# Ten after ten
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 6, 2000, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506 "2000-06-06T01:19:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/1 "2000-06-06T01:19:32Z")
Why is it that in all watch ads the time on the watch is ten minutes after 10? Even the digital watches show that time. I have heard two different possible reasons: The time of death of President Lincoln. The name of watch can be seen clearly. Does anyone have any information on this?
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/2 "2000-06-06T01:25:56Z")
Lincoln died well before 10:10 a.m. That part is a urban legend.
The arrangement of hands does show the manufacturer’s name, so that may be part of the reason. The other part is that it’s nice and symmetrical and thus pleasing to the eye. The third part is that everyone’s been doing it for so long it’s become convention.
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### Author:  [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/3 "2000-06-06T01:46:51Z")
[alt.folklore.urban FAQ](http://www.urbanlegends.com/afu.faq/listing.cgi?selection=stupid)
[False:] Clocks are commonly displayed at 8:18/8:20/10:10 because that’s when JFK or Abraham Lincoln was shot.
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### Author:  [@Devil\_In\_Disguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Devil_In_Disguise)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/4 "2000-06-06T02:08:59Z")
It’s more than just being nice and symmetrical, it is a smiley face. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/5 "2000-06-06T02:27:58Z")
I recently bought a Rolex. (I know. But I wanted it.) The dealer said that every watch photo that Rolex publishes will display **10:10:31** , and the date displayed will be the **28th** of the month. Checking my catalog, I found that those watches that display the day of the week all display **Monday**. The small dials on the “Daytona” all display **11** units on the rightmost dial, **9** on the center dial, and **30** on the leftmost dial.
I have a booklet for the Omega “Speedmaster” that details the Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions. There are three watch photos in it. The first, a vintage “Speedmaster” shows **10:12:33** with the small dials (right to left) at **8.5** , **12** and **42.5**. The other photos read **10:12:37** and **10:12:45** with the small dials pointing upright ( **30** , **12** , **60** ).
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### Author:  [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/6 "2000-06-06T03:01:41Z")
Cecil covered the general topic of the times displayed in watch ads in: [Why are clocks in ads always set at 8:20?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_330.html)
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### Author:  [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/7 "2000-06-06T03:02:34Z")
See this article in the archive:[Watch Ads](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_330.html)
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### Author:  [@Bullroar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullroar)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/8 "2000-06-06T03:06:59Z")
And following all the syntax rules,
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> See this article in the archive:[Watch Ads](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_330.html)
> \*\*
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### Author:  [@QirQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QirQ)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/9 "2000-06-06T04:28:53Z")
Back in the 70’s I worked for the Vancouver public Aquarium in Canada, when the people from Timex came in to shoot a commercial. They tied the watch onto the tail of the killer whale and let the whale thwack it around good. So I asked them that very same question and was told that it was to properly frame the name Timex.
Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
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### Author:  [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/10 "2000-06-06T11:59:34Z")
Timex ran various “Takes a licking an keeps on ticking” advertisements for decades. One of the most famous occured during the days of live TV, when they strapped a watch to a outboard motor propeller. After running the motor for a short time, they stopped it, tilted the motor up in order to show the watch still ticking, and found out that the watch had in fact fallen off.
Timex even did a parody of their own advertisements. One ad had an elephant step on a watch. But even Timex’s had their limits–the watch was crushed. And the tag-line on this commercial was “Guess it’s time to buy a new Timex”.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2000, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-after-ten/21506/11 "2000-06-06T12:35:25Z")
Then there’s the one where they shot the Timex with a high-powered rifle. Oh, wait… 😃