The pointers of a clock or watch are called “hands”: the second hand, the minute hand and the hour hand. Note that there is no final “s” to “second, minute, hour”.
In French, hands turn into needles → les aiguilles d’une montre ou d’une horloge. L’aiguille des secondes, des minutes et des heures.
The French do not talk about “short hand” or a “long hand”. They say la grande aiguille and la petite aiguille.