Setting the hands at 10:08

Every watch in every photograph shows the same time, give or take a minute. The hands frame the brand at twelve, clear the date window, and make a shape that reads as a smile. The convention is older than the brands that use it.

Why ours shows your time

The Forty’s stage sets its hands to the visitor’s clock, seconds and all, and steps the seconds hand once a second when the dial faces you. A watch that shows the right time is a watch, not a picture of one.

The stills that load before the stage still read 10:08, because a still is a photograph and photographs keep the convention. The moment the stage takes over, the hands move to now.