Watch Hands Explained: A Guide to Popular Styles

It's surprising that watch hands, despite playing a pivotal role in allowing us to read the time, often generate little interest among watch collectors.

Watch hands have a strong influence on design, as the right or wrong set can make or break a watch's aesthetic. Certain watch hand designs became so iconic that they are now immediately linked to particular brands, such as the "Mercedes" hour hand found on Rolex watches.

A hands shape, colour, and material can significantly impact the reading of time and complications. Using different types of hands on the same watch allows for easy differentiation of indications and improves legibility. The choice of watch hands in skeleton watches is also critical, as, if not thoughtfully designed, they can easily blend into the movements and make a watch difficult to read.

Watch brands often source their watch hands from specialised suppliers such as Universo (owned by The Swatch Group) in Switzerland or La Pratique in France. Both companies have been manufacturing watch hands for more than 100 years.

Watch hands can be made from a variety of materials, such as brass, bronze, stainless steel, or gold. Most watch hands begin as a very thin and long strip of metal. First, a hole is punched out by a machine. This will allow the hand to be fitted to the watch. Then, the actual shape of the watch hand is pressed and stamped by other machines, creating the "semi-finished hands".

For small hands such as chronograph hands, the process is a little different. The tube and hand are manufactured separately and then assembled together. This is where the real work starts, as the hand has to be polished and often coated before undergoing quality control.

Some watch hands are also thermally blued. While modern alloys no longer need to be tempered, flame-bluing is a finishing technique that requires a great deal of precision and skill. Some hands are painted blue to give the illusion of being flame-blued, but the end result is very different. In a watch hand factory, it takes around thirty different operations to manufacture a watch hand, including twenty done manually by operators. 

Many diving and sports watch hands glow in the dark thanks to Super-LumiNova. This material is most often applied by hand. In the early 1920s, radium was applied to watch hands to make them glow in the dark. Factory workers would paint the hands using the "lip pointing" technique, pressing the brush between their lips to form a fine point before dipping it in the radium paint. Painting components with radium caused severe health issues for factory workers who are now unfortunately known as the "Radium Girls”. Radium hands were progressively phased out in the 1960s in favor of tritium and, in the mid-1990s, Super-LumiNova became the new standard in the watch industry.

Overall, the attention a brand pays to its hands tends to be a good indicator of the attention given to the entire watch. Examine watch hands under a loupe, and you will definitely find significant differences between brands.

Now let’s have a look at the most significant types of watch hands:

Arrow watch hands are often associated with Omega, as the brand used this kind of hands on early Speedmaster, Seamaster, and Railmaster models. This hand design offers excellent legibility and makes it easy to distinguish between the hour and minute hands, especially when they have different shapes.

Alpha hands are a common style of watch hands with a triangular shape and a narrow base. This elegant type of hand allows a precise reading of time. Alpha hands are often associated with the German high-horology brand A. Lange & Söhne, which uses alpha hands in most of their watch collections.

Sometimes simplicity is best, and with their rectangular shape, baton hands do the job perfectly. This shape is great as it allows a good amount of lume to be applied all along the hand and is often used in sport-chic watches, like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak or the Patek Philippe Nautilus.

Abraham-Louis Breguet, often referred to as the “Mozart of watchmaking,” brought numerous technical innovations but also had a very keen eye on design. Breguet hands were designed at a time when watch hands were very ornate and offered an elegant simplicity. With their thin profile and off-centered hollowed-out circle, the Breguet hand is unmistakable. Breguet hands are not exclusive to Breguet and are used by Patek Philippe or independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen.

Cathedral hands are most often found on military watches and were a popular style of hand during the 1920s. This complex hand shape is inspired by the stained glass windows found in cathedrals. Their width allows a lot of luminous material to be applied, which is plus for legibility. Now they offer a nice retro charm and are used by brands such as Oris.

Dauphine hands are a classic with their triangular and faceted profile. To me, they are one of the best types of hands, and it’s no wonder why Dauphine hands are used by a large variety of brands. Grand Seiko is famous for its dauphine hands, which react to light beautifully thanks to their superb polishing.

Leaf hands are elegant and most often used on dress watches. On top of their shape, their curvature makes them appealing, giving a nice three-dimensional effect. Independent brand H.Moser is known for using beautiful leaf hands on their watches.

Mercedes hands refer to a specific style of hour hand featuring a circular segment divided into three parts, resembling the Mercedes-Benz logo. Most famously used by Rolex on models like the Submariner, Explorer, and GMT-Master, the design is not officially linked to the car manufacturer. Its origin remains uncertain, with theories ranging from a tribute to swimmer Mercedes Gleitze to a functional evolution of cathedral hands for better lume distribution.

Snowflake hands are a distinctive style of hour hand with a bold, angular design resembling a stylized snowflake. Introduced by Tudor in 1969 on the Submariner Refs. 7016 and 7021, the design was developed for improved legibility—especially for French Navy divers—and features a large lume-filled square on the hour hand. Now a hallmark of Tudor’s Black Bay and Pelagos collections, snowflake hands are closely associated with the brand’s modern dive watches.

Sword hands have taken their name as they look like sword blades. Highly legible, they are often associated with various Cartier models such as the Tank and Santos. Sword hands are also used on various diving watches, as their shape allows a generous application of lume.

Syringe hands are quite similar to baton hands but with a tip at the end, making them great for pointing precisely at different indications. A little bit less popular than other watch hand styles, they are often found on pilot watches.