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The Orange minute hand. Who came up with it?

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buddy13

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Another great feature of dive watches, is an easy to differentiate minute hand.

I like oversize minute hands like the Seiko's arrows, but particularly bright orange ones like the Ploprof.

So who came up with the idea? Was it Squale, Doxa or Omega?
 
#6 ·
This was a good read, some good comments from pro divers as well. According to Jason’s research Doxa was the first to bring in the orange, but I thought it was because orange remains more visible than other colors as you descend. This argues that it’s more about dial color and hand contrast. A guy commented below about a deep dive Navy study that went into great detail categorizing color vibrancy in different water types and depths.

www.hodinkee.com

In-Depth: Seven Dive Watch Myths Deep-Sixed

Not everything you hear about dive watches is true – we're here to set things straight.
www.hodinkee.com www.hodinkee.com

Interesting yet meaningless for me as I don’t dive further than the deep end of the pool, but that orange pops!
Image
 
#8 ·
The Red Goat said:
This was a good read, some good comments from pro divers as well. According to Jason’s research Doxa was the first to bring in the orange, but I thought it was because orange remains more visible than other colors as you descend. This argues that it’s more about dial color and hand contrast. A guy commented below about a deep dive Navy study that went into great detail categorizing color vibrancy in different water types and depths.

www.hodinkee.com

In-Depth: Seven Dive Watch Myths Deep-Sixed

Not everything you hear about dive watches is true – we're here to set things straight.
www.hodinkee.com www.hodinkee.com

Interesting yet meaningless for me as I don’t dive further than the deep end of the pool, but that orange pops!
Image
Click to expand...
The Navy study mentioned was only conducted in 1.5m of water. It;s findings have no application to diving. Snorkelling maybe, but not to diving. Orange turns to grey and is of no benefit visually within the first 15m of depth
 
#9 ·
Even if not strictly for (serious) diving, that orange minute hand is a real dinger of hum (i.e., humdinger).
I find it really helpful to see the time at a glance.
I have wondered for years why pilot watches don't also use this hand differentiation. The best answer I got was: 'tradition.'

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#13 ·
Ryeguy said:
Orange is great for drawing your eye for reading time at a glance while on dry land and at minimal depth, but for actual diving contrast and lume is way more important than color.
Click to expand...
Yup.

That said, even at 100m on a normally sunny day you have enough light to see the dial and hands without any real trouble. If I'm in an overhead situation like a cave or wreck, or at night, you are using a light anyway...so lume isn't an issue there either.

I've never needed lume in any real-world diving application, but contrast is king.
 
#14 ·
I've used lume plenty if I'm surfing, bodysurfing or freediving and I'm in the water before dawn, which is most days. This morning as well. Bad lume kills a good dive watch for me.

Totally agree with the above though, don't think it's ever been an issue actually diving. If it is dark enough to need lume then I would have a dive light.
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
Very cool. While we still don't have a definite answer, we got to see some really nice orange handed watches :)

I agree that lume is not important for actual diving. Large, contrasty dial and hands are more so.

Oh, and a dive light at ANY depth, would make an orange minute hand orange once again.
 
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buddy13
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