Horological Meandering

I appreciate that this is a purely subjective question, but I am curious as to what specific size the members of the forum believe is optimum for their wrist. No right. No wrong. Just an opinion. I have a view that I favour watches between 35mm and 40mm, with my optimum size of 38mm.


What is yours?

and I love my GO Sixties (39mm x 9mm) - could be optimal size for me. 

From my side, I wear watches between 35mm (Corum 20 dollar... but sold some months ago) and 42mm which is my maximum (GO panoinverse XL). My preferred size is 38 to 40mm.

Kind regards

Alkiro

Favor 35-42mm, but optimum is probably 39mm for thinner/dressier watches and 42mm for sport models.

Due to my small wrist, my favourite sizes are between 34mm and 38mm. Saying that a lot would depend on the lugs of the watch. On lovely curved lugs, a larger size may be wearable (I had noticed that a Patek 5270 which is 41mm is wearable) whereas if the lugs were straight like say on a Breguet, even a 37 or 38mm watch would be too large on my wrist.

Sham

I have a 8" wrist (20 cm) and I feel that a watch diameter of 40 mm is more or less perfect.





But as others have mentioned case thickness plays a big role too. As do lugs. But in general I would state 40 mm is perfect.

37-41 is perfectly okay. And nothing ever bigger than 42mm. That, unfortunately, eliminates a lot of great looking sports watches as options for me. But they look too, too big on my wrist.

42-44 mm but it really depends on the design which determines how it wears on the wrist. I have watches >45 mm and IMO wear ok. There are watches which are smaller than 40 mm but look odd on my wrist because of the lug design.

I dont buy anything that is smaller than 40mm. Those are for kids. 

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It depends on when and what you are wearing it for:

Seiko Sumo 45mm - weekend watch

Omega Titanium Seamaster 41.5mm - weekend and sometime work

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date - 34mm - grandfathers 1964 - work and dress

Panerai (PAM535)  - 42mm - weekend watch.

Breitling Colt - 37.6mm - work watch

Here are some wrist shots that I had handy.  I have a 7" wrist, approx.

....yet, even given there are varying occasions, do you feel there is one size that you "like" most?

If I had to choose, not too small and not too big, just right as they say.

.....i have watrches between 35mm and 44mm..... i can wear them all and there are times when a 44mm is right and times when a 35mm is right....but if push comes to shove, where would i be.....38mm. For me, there is an optimum size

....there are many things to take account of....yes depth....lug shape...ands also whether a watch is time only...a 35mm time only watch can wear quite large.

So I agree that there are many things to consider...yet, I am still pushing for a single choice of size...more to get a feel for what members here feel is appropriate for them.

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But then a magic piece comes along and 45mm becomes acceptable.
Still 38-40mm, excepting magic influences..

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I suppose this is largely dependent on what you are wearing. When wearing a properly fitting suit there isn't much tolerance for anything larger than 40/11mm. For me though I really like having the weight and presence of a larger watch. 6.5" wrist

And having said that, my Geophysic Tribute at 38.5 is the most comfortable and cherished piece in my collection. But i think the white dial helps give it more visual strength on the wrist.

I think a lot depends on the case design and the "dress code" one is wearing, I can easily imagine a dress watch 38-41 mm without issue my GO chronometer seems sometimes even small, while sports watches are hardly less than 40mm with the exception of the AP Jumbo 15202 at 39 mm it has the perfect balance of size, weight, thickness, lugs,... every time I take it off and put on my Radiomir it feels REALLY weird for few hours then there is nothing more comfortable at 45mm. Conclusion, it all depends how much affection one has to his watch size would not matter.

But I can go as far as 46mm for my IWC Top Gun Doppelchrono.
And, as odd as may seems, the AP ROO 44mm is too big for my wrist.

On this great debate.

Examples:

Lugs format - A 42mm Longines LLD feels huge in my wrist.
Thickness, as mentioned by Blooman - A 42mm PO feels bad but a 44mm feels nice, because they maintain the thickness.
Target - A formal watch should be smaller, a sports watch can go much bigger.

Based on the lugs and thickness, I don't pay attention to the case diameter. I need to strap on my wrist and feel.

Cheers,

Nilo

Lug format plays a big role, as does thickness. Plain watches look bigger, dark dials look small.

And Lug to lug distance is also important.

For example, the lug-to-lug of my TTR 1931 is more than my 42mm PAM338 (which has short wire lugs), making the Pam wear smaller than the 42mm size might imply.






But overall, given my very slim wrists (6.3"), I;ve found
 - 36-38mm for dress watches
 - 38-40mm for chronographs / sports watches
to be the sweet spot for me. In fact, everything I have (except that Pam) is 40mm or below.

I've learned that lug overhang can be quite unsightly!
This message has been edited by NT931 on 2016-06-10 23:38:21