What’s The Deal With Big Watch Sizes?

roadwarrior

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This is an old article from 2014. I've never been in one group or the other, but I was thinking about when I actually started to wind down from buying the larger models I own. My collection ranges from 40mm to 55mm. IMO it all comes down to personal preference. I'll make jokes and break balls about it myself. IMO the people who say anything above 40 mm is a clown watch seriously are narrowed minded clowns, one size doesn't fit all in the world of watches. Personally my taste has changed drastically. The XL watches I own would not stand a chance today for my watch dollars. It's not that I would not wear a large watch, but the smaller ones are just more comfortable for me today. If it's something I already have in my collection, I wouldn't think twice about wearing it occasionally, but allocating future funds for more is another story.



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https://www.ablogtowatch.com/whats-deal-big-watch-sizes-large-timepiece-explained/

Size is a funny thing, and once someone buys a larger car, larger home, or bigger television it is difficult to return to a smaller size. The same is true with watches.

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https://www.govbergwatches.com/blog/whats-the-big-deal-with-big-watches/

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The Raven Endeavor is one of my more recent additions. This one is closer in size to the Megs I own. I'll always be open-minded if something really sings to me on the high or low end of my comfort range.

RAVEN ENDEAVOUR

THE SPECS: The Endeavour is a 44mm watch (45mm bezel) with a 49.5mm lug to lug. The case is made from anti-allergic medical grade 316L stainless steel and will feature a brushed finish. The movement is the Swiss made ETA 2824-2 automatic. The Endeavour is water resistant to 500 meters with screw down crown and case back. The sapphire is raised flat across the top with chamfered edges. The Endeavour dial features raised (applied) polished hour marks and a raised (applied) Raven logo. The hands are polished. The lume on the dial, hands, and bezel is a heavy dose of Superluminova that glows a blue-green all night long. The bracelet is 22mm at the watch and 22mm at the adjustable divers clasp. The lug holes are drilled for easy removal of the bracelet. The Endeavour will ship in a black leather box and include a 22mm rubber strap, warranty card, and extra spring bars. The finished watches will be ready and shipping around August 2018.
 
Have some larger ones from earlier in my collecting but stay 45 and under now. Mostly 40-42. I can be lured with sweet though.
 
Been a collector for 20 plus years. Don't sell much so I have watches from 26mm to 58mm. I went through a phase for a lot of years of buying nothing but 48mm plus watches. I'm a pretty big guy with an 8 inch wrist so I can pull them off easily enough. Just don't buy many like that anymore and haven't for a number of years now. Still wear them when the mood hits. Also have zero problem wearing the smallest in my collection. I can't wear large watches at work as I'm a walking mail carrier and big watches just get the royal crap beat out of them, plus they get cumbersome during a day of work. I bought into the big spiel about size and weight of watches as a giant plus. Like a pound of steel on your wrist was more impressive then 6ounces of high quality. A pound of hamburger isn't better then a half pound of prime cut steak. I don't judge what others want to wear size wise unless they feel like saying I'm less of a man for wearing a smaller watch. Good luck with my response to that as it will be pretty harsh. I've had no problem flipping sizes and it isn't going backwards for me to wear high quality smaller watches over hugely mass produced watches sold more for a fashion look then based on pure quality. I bust some balls like RW, yet to be honest I like people just being passionate about what they like and while we all won't agree isn't that really what a group of a large variety of people should be about. We all have a degree of the same passion or disease of caring so much about watches that it's just good to have places like this to have fun, learn, joke, share, and yes bust some balls occasionally. A sports bar for watch nuts so to speak. Everyone gets to be the loudest drunk in this bar on occasion, just so you don' try to burn the place down all will be okay the next day.
 
Wear up to 50mm on my 16cm wrist and down to 37mm. I think because of my small wrists then
have gravitated to smaller size range. Now 45mm is on my upper most range. Will not buy this size unless sings to me. Not sure how smallish will go down. Here are extremes:
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I’ve worn 48mm/50mm for so long that my brain tells me a regular sized timepiece just doesn’t look right on my wrist. Like the above blog states it’s hard for some to go back to smaller timepieces. I have an old Kenneth Cole from the late 90’s that’s probably 40mm and like the guy in blog said, for me it looks like a kids or woman’s watch. I guess the big timepieces have brainwashed me.
 
My sweet spot these days is somewhere around 45mm +/- 3mm. I will wear up to a 50mm as I still like some of the larger ones. I wore my 55mm Parma Gemstone just the other day. It is really big though. I don't think I could go below 42mm though.
 
For me at work I have to wear my watch on my opposite wrist while delivering mail as jamming mail down watch slots all day will ruin any good watch. Funny observation for me though is a watch on my opposite wrist looks very different to me then when I wear it on my correct wrist. A big watch seems that much bigger, as it is like a mental trick. I'm used to that on my normal wrist but on the opposite it seems like a different look. It's amazing the tricks your mind can place on you. I get why people can't or won't or don't want to go backwards.
 
If I drive a straight truck it takes a few seconds for my brain to make the connection on which way to turn the wheel when backing up. I've driven articulated vehicles for so long it's automatic that everything is the opposite when backing up. I'll get in my pickup truck after finishing a shift and it feels like a compact car. It's funny how the brain automatically compensates for size.

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As some may have noticed in my posts, I've gone from the 50mm plus to the 45mm TIMEpieces. It's not that I don't like the big boys it's just I'm refining my taste. I purchased some 40mm TIMEpieces to become more accustomed to the size although I still own several in that size from years past many are quartz and I prefer autos. Anyway smaller TIMEpieces are easier to dress up or down. Sure I'll keep some of my larger pieces but I won't be buying any larger ones.
 
Size is a function of fashion and I don't view that as a negative. And we're getting more and more folks with eclectic collections with sizes all over the place which eliminates the need, if any such thing ever existed, to "take sides" or debate the matter.

I can get pretty obsessive about function though. I have a Ball Aviator that's a plump 46mm but it has a disproportionally tiny date display. Something just rubs me the wrong way when I have to squint at a large-ish watch to make out the date - especially since Ball is one of the very few that does a cyclops right and they left it off that model. I like my 50mm Tuna and 37mm GS but both have legible dates. Still I have no plans to part with the Aviator. Well, maybe when the tritium goes dead.

Similarly a sliderule bezel doesn't work for me if it's under about 44mm - successful cataract surgery notwithstanding I can't read the smaller ones. I've gravitated overall to 42 or 40mm but exceptions are enjoyable.

2018 seems to be part of a downward size trend. I could be comfortable with 36 but if I cozy up to 34 there will be a whole world of vintage products taking my money. It'll probably happen sooner rather than later even if I manage to delay a bit.

I don't wear one specific watch long enough to notice anything drastic - like when swapping 50mm for 37 the 37 looks just fine to me. But squinting to read a 50mm isn't likely to be anything I'll volunteer for again. A pithy remark from elsewhere that I liked: the fashion for large watches is certainly not due to people being larger these days - if it were the average gent in the 1950s would be 4'-3" and weigh 75 pounds. 34 to 36 was normal at one time with similar sized humans and in all probability it will be the fashion again. But it won't constitute a burning need for anyone to revise a collection.

I do insist that I be able to employ the product to tell the time and, if applicable, the date. The fact that some 36mm products can do that while other 60mm products fail to is just a mystery of life or perhaps just an underscore that it's really a lot about fashion.





Of course one should buy and wear what one likes but that's an obvious sentiment that shouldn't have to be repeated. Perhaps we could come up with a shorthand version? "bwyl" appended to a post concerning itself with watch differences should work but I suspect there's a better option that I haven't thought of. Similarly posts along the lines of "not for me" don't really require a "but congrats to those that get it" - we've been around long enough such things should be taken for granted. IMHO. Or perhaps replaced with a thumbnail pic of a K-pop group?
 
Agreed! Buy what you like (and can afford) should be our credo around here. I have pieces from 38mm to 52mm... but I can't remember buying anything over 44mm in quite some time. Times change and so do tastes. Mine have changed towards smaller watches and I just can't get use to wearing the larger ones anymore. The large watch bubble has burst for me. I still own many but won't be buying them anymore. I'm sure Invicta and other large watch brands will be around for the unforeseen future as long as people like them and continue to purchase them... that's a given. It does seem to me that we are seeing a recurrence of smaller size timepieces (not that they ever went away) and that's where I feel most comfortable, 40mm to 43mm. (Your comfort size may vary :wink:)

As always... Buy what you like and can afford!
 
For years, I wore 40mm. Then about 20 years ago, started collecting the big ones, 50mm, and up.:dance2: I've now settled into the mid range, 43, to 48mm.:happy: My sweet spot is 44, to 45mm, now.:) I have some 40mm, I'll rock, when I feel a little retro.:wink:
 
I’ve worn 48mm/50mm for so long that my brain tells me a regular sized timepiece just doesn’t look right on my wrist. Like the above blog states it’s hard for some to go back to smaller timepieces. I have an old Kenneth Cole from the late 90’s that’s probably 40mm and like the guy in blog said, for me it looks like a kids or woman’s watch. I guess the big timepieces have brainwashed me.
This.

I've settled into 45 to 50, no bigger or smaller. The BiGI's 47 PDs I find perfect.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
I have looked at, bought, worn, and enjoyed a wide variety of differently sized watches and I will continue to do so.
 
there is correlation between wrist size and preferred watch size imho-

above 8" wrist wits need big watches- on a 7 1/2 " wrist 45mm is still comfy...get to 7 " wrist and imho 40-42 mm. prevents wrist fatigue... but a sub 7 " wrist needs classic size & 38mm. looks good - as the wrist size keep getting smaller below 7" retro classic size 34-37 looks good and feels good proportionally-

- freedom of naked wrist saddle is an unspoken option in the size debate i'll just call it NO SIZE -

- i do think the hottest trend is 34mm-39mm...of course I understand plenty of wits want to hang on to whatever. they have filled their boxes with.....change is often resisted until the winds of fashion blow through your watch box-

-no offense if I observe watch size is a debate that only captivates a small group of enthusiasts...but like all things horo these are the peeps and this is the place to tease out the nuance hear lots of opinions and have a good tyme-
 
A + B = C. I think this is what your saying Mr. B ! Then again watch dial size is the variable here and the constant is the wrist size.
 
The oversized watch trend has run its course - as do all trends. What it has done though is to establish larger sized watches as part of the normal range. Nowdays folks no longer gape slack jawed at a 50mm or larger watch.
 
The oversized watch trend has run its course - as do all trends. What it has done though is to establish larger sized watches as part of the normal range. Nowdays folks no longer gape slack jawed at a 50mm or larger watch.


Quite so. But I wonder if you've discovered another type of feedback loop.

A significant minority (couldn't really guess what percentage) of folks that were interested by large watches cited their attention getting aspect as a reason for the purchase.

Will people no longer noticing a large watch contribute to the speed of its decline?
 
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