Good Thinking

Who needs a second hand anyway?

The Defakto Detail one hand watch is simple, elegant, and understated
The Defakto Detail one hand watch is simple, elegant, and understated

As someone of a certain age, as a young child I was taught how to read the time using an analogue dial on a clock or watch. I suspect things are a little different now, with kids more used to digital displays on computers and smartphones. But I have some not-so-fond memories of trying to grasp the concept of the minute and second hands on an analogue display. How different my childhood could have been had someone, somewhere designed a watch with one hand rather than two.

Watches with just one hand do exist, and this new offering from Defakto Detail takes a simple, elegant, and understated approach to the challenge. The single hand acts as both hour and minute marker, with seconds consigned to history. The face of the watch - which is available in either black or white - features 12 long tick marks denoting hours, with shorter marks denoting 15-minute segments, and even shorter marks denoting 5-minute segments. The solitary hand therefore makes a full rotation just twice in each 24-hour day, once in the AM and once in the PM. Despite being a little imprecise, it's still quick and simple way to tell what time it is within 2.5-minutes either way with nothing but a solitary glance.

The Defakto Detail one hand watch costs €280 (US$340).

Source: Defakto via Design Made In Germany

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18 comments
Slowburn
Clearly designed by somebody who does not have the concept of "On time" on his hard drive.
Grahamw
Hmmm, nice, but I would rather spend the extra and buy a Meistersinger one-hander.
ihateorange
"it's still quick and simple way to tell what time it is within 2.5-minutes either way with nothing but a solitary glance" Absolute rubbish! I can't tell what time the watch is showing without counting round the marks. With a conventional analogue watch a single glance is all that is required as the two hands produce recognisable patterns, and there are far fewer markings on the face. This is the reason why the conventional analogue watch is still produced in such huge numbers even since the availability of cheap digital watches that DO tell you the exact time at a single glance.
Uber Nemo
So similar to the Botta Design "UNO 24" I've had for years!
http://www.botta-design.de/en/einzeigeruhr-uno-24.html
agulesin
Old clocks didn't have a second or minute hand - look at old church towers. this isn't a new idea (as much of what appears on Gizmag!)
nutcase
Why is it called a "hand" when it is more like an arm?
The addition of minutes and seconds pointers to clocks was considered a great advance in technology.
This is a backward step!
DemonDuck
So I guess a watch with one hand would cost over a thousand dollars? And no hands -- priceless....
wle
i agree it takes longer to tell an exact time with this thing, plus it still isn;t really exact
so it is a good way to waste time, trying to tell time
meta!
wle
Charles Azar
Far better is the Chromachron "color time" watch which has a pie slice shaped opening 1 hour wide moving over a field of 12 colors with a spiral covering the minuets. It is also available as an $4.95 app on the iPhone along with a world clock showing the time in color world wide and even a list of how many days have passed since your birth.
Robert in Vancouver
This qualifies for the dumbest new product of the year, and decade.
What is the point of such a watch except for being a decoration on your wrist.