The folly of modern design

[SCD]

Putting the specialty function of rotating bezels on dive watches aside, the radial distance from the tip of the minute hand to the outside of the case on a watch is of no use. In the past, the people who design watches understood this. Search Google images for "vintage watch" and look at all the sensible watches that make use of the top face of the watch for, what do you know?...displaying the time. What happened?

This is not a lament about size...I'm not against big watches, but maybe big watches may as well have long hands. Seems obvious to me.

[rockyn]

Huh ?

[ayres]

i think watch designers are less concerned about this now and more concerned about the free advertising the wearer is providing the manufacturers... so why not make them big for everyone around to see?

[Macro80]

i agree, good point!! Sadly fashion triumphs function in this day and age.

[HL65]

Something tells me Rolex has a solid design team and knows what will work and adapts with time. They have been doing it right for a long time and don't see that changing!!

[Speed]

Can the Op elaborate: the radial distance from the tip of the minute hand to the outside of the case on a watch is of no use.

[Watch Professor]

Post needs elaboration.

[conrail]

Confused....

[Numismatist]

Maybe some sample pix would help. The tip of hte minute hand on my SD reaches just slightly over the minute markers, so I'm not sure what he's getting at?

[austinnh]

I think he's basically saying "short hands are dumb, long ones are better."

[SCD]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. :) There's a distance between the tip of the minute hand and the outside of the case. That part of the watch doesn't tell time. It doesn't do anything, but generally that's the part of watches that's been getting larger and larger.

Here's a watch that uses most of its face for the telling of time. Nice...

There's about 2 millimeters from the tip of the minute hand to the outside of the case.

Compare that to to this. By modern standards this is a rather balanced watch (and truth be told, I like it), but compared to yesteryear's watches it could be viewed as a little watch buried in a bulky case. This isn't really a rant, since I do like the Aqua Terra. It's just an observation.

[rmfnla]

♫ "I can hear the cuckoo singing in the kookaburra tree..."

[GradyPhilpott]

I can understand completely and his complaint is the same as the myriad complaints about the new Explorer with its short hands.

There was a time when fine watches had a minute hand the extended to the chapter ring and whether or not this was necessary it sure gave the watch the appearance of a fine instrument.

The one thing that attracted me to this Hamilton was the fact that the minute and second-hand both extend into the chapter ring and I do love this look.

This is one stable timekeeping device, by the way.

[SCD]

oops

[rmfnla]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

I can understand completely and his complaint is the same as the myriad complaints about the new Explorer with its short hands.

There was a time when fine watches had a minute hand the extended to the chapter ring and whether or not this was necessary it sure gave the watch the appearance of a fine instrument.

The one thing that attracted me to this Hamilton was the fact that the minute and second-hand both extend into the chapter ring and I do love this look.

This is one stable timekeeping device, by the way.

Since what I though of as an off-beat concept has already found support I will have to reconsider my original response; guess it's not so off-beat after all!


One of my employees has that exact Hamilton; very nice looking but the crown does not screw down.

It does have a transparent back, though, which does look cool.

[Singslinger]

Originally Posted by austinnh

I think he's basically saying "short hands are dumb, long ones are better."

Yup, that's about the long and short of it.

[rmfnla]

Never occurred to me until now...

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by rmfnla

One of my employees has that exact Hamilton; very nice looking but the crown does not screw down.

It does have a transparent back, though, which does look cool.

This one is the Khaki Quartz and it does not have a exhibition case back.

It's water resistant to 50 meters, which is plenty for what the watch was designed for.

The watch band has an extension, which I presume is for wearing over heavy clothing or gloves, as it is definitely not a divers' watch.

Case back.



The extension can be seen here.

[ddnyc77]

I think this was kind of my problem with the DSSD when I tried it on. I felt the dial was small compared to the size of the watch. Or I could be insane.

[kyle L]

Borrowed pic from Jacek: Rolex GMT Radial

[SLS]

You are comparing a dress watch to a sport watch, two completely different styles of watches IMO.
Scott

[austinnh]

Originally Posted by Singslinger

Yup, that's about the long and short of it.

Haha! Pun!

BTW, I completely agree with OP, short hands are dumb.

[GradyPhilpott]

I think I may have misinterpreted the OP. I think what is being said is that the bezels are growing.

However, there is something to be said for larger bezels, if they are functional.

Growing the watch case is not necessarily useful, but I think in the case of the DSSD, it may be functional in terms of water resistance and of course the lapsed time function.

In any case, I prefer longer hands and have always admired watches that feature them.

Sorry, SCD.

[exxondus]

some are blessed with short ones but others with long ones

if u get what i mean

[Shade]

Well I don't have problems with them, now that you mentioned it, I noticed it, but I still don't have a problem with them. Each to his own I guess..