The Happiest Time of Day

The happiest time of day. Well, what is it?? You may be thinking it's 5:00 p.m. because that's when the typical work day ends. You may be thinking it's 11:11 because people make wishes at 11:11! You may be thinking it's any time that you're drinking coffee. But you're wrong. (Sorry.)

I'm here to tell you the happiest time of day is 10:10.

Well, that's what watch retailers seem to think. It's an old advertising tactic they've been using since practically the beginning of time (hahahah, get it, time??) Before digital watches, the photographer had to set the watch hands to the same position for each ad. They placed the hands at 10 and 2 for a couple reasons, one being to properly display the brand name. Often, the watchmaker's name appeared right below the 12 and parallel to the 10 and 2, which meant the clock set at 10:10 would perfectly frame the maker's logo. Drawing attention to the brand name is just plain smart. In fact, the advertisers got even smarter than that. 

Back in the day, some watch companies had their logo on the bottom half of the watch, right above the 6. Instead of photographing their watches set at 10:10, they would set them at 8:20--using the same logic. However, instead of the watch hands pointing up at the brand name, they would be pointing down to highlight it. Over time, many watchmakers and advertisers decided the watch looked better with the hands facing up because it resembled a smiley face. Thus, 10:10 is the happiest time of the day because the clock is smiling at you.

To this day, Rolex's watches are always photographed at 10:10:31. Timex's official time for all marketing purposes is 10:09:36. I guess Timex is technically 24 seconds away from the happiest time of day, but we'll give 'em a break. 

Happy 10:10! Happy Thursday!