My late father told me to take off my watch and cufflinks before going up to perform the Priestly Blessing. I did not ask him why.
Two possible reasons suggest themselves:
To avoid diverting the attention of the congregation (either a holdover from when the hands were outside the tallis or even when the hands are under the tallis)
or to prevent the watch getting wet.
Questions:
Has anyone heard of this practice?
Is there a better reason than the ones I suggested above?