To your first point, it almost would have made sense for there to be two sets of concentric gradients; an inner one near the tip of the hour hand with 12 gradients labeled 1-12, and an outer one near the tip of the minute hand with 60 gradients labeled 0-59. That way both could be read more precisely, and the minute scale could be labelled correctly.
While we're at it, how about a bit more consistency with hours labeled 0-11 and minutes 0-59. Why is the top of the hour 12, but the top of the minute zero?
If I ever get my time machine working, I'll have to zap back in time and straighten the product designers who invented the first clocks and watches out. 😂
To your second point, the hands could have been made the same size but different colors or different shapes, though I agree that the choice they made is probably the easiest to read at a glance.