.
Regards,
roberto
Regards,
Roberto
Last edited: 19 June, 2013 - 20:53
Best regards
Dimitris
dpsaromialos@gmail.com
Last edited: 6 May, 2013 - 13:26
"In the High wacthmaking, hands are custom made, even the hub of each hand type is different from a model to another."
Never a truer word ! I discovered that very fact when I did my 8541 Custom build project and had these hands custom made.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25419198@N03/5157803006/in/photostream/
I took many questions form collectors out there, who wanted to know if I knew the exact hub size of the 8541 hands etc.
For a view of the rear side - see here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25419198@N03/5157803034/
Best regards
Mark
Best regards
Mark
Last edited: 16 April, 2013 - 00:36
I remember your post about it, the more time passes by, the more I consider yours as a true and inspired dedication of love to the great caliber ensouls your watch, very nice piece indeed.
Ciao!
Roberto
Regards,
Roberto
Last edited: 19 June, 2013 - 20:53
Best regards
Argiris
Last edited: 29 October, 2011 - 21:11
Kind regards,
Paul, wearing yellow gold Portuguese Perpetual Calendar
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
Last edited: 23 October, 2011 - 13:31
IWC use hands from Aiguilla SA (http://www.aiguilla.ch/home.htm) as outlined in Watch International # 3 2004. The article discusses manufacture but not the ratio between the hands.
Cheers from the cellar
cellar@gregsteer.net
Last edited: 4 January, 2013 - 22:35
http://www.iwc.com/forum-en/message/118023.html
As part of the "face" of the watch, so being mainly an aesthetic issue, I guess the process starts from designers, after that, an engineer will take care of technical specifications to make design compatible to technical issues - mtc.
Regards,
roberto
Regards,
Roberto
Last edited: 19 June, 2013 - 20:53
Also, the ratio of width and relative length varies from various products, and as such there are neither magic ratios nor strict rules that must be observed. If one compares various products over the past decade, especially among product lines, both similarities and differences will be noticed, although usually there is consistency for any given model.
All products at IWC start in the design department, first as sketches and then technical drawings. They then go to product management which checks on production issues (availability, cost, etc.). This sometimes involves a dialog among the supplier, product management and the supplier.
Regards, Michael
mfriedberg@iwcforum.com
Last edited: 5 April, 2012 - 19:53