Is it OK to wear oversized watch?

Ever since I went down the rabbit hole of watch collecting, a few years ago, one thing has always bothered me. Why are modern watches so damn large? Why do men walk about with watches the size of a small plate on their wrists? Why do they not care that their watches are pretty much hanging off their wrists? Now this is a problem that watch enthusiasts the world over are waking up to. But I feel this is more of an acute issue in India.

Let’s face it, normal Indian wrists are mostly on the smaller end of the size spectrum, say about 6.75 inches or below. Smaller, more compact watches, with a case diameter of 36mm-40mm just work better. I mean, this is a country where generations of men have worn HMT watches that were never larger than 37mm, and have looked pretty good doing so. Then why wear a 45mm monstrosity with overhanging lugs, especially when you’re paying a pretty penny and investing in an expensive watch?

Also read: New watches that are the talk of the town

Over the past decade, one of the big changes in the watch market has been the rising popularity of vintage and pre-owned watches. The province of a relatively few dedicated collectors not so long ago, it’s fair to say that the market is booming. In 2021, the management consulting firm McKinsey estimated that pre-owned watch sales had hit $18 billion in 2019, while forecasting the market to grow to over $30 billion by 2025. This has been reflected in changing tastes for wristwatch sizes as well, with buyers, especially men, realizing that bigger doesn’t always mean better.

This is also a testament to the durability of mechanical watches. With timely servicing and proper care, a mechanical watch can last for decades, sometimes well up to a century. While, say, a Rolex Submariner manufactured in 1962 can’t hold a candle to one manufactured in 2022 in terms of materials used, or robustness, a watch that was designed to withstand the elements 60 years ago, can continue to do so even now. And keep running on time, and look better on the wrist than modern, larger watches.

Also Read: Does the do-it-all watch exist?

But first, let’s start with a bit of history. When did watches begin to get so obscenely large? If you go through past catalogues of most major watch brands, you’d see that well up to the 1990s, watch sizes had been constant. This meant anywhere between 32-37mm for dress watches and 36-39mm for most sports watches, with only dive watches going over the 40mm mark on a regular basis. Now, for dive watches, and sports watches in general, given their profoundly tool-ish qualities, larger watch cases made sense. They perform a function, in rough outdoor environments, where legibility of the dial and water resistance reign supreme. Throw in a rotating timing bezel, as well as the need to resist high atmospheric pressures, or extreme temperatures, and a large, robustly made watch case makes sense.

However, the curious case of the expanding watch case kept getting curiouser over the 1990s and the early 2000s, till it suddenly seemed that, more often than not, dress watches for men were coming in at 41mm, while dive watches regularly hit the 45-48mm mark. Watch enthusiasts often jokingly call this the “Panerai effect”, with the luxury manufacture’s iconic and increasingly super-sized Luminor dive watches rocking up on the beefy wrists of dudes like Sylvester Stallone (he once wore a 60mm Panerai L’Egiziano PAM341). But it wouldn’t be fair to single out Panerai. This was also a time when Arnold Schwarzenegger was wearing giant Audemars Piguet Offshores or Tom Cruise was wearing a huge U-Boat watch.

Also Read: Taking the Seiko Alpinist on a Himalayan trek

A pattern begins to emerge here : a fetishisation of masculinity, and the concomitant credo of bigger being better. I also think that as watches became less of an everyday wear, the act of wearing a watch became a statement, and statements tend to get big. If in the 1960s you’d want to discreetly tuck in your watch under a cuff, in the 2000s, your watch needed to scream from the top of the mountain.

Thankfully, this couldn’t last, and with a renewed interest in all things vintage, we seem to be coming back to older, more sensible watch sizing. A 32mm size for a classic men’s dress watch of yore may be a step too far for modern egos. But watch sizes generally seem to be returning to 34-38mm for dress watches and 36-40mm for sports watches, including dive watches. Nostalgia for mid-century designs have meant that watch manufactures are either reissuing their classic designs from the 1950s, 60s and 70s (for example, Grand Seiko, Vacheron Constantin, IWC, Zenith), or new microwatch/boutique watch brands (like Baltic, Lorier), or taking design cues from decades past to create beautiful, case-perfect pieces. Watch sizes are also becoming gender-neutral.

I, for one, am all for watch cases opting for elegance. It’s difficult to describe, but it all comes down to proportions. Human beings are rational creatures who crave order and symmetry in their tools, especially when it comes to a tool that they’d wear on their wrists. On my 6.5 inch wrist, a watch that measures 38mm across, with a lug-to-lug distance of 44mm, and a lug width of 20mm, just hits that Goldilocks spot. I could happily go down to 34mm and up to 40mm, but that’s where I’d stop, because beyond that, it just wouldn’t look good.

Also Read: Swiss luxury watches and the watch auction boom

Handwound is a column on watches and watchmaking.

 

 

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Watch size is subject to trend. But just because large watches are in style doesn’t mean you should wear them.

Just like relaxed fit jeans were all the rage when I was in middle school in the mid 90s, oversized, bulky watches have been cool for the past few couple of decades.

Regardless of what’s in vogue, I’ll always prefer a smaller sized watch. Going by case diameter, I’m talking about 38mm or smaller (I think 36mm is the sweet spot).

Here are six reasons why I love wearing small watches:

#1: I Have Slender Wrists

This is the main reason why I love smaller watches: because I have smaller wrists (about 6.3” around).

Orient Bambino 36 on my 6.3″ wrist

I’m intentional about making sure my clothes fit, and I want my accessories to fit just as well. That means they should be proportionate to my build (i.e., small).

In the same way that wearing 34″ inseam pants makes me look shorter than I am, wearing a huge watch will make my wrist and hand look smaller than they actually are.

The same goes for any accessories. Just imagine Shaquille O’Neil wearing a skinny tie. It wouldn’t be a good look!

This is one of the reasons that women’s watches (traditionally) are smaller than men’s watches. Women typically have smaller hands, wrists and arms than men do.

So I like to wear small watches that look appropriate for my frame, rather than big watches, no matter what’s currently on trend.

Speaking of which…

#2: Fashion Watches Are HUUUGE

The so called “fashion watch” industry has exploded over the past few years, mostly due to the availability and ease of buying cheap watches from China via Ali Express and similar online marketplaces.

You can literally start your own watch brand with white label, ultra cheap watches in almost any style, without leaving your living room.

And many people are doing this. It’s a real gold rush right now 🤑

Cheap, oversized and ugly. Source: Reddit

In general, these fashion watches tend to be oversized. What I mean is, they’re artificially large.

They have tiny, thin quartz movements and typically feature minimalistic designs, so they’re no reason for the actual case to be very large, other than the fact that big watches are trendy right now.

If you look at the vintage watch market, you’ll find lots of men’s watches in the 34-38mm range. Many of these are mechanical watches with intricate, complicated movements inside.

Seiko Presage SRP837J1 mechanical movement

If you open up these watches, you won’t find a lot of empty space inside. In fact, many watch manufactures take pride in making a small, low profile mechanical watch. It’s an amazing feat of engineering!

Of course, people didn’t have smaller wrists in the 50s, 60s and 70s. They just didn’t have a desire for huge, bulky watches.

Call me a watch snob, but I love wearing watches that are blatantly not fashion watches. When I’m wearing my $100 37mm Seiko 5 and see some other guy wearing a 44mm monstrosity from MVMT, do I feel superior to him?

Damn right I do.

If you know, you know.

Just kidding…kind of. But not really.

I actually feel bad that so many men don’t know that they can get an amazing watch for the same price as a Daniel Wellington or MVMT. I think if people understood that they weren’t actually getting “affordable luxury” they would do a little more research before making a purchase.

Either way, I’ll take a smaller non-fashion watch any day of the week!

#3: Small Watches Are Less Expensive

This is especially true for luxury watches that are made with expensive materials like gold or diamonds. A smaller watch requires less materials, so it’s cheaper.

Look at the vintage Rolex market:

Ladies’ watches are much more affordable than men’s, and they’re also much smaller. A 34mm Oyster Perpetual is cheaper than a 39mm OP.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 15000 (possibly the best entry-level Rolex)

Or look at a classic luxury watch like the Omega Speedmaster. The smaller version (the Speedmaster Reduced) is more affordable.

Same goes for entry-level watches like the iconic Seiko SKX. The 013 (one of my personal favorites) was slightly cheaper than its big brothers, the 007 and 009, before it was discontinued.

So, while I prefer smaller watches anyway, saving a little money is an added benefit of going small.

#4: They’re Tasteful & Elegant

While some think my personal style aesthetic boring, I consider my wardrobe and outfits to be understated.

I don’t want to stand out by wearing loud, bold colors and patterns. I don’t like calling attention to myself with super unique or unconventional accessories. I don’t wear “statement pieces” because I’m intentionally not making a statement.

Big watches scream LOOK AT ME!

Smaller watches whisper, “Come a little closer if you’d like…”.

That’s much more my speed.

Especially nowadays, in a sea of ugly, oversized fashion watches, a smaller watch is more tasteful and elegant than ever. Want to set yourself apart in a classy way? Go small 🤌🏼

#5: Small Watches Are “Timeless”

It’s probably inaccurate to think that anything us humans wear right now is truly “timeless”.

I imagine even the suit and tie will eventually be replaced with some sort of nanotech athleisure jumpsuit (for the record, I’m cool with that).

But as far as watches go, small and medium sized watches are as timeless as it gets. A 44mm MVMT watch will look absolutely ridiculous in a few years, guaranteed (if it’s still ticking, that is).

But a 38mm Hamilton? It will age gracefully like top shelf bourbon.

How about a 36mm Rolex? That will still look great in 25 years, just like it looked great 25 years ago.

Orient Ladies Bambino 36

A 34mm Seiko Presage or 36mm Orient Bambino will look just as gorgeous in 10 years as they do today. And they’d have been been perfectly acceptable in the 1950s.

So if you want to build a wardrobe that has a little staying power, go with a small or medium sized watch. You’ll be ahead of the curve when big watches inevitably fall out of fashion.

#6: Anyone Can Wear Small Watches

I’ve never seen a 38mm watch look too small on anyone, even guys with 7+ inch wrists.

But I see guys with average or smaller wrists wearing watches that are too big for them almost every day.

The truth is, anyone can wear “small” watches. A 36mm watch looks just fine on a 6.5″ wrist.

Classy 👌🏼 | Source: Wirestock/Depositphotos

But not everyone can pull off a larger watch. In other words:

Small watches look okay on big wrists, but big watches look bad on small wrists.

When someone asks me, “does this watch look too small?” my answer is always no. And I usually show them that picture of Muhammad Ali wearing a Cartier Tank, just to drive the point home.

I don’t know why guys are so paranoid about this. Wrist size and watch size has nothing to do with masculinity, and when I see a guy with big wrists wearing a small watch, I have nothing but respect for him. There’s a man who’s comfortable with his appearance.

Go Small or Go Home

These are just six reasons why I love small watches, and I why I think more men should embrace them.

I don’t wear any watch over 38mm these days. My favorite watches are 34-36mm, and I’d consider going even smaller.

What about you? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!