Horological Meandering

Nicolas egged me on to follow through with my idea of questioning which watch brands/models have hand designs that are so subjectively spectacular that you would happily buy the watch based on the hand aesthetics itself, notwithstanding of what the remain...  

I don’t think anyone does it better than MG! ...  

I did not take them into consideration initially, but then I've also never seen one in person....

A video of how MG finishes their hands ...  

but then your pictures made a big impression, especially the VC hands! The only others that come to mind are DeBethune hands like below…but still not as good as VC.😉 ...  

is definitely in the running when it comes to hands! Cheers, Filip

It's a tough question, but these are mine. I think they all get it exceedingly right. The dial, I know. But I love the handset here. Built very closely to the chapter ring and a gentle swoop. Perfection. Incredible work; some of the best in the business c...  

The thing is, I've never seen a MG piece in person, so it doesn't 'ring a bell' by default, like a number of others do. But that's precisely the point of this exercise - to illuminate some of these remarkable designs for people who might not have thought ... 

I actually haven't either. I'd be delighted to, but I haven't yet had the opportunity aside from the Benu showcased in the museum in Glashütte (despite being right at the manufacture in 2019...). Regardless, I am a fan. This thread was a great idea!

Looks like MG is winning with a clear margin, but here is another vote for Frodsham (who make and heat-purple their own hands) ...  

In his pictorial above . They are, in fact, gorgeous. Cheers, Filip

Most brands don't even finish the side edges of their hands let alone the underside. DB movements don't drip with traditional hand finishing but they put in the work where it counts, the dials and hands are spectacular and show amazing attention to detail...  

They produce many hands designs, some I like more than others, but most of them are fantastic, including those from DB15 and DB25 that you have on pics. Thanks.

Very fond of the Frodsham's hands And also of the Breguet Marine's ...  

it's already the third time Frodsham is brought up in this thread! Theirs is an exceedingly memorable hand design and finish........

Hard to say if I’d buy any watch just because of the hands but this one easily is one of its biggest draw. It adds to the presence of this watch for sure. ...  

those hands are as fanciful as I have seen on a modern Omega. They tend to be rather minimalist (especially with their bestsellers like the Speedmaster, for entirely good reasons), so those are a pleasure to see and take-in their design.... Cheers, Filip

Here is the hand that would prompt me to buy the watch if I could Photo from FPJ own site. ...  

Hey, you're taking this exercise too literally 😁....

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standard looking ones 😁, JLC has always had very conservative hand designs, even on the endless Reverso iterations. My favorite Reverso hands are the two-tone diamond shaped ones on the Septantieme! They are probably my favorite on any JLC! Cheers, Filip ... 

making very big hands, very discreet. I had that dilemma couple of month ago and they immediately popped into my mind thanks to yours.

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perhaps just not as varied/different as other makes........

sexy/production price.

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This is somewhere halfway into 'are those hands at all' territory.... UN, Urwerk, MB&F.... are fully in that realm....

Great response!

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... because especially the hands were a reason why I fell in love with that watch! Cheers, Alex ...  

Absolutely, Longines has some truly beautiful blued hands in some of their relatively inexpensive watches. In my mind, they have always been 'toe-to-toe', or should we say 'crown-to-crown' with Seiko for best values in the general horology marketplace.......