Hand

A watch or clock hand is usually a thin, light piece of metal which moves around a dial to indicate the time. Generally a watch will have 3 hands to show the hours, minutes and seconds but the earliest timepieces made do with just an hour hand. The addition of the second hand is usually attributed to English horologist Daniel Quare in 1691 although it did not come into widespread use until a century later.

Early clock hands, being unprotected by glass, were designed to be robust and hence were rather heavy. By the late 18th century they were slender, elegant and a part of the aesthetic design of the timepiece.

Modern hands are usually manufactured from tempered steel although brass is also in common use. They also come in a great variety of designs some of which describe their shape or purpose, examples being skeleton, baton, sword or spade.