Why the Apple Watch is always set to 10:09 in its marketing

The other day, I was looking up some promotional Apple Watch photos and the watch faces caught my eye. Since the very first Apple Watch, the company has always had its default watch faces display 10:09 as the time — and I had no idea why.

So I turned to Google. Unsurprisingly, what I found was actually pretty interesting: 10:09 isn't an Easter egg release date or an Apple in-joke; it's actually a long-held tradition in mechanical watch marketing. Engadget had a pretty great deep dive on this a few years ago:

The reason behind this practice boils down to marketing, with just a dash of consumer psychology to boot.Because a watch company's name and/or logo often resides directly underneath the 12, positioning the hands at 10 and 2 ensures that the company brand is not only visible, but framed in a symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing manner. The 10:10 time also has the added benefit of making it appear that the watch is smiling, albeit mechanically.

Now, most Apple Watch faces aren't mechanical — or even skeumorphically so — in nature, but it's not hard to believe that Apple wanted to pay tribute to watch makers of yore with a little hat tip to design. So that's why the Apple Watch faces are set to 10:09. Neat, huh?

IM Staff
The collective iMore hivemind

iMore.com is your source for all things Apple, and the IM Staff author represents our collective hivemind, for those occasions when the whole team speaks with one voice to bring you important updates about the site, editorial policies, awards, promotions and more. 


The iMore team of Apple enthusiasts and experts shows you how to get the most out of your tech life by using Apple products and the apps, services, and devices they connect with to their fullest. iMore is a mainstay in the Apple community for good reason. Every single iMore writer and editor takes their job seriously, and we prioritize accuracy and editorial independence in everything we do, never receiving compensation for coverage and never pulling punches.


As well as our amazing group of regular contributors, the iMore staff team currently consists of:
Gerald Lynch — Editor-in-Chief
Stephen Warwick — News Editor
Daryl Baxter — Features Editor
John-Anthony Disotto — How To Editor
Tammy Rogers — Senior Staff Writer
James Bentley — Staff Writer