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Finding out which watch will fit your wrist is not easy at all. And to make things even more complicated, some online tipsters talk about small, medium, or large watches (or even wrists) — sizes you can't verify. What to watch out for when choosing is also not advised. Therefore, we will focus on practical tips for finding the right watch size for your wrist, so that you don't have to stress when buying a watch in the e-shop.
Maybe you hesitate to buy a watch online because you don't exactly have a ready-made wrist size. Maybe you've had the experience of a great-looking watch in pictures that ended up not fitting your wrist. Or did they look ridiculously small?
The first piece of advice is: don't fall for the trend of "oversized" watches, of which there are unfortunately many on the market. For a watch to look good, it needs to be the right size for your wrist.
Personally, we can recommend a size where the size of the watch case is equal from 60 % to 75 % of the length of the surface of your wrist. Don't worry, it's nothing complicated, we have a good trick for this too. In order to at least approximate this mysterious dimension, measure the circumference of your wrist in millimeters and divide the result by three.
Here is a watch size chart that should help you choose the right watch size for your wrist:
We will go through it practically. For example, for a person with a wrist circumference of 15.2 cm, a watch with a case of 38 mm and smaller would be suitable. For some models, 40 to 42 mm would be fine – it depends on the size of the bezel or dial (see below). But if you want to be sure, opt for a watch with a case no larger than 38 mm in diameter.
On the contrary, the ideal watch for a person with a wrist circumference of 17.8 mm will be a watch with a poudre from 36.5 to 44.5 mm. In some cases, he will be able to choose up to a 46 mm case, but no longer.
If you have a wrist that is fairly close in size to a normal male wrist, you will have an easier time choosing a watch as manufacturers try to release models that will fit a larger portion of the population.
Again, we note that this is still a rough estimate. Some people have flat wrists, some people have rounder ones. Some prefer small or vintage watches, others massive or more sporty. However, the dimensions will help you easily find out how your choice will fit you.
Thanks to the Helveti.EU e-shop, you can skip this step, because we have measured the size of the case for each watch. You can also find it with an illustration in the product description.
Again, we emphasize that the size of the case is not everything. The instructions for choosing a watch that you can find on the Internet are too simplistic in this regard. They will tell you not to buy a watch over 40 mm, that 38 mm is the optimal size. But is it really so?
On the contrary, it works the same: Seiko Prospex SNE569P1 look perfect on a 15 cm wrist, but MeisterSinger Vintago VT903 already seem bigger (but still cool). It's all about how it looks on your wrist. 38 mm by itself means nothing.
Even though a 38mm case is a safe choice in most cases, it's far from the be-all and end-all of making your watch fit. You can have a 42mm watch that will look good on you, while some 40mm models will feel huge. You will find out why this is so later in the article.
Important: the size of the case is only one part of the whole, which indicates the size of your watch. There are plenty of other factors that will affect your subjective perception of the watch's overall size:
Another important dimension of the watch is the length with the legs, or lug to lug length. In some cases, this is perhaps even more important than the size of the case itself.
The lug to lug length is the distance between the top leg above the watch case and the bottom leg below the watch case (see image above).
In order for the watch to fit well on the wrist, the lug to lug length must be at least slightly less than the width of your wrist. In the borderline case, try to keep this dimension at least within the width of your wrist. The reason is simple: you don't want the case sticking out and the watch hanging. It doesn't look good and it's not comfortable either.
Some of those with small wrists may not be so bad. If you are the owner of a narrow but flat wrist, you are in luck. Most of the circumference of your wrist in that case is a flat area where the watch will lie, giving you more room to choose the lug to lug length.
Example
Another thing to watch for on the legs: some are flat and some are curved.
If you have a smaller wrist, you should look for a watch with curved legs so that the watch hugs your wrist better and does not stick out to the sides. And if you like a watch model with flat feet, make sure that the lug to lug length does not exceed the width of your wrist.
For example, the Bulova Curv series compensates for the 44mm case with a very low case – just 10.1 mm, and fantastically shaped legs and even the case.
The dial can also make the watch look bigger or smaller. You will quickly learn to recognize this effect just by looking. The dimension of the dial is measured between the outer edges of the opposing hour indices. You can see examples in the picture.
See the different subjective size of dials for 42mm (43mm) watches with bezel and without bezel:
As you can see in the picture, the Casio EFR-526L-1AVUEF (center) appears to have a much smaller dial than the Iron Annie G38 5342-3 (left) due to the bezel. In reality, the deviation is only minimal. On the other hand, the Luminox XS.3003.EVO watch (right) has a slightly larger case, but a wide bezel with a small dial, so it looks much more subtle than the previous two.
From the moment you start to notice this parameter on the watch – either in real life or in photos, it becomes easier to judge whether the watch will suit you (although the case size and lug to lug length are also good for this).
Watches with a bezel tend to have a smaller dial, which is why they look smaller. A 41.5 mm watch with a bezel will always look smaller than a 41.7 mm watch without a bezel.
Why? The Orient and Seiko watches in the picture below have comparable case sizes, but the Orient Ray II FAA02004B will always feel smaller on the hand than the Seiko Presage SRPD41J1 without the bezel due to the rotating bezel and smaller dial. The yellow line in the picture will make the comparison easier:
If you prefer sports watches and have smaller wrists, it will be easier for you to find a watch that fits, as sports watches often have bezels. You will most often find a bezel on divers or chronograph watches.
The rotating bezel of diver's watches is usually used to count down the elapsed time underwater in five-minute intervals.
For chronograph watches, bezel is a tachymeter that tells you the speed at which you can go 1 mile.
There are other bezels, but they will all reduce the size of the dial, so choose the one you like best. Even some dress watches have a bezel, but it won't be as wide and visually striking as a sports watch.
Sometimes the rotating bezel is not outside, but inside. Then it comes to the inner bezel.
And you know what? The inner bezel also affects how you perceive the size of the watch. It will help you in the same way as the outer bezel, but in a slightly different way - you will have a much larger glass.
Just remember that a watch with a larger crystal will always look bigger than a watch with a small one. But once you know that, it depends on what you like more.
Many watches have inner bezels, even those with external bezels. Some are taller, some are bigger. Some can be turned, some can't.
But that doesn't matter, they still have the same effect: they move the hour indexes away from the edge of the case. So, subjectively, the size of a watch with an inner bezel will be smaller.
Examples:
If you take two exactly the same watches that differ only in the color of the dial, the one with the dark one will look smaller. This is due to the way our brain perceives light reflecting off objects.
Of course, you don't have to buy a black watch just to make it look smaller. But if you have smaller wrists and like bright dials, you should get a watch with a slightly smaller case size than normal to compensate for this impression.
You can compare for example on Certina DS Caimano Chronograph.
One last thing about the case itself. A watch will always look smaller when it is thinner. This effect is not more pronounced than a small case, a short lug to lug size, or a small dial, but it definitely helps in the overall impression. Again, especially if you have smaller wrists.
A nice bonus of a watch with a thinner case is that it fits easily under the sleeve, is light and comfortable. Taller watches, i.e. 12 mm and more, tend to be heavy, especially when worn on the move. Then they can also be rotated on the wrist and will always be optically larger.
We hope this guide helps you find the perfect watch for your wrist.
When choosing, do not forget to take into account all the parameters that affect how the watch will fit you and how it will look on your wrist.
EUR
