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When choosing a watch, a key consideration to take, beyond the design and color, is whether that particular sized watch will suit your wrist. It’s no good owning a watch that looks great in its case if when you are wearing it you don’t get the same feeling simply because it doesn’t seem to fit your wrist in the way you’d like.
To help you find the perfect watch size for your wrist, we are going to explain two key concepts; the first will be obvious to most people but the second is often completely overlooked:
The diameter of a watch case is undoubtedly the most widely used measurement among watchmakers and consumers when evaluating the size of a watch. This measurement is usually given in millimeters, although sometimes it can also be found in centimeters.
When determining which case diameter would best suit your own personal style, a key measurement to know is your own wrist size as a watch can look very different when placed on a very small wrist compared to a large one. The easiest differentiator to determine which size will look good on you is gender due to the average difference in men's and women’s wrist sizes. However, that is simply a general indicator and should not limit you in your choices, as a woman who prefers oversized watches may prefer to buy a watch that would traditionally be sold as a man's watch and vice versa.
Women's watch sizes normally vary between 20 and 40 millimeters. The trend a few years ago was for watches with a diameter of 25 to 30 millimeters, in recent years, however, there has been a growth in popularity of larger watches, so it is not uncommon nowadays to find a large catalog of 36 and 38-millimeter watches for women.
When it comes to men's watch sizes, perhaps the trend has been the opposite. A few years ago, large watches of 44 millimeters or more were very popular, while in recent years this has switched towards watches with a somewhat smaller diameter, between 36 and 42 millimeters, especially in non-sport watches.
Bergen Chronograph: 42mm of case diameter
To help you refine your search, we have created this small guide with the following general rules:
| Small wrist (13 to 15cm) |
Ideal watch size would be between 20 and 30mm |
| Medium wrist (15 to 17cm): |
ideal watch size would be between 24 and 36mm |
| Large wrist (over 17cm) |
Ideal watch size would be between 30 and 40mm. |
| Small wrist (15 to 17cm) | Ideal watch size would be between 32 and 40mm. |
| Medium wrist (17 to 19cm) | Ideal watch size would be between 34 and 44mm |
| Large wrist (19 to 21 cm) | Ideal watch size would be between 36 and 50 mm |
The second, and often overlooked element, that is key to assessing the best watch size for you is the lug to lug distance. The lugs are the projections on the watch case that are used to secure the strap or bracelet to the watch case. These can add a not insubstantial amount of size to the watch aesthetics that is ignored when just measuring a watch by its case size.
To clarify this concept and to see why it is important, let's take a look at the following two watches from our women's collection:
As you can see, if we looked at the case size in isolation, the Sebnitz would appear to be a much larger watch than the Wolkenstein. However, the fact that the Sebnitz has no lugs (the strap is attached to the back of the watch case) means that the overall size is actually smaller than the Wolkenstein.
The diameter of a watch case is the universal measurement used when evaluating the size of a watch. However, as we’ve discussed, it is important to also pay attention to the lug to lug measurement if we really want to buy a watch that fits our wrist. If the lug to lug measurement isn’t provided, which it often isn’t, then hopefully the manufacturer can provide this for you on request. Failing that, you will have to do your best to estimate the additional size added by the lugs from the photos provided.
We hope you enjoyed the article and that it has helped you to better choose your next watch. If you would like to try our light and elegant wooden watches, you can find our men's and women's collections below.
Rosenbach Olivewood: 36mm of case diameter
