Leaf hands are a style of hand that shows the time on a watch dial, with a long, slim outline shaped like a leaf. Their tips are very fine and often reach the minute track, so they allow precise reading of the time. Dress watches often use them.
What does a leaf hand look like?
A leaf hand is broadest in the middle. From there it narrows in two directions. It gets thinner towards the base, where it fixes to the centre post. It also gets thinner towards the tip, which ends in a fine point. The result is a long, slim outline, much like a single leaf. On dress watches the hand is often curved. Its tip is often long enough to reach the minute track, the ring of small marks around the dial that counts the minutes.
Which watches use leaf hands?
Dress watches often use the curved leaf hand. The style was once fashionable on dress watches from major makers, including Omega, Universal Genève and Juvenia. Leaf hands also appear on watches from IWC Schaffhausen, Longines and Omega. The style is not only a thing of the past. H. Moser & Cie uses leaf hands on many of its Endeavour watches, so they can be found on new pieces as well as older ones.
Where it comes from
The name is a plain description of the shape. The hand looks like a leaf, so it is called a leaf hand. Some sources use the French name instead, calling them feuille hands or simply feuille. Feuille is the French word for leaf, so both names mean the same thing. Whichever name is used, it points to the same feature: a broad centre with a thin base and a thin tip.
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