Horological Meandering

Hi All, We have talked before about watch hands and their various designs, but we tend to focus on the hour and minute hands and ignore the seconds. Admittedly most second hands are slender pointy affairs without much interest, but this seems a pity as it...  

...make it a Grande Seconde hand... Cheers, pplater....  

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..the current custodian, Steve - a real gentleman made it all possible. ;-) Cheers, pplater.

Craig...  

...that you didn't lead with everyone's favourite - Cheers, pplater....  

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...as the second hand just about defines this watch - Cheers, pplater....  

...of the hours and minutes to a mildly off-centre location gives the second hand added prominence - Cheers, pplater....  

...(and yes: they badly need to be synchronised!!) - Cheers, pplater...  

....to own this second hand! Even 'second-hand' would be acceptable ;-) Can only claim the wrist in this shot - Cheers, pplater....  

More of a second second hand, really - ;-) Thanks for the thread. Looking forward to seeing one of the early FPJ tourbillon cages, or maybe a nice retrograde seconds (Prescher???). Cheers, pplater....  

… the next PPro watch? But that would require a slightly different waving Mao on the dial. J A

IMHO, the most interesting second hand available is the Dead Second hand: Craig...  

.. I never understood the appeal of the "dead seconds" complication; time is something that's continuous, not discrete.. Perhaps technically speaking it's an interesting complication, but to me it just does not make a lot of sense; continously sweeping (l... 

Hi Mark, I tend to agree with you about the display of linear time. In fact one of the things I particularly like about the 5Hz, 36000vph hi-beat watches is the way the second hand (or chronograph hand in the case of the Zenith) glides around the dial wit... 

Thanks Craig, One of my unswerving favourites as well. I love how you have caught the second hand ‘dead’, but the tourbillon cage in flight. Andrew

...hand on any watch. Some that I am particularly fond of are the "diver's flag" second hand on this Sinn U1... (Courtesy of Men's Watch Review) ...and the hand-bent, heat-blued beauty on my Habring2 Jumping Seconds. Cheers, Daos...  

Not innovative, but traditional of course, but I find it mesmerizing to watch in it's stately progress acrross that big dial. Best, Andreas...  

You are very lucky to have such a great piece! Thanks for sharing it with us! Cheers, Daos

Hello Daos, I join you in this regard - somehow the second hand is the most busy part on the dial side, if you don´t have a chronograph running or even a tourbillon. Amazed who you mange to upload a video, as I´m sometimes bumbling about with the photos !... 

...so please don't give me more credit than I'm due! The only reason I was able to upload videos was because Anthony posted a tutorial on it recently. Without his step-by-step pictorial guidance I have serious doubts I'd have been able to post my short cl... 

No longer mine, but I liked the bright yellow sweep seconds hand on this DA36; Ofcourse the lightning bolt of the Milgauss belongs in this thread; This one is going crazy I don't know if it's considered a "complication", but a sweep seconds hand is my fav...  

Certainly the Rolex Milgauss, for its originality: The Langematik Anniversary for its Supreme Elegance: The Blancpain Milspec for its useful luminous arrow: The Tourbillonesque Amvox III Second Hand: The Co Branded Second Hand ( unique in its kind ): And,...  

UN Acqua Perpetual...  

pic of the RM11 seconds hand...  

Here's the orange luminous seconds hand on the J*D Sports Watch...  

The seconds hand looks like a walking cane...  

The "paddle" second hand is one of two features that clearly distinguish the vintage IWC ref. 866 Ingenieurs (the other being the big crown). I have always really liked this paddle design, and found that it suits the design of the dial extremely well. Reg...  

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The one of the Athys: Not a second hand but it is used as a second hand: And the second hand over the caliber (MCT): Fr.Xavier...  

you wouldnt expect me to be conventional would you firstly a tuning fork running at 300hz so the a true sweep second hand a couple of things wot rotate to as a second hand would, but dont indicate the actual time. a rotating earth. Vincent Calabrese's rot...  

To add to the discussion, my favourite seconds-hand? The Seiko 6015-811x "stop-light" hand.

Ben, its a Zodiac Astrographic, but not the SST high beat version i'm afraid. it uses 3 discs that rotate, the red dot being the second hand. its from the early 70's so 'nothings new under the sun' as i think Pink Floyd said a few years ago. best Graham

I love it. It makes me feel a lucky man. Best Emilio...  

Certanlly Nicolas, the second hand in the vintage FF is really sexy and beautiful. Best Emilio

Are some of these seconds hands off-topic? None -- but elegant for it. One - that can't make up its mind which way to go One - whose friends can't decide which way to go One - that goes round the l-o-n-g way My favourite One -- S-stamped with brand loyalt...  

Hi Melvyn, Thanks for thinking laterally. You have proven again that sometimes less is more. And that it is the juxtapositions in horology that can make a watch interesting. Andrew

I love the hands on this Wempe:...  

. . . that would be Grand Seiko SBGW001 . . . . . . my wrist, Mike R's watch . . . cordially, Art...  

… one of those “slender pointy affairs”, but when it works, it WORKS. Nice shot and supports Mostel’s argument above that balance is more important that excelling in a specific area. A

The tourbillon cage doubles as a seconds indicator, and the lyre (or alternatively, Cygna) shape adds an element of whimsy and romance....  

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Not all that interesting a hand, but a nice glow A...  

Silberstein yellow and curved Seiko Galante - purple AND curved so very gracefully Seiko Credor blue and what an end! Look at the arcs and circles on this dial Seiko Brightz red tip and B end I loved the tiny red tip on the Blancpain, the blued Broad Arro...  

Take a look. An absolutely beautiful second hand. Mitch...  

... Just a little bit of red ... and the kink ... ... and one more red detail ... ... and one just plain ... ... Just love these kind of details Oliver...