<P> Before the late 14th century , a fixed hand ( often a carving literally shaped like a hand ) indicated the hour by pointing to numbers on a rotating dial ; after this time , the current convention of a rotating hand on a fixed dial was adopted . Minute hands ( so named because they indicated the small , or minute , divisions of the hour ) only came into regular use around 1690 , after the invention of the pendulum and anchor escapement increased the precision of time - telling enough to justify it . In some precision clocks , a third hand , which rotated once a minute , was added in a separate subdial . This was called the `` second - minute '' hand ( because it measured the secondary minute divisions of the hour ) , which was shortened to `` second '' hand . The convention of the hands moving clockwise evolved in imitation of the sundial . In the Northern hemisphere , where the clock face originated , the shadow of the gnomon on a horizontal sundial moves clockwise during the day . This was also why noon or 12 o'clock was conventionally located at the top of the dial . </P>
<P> Before the late 14th century , a fixed hand ( often a carving literally shaped like a hand ) indicated the hour by pointing to numbers on a rotating dial ; after this time , the current convention of a rotating hand on a fixed dial was adopted . Minute hands ( so named because they indicated the small , or minute , divisions of the hour ) only came into regular use around 1690 , after the invention of the pendulum and anchor escapement increased the precision of time - telling enough to justify it . In some precision clocks , a third hand , which rotated once a minute , was added in a separate subdial . This was called the `` second - minute '' hand ( because it measured the secondary minute divisions of the hour ) , which was shortened to `` second '' hand . The convention of the hands moving clockwise evolved in imitation of the sundial . In the Northern hemisphere , where the clock face originated , the shadow of the gnomon on a horizontal sundial moves clockwise during the day . This was also why noon or 12 o'clock was conventionally located at the top of the dial . </P>
when was the minute hand added to clocks
when was the minute hand added to clocks
around 1690
around 1690