Why the size of your watch affects how it wears and looks

The size of the wristwatch is shrinking, both in width as well as in thickness-and that's a good thing

- Bibek Bhattacharya [e-mail]

Wristwatch enthusiasts often obsess about things that seem totally arcane, stuff that has nothing to do with what the rest of the world is going through. What's ironic though is that often, these same niche obsessions translate into mainstream tastes and end up affecting the trajectory of the watch industry. It's just that this entire process takes a few years, by when the enthusiasts are nitpicking something else altogether.

Nowhere is this more true than over the question of watch sizes. I've written about this at length before, so I'll give the highlights here. Since the 1940s or so-basically the time when wearing wristwatches really caught on-till the 1990s, the size of watch cases have largely been demure. Men's watches, especially dress watches, were between 32-34mm in width, with sportier models going up to 36mm and 37mm. In fact, 38mm watches used to be termed "jumbo cases".

The only exception to this rule were the absolute tool watches like divers or chronographs. Thus, a Rolex Submariner could measure 40mm across, or an Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional be 41mm. You needed wider, more robust, water-resistant cases in order to accommodate more legible dials for people working in harsh, dimly lit environments.