What size watch should I choose?

Watchmaking is a vast universe with millions of variations. To find the ideal watch, we can start with two very important factors: The size of the watch and the shape of the case.

Today we are going to look at these two criteria and determine with you what is the ideal watch size for your wrist!

 

Your wrist

The first most important point is to know the size of your wrist. Some wrists are larger than others and will be able to wear 42mm watches when others will have the same effect with a 32mm watch!

So the size of your wrist is the main thing to consider.
Also remember, as a general rule, a woman will tend to have a thinner wrist than a man, and will often select a smaller case size.

 

The size and thickness of my watch

Let's now look at the size of watches. From a historical point of view, wristwatches have long been very small compared to today's standards. A men's watch could very well be 27.5 mm in diameter! For a long time, the oversized watches called "Jumbo" which were particularly imposing for the time, were at most 38 mm in diameter!

So, vintage watch lovers will not necessarily have the possibility of finding large cases, this must be taken into account!

“Big” watches have been in fashion for a few decades, but a trend towards smaller cases can be observed. For example, major brands are releasing historical models with smaller diameters, which may make the most purists among you grind their teeth.

An important criterion is also the thickness of the watch. The thickness plays a major role and is directly related to the style of the watch, we will discuss it in the next point.

The universal advice would be to have a watch that does not exceed the width of the wrist.
Today the average case diameter for men's watches is between 38mm and 41mm.
For women it's between 35mm and 38mm!

 

The shape and the bracelet

In addition to the size, we must pay attention to the shape of the watch. A 38 mm square watch will seem much more imposing than a round watch of the same diameter.
There are also different types of watches such as tool watches, dress watches, etc. Which can then vary the rendering on the wrist on the same watch diameter.

The overall thickness and style of the crystal can also make your watch appear larger. A timepiece with an external bezel, a very thick case, and a domed crystal will appear larger than a sleek dress watch.

To finish this point, let's talk about the bands. As we saw in our article “Choosing the right watch band: Our advice ! ”, each band gives a different style to your watch and in the case of a metal or nato band, they can make your watch wider than it already is.

So, don't neglect the choice of your band and read our article if you need a helping hand

The watch for your wrist

Third, the most important point is of course your taste!

A massive looking watch like a diving watch can be worn very well by a woman and conversely a small watch can be very charming for a man.

Here, our advice will be the same as the one we gave you in “ How to pair a suit with your watch ?”. If you are sure of yourself and your choice, everything will be fine and your timepiece will suit you perfectly.

At GUSTAVE & cie, we advise women to choose a small diameter watch like 34mm on our Marie 12H collection or 36mm on our André 24H collection in order to remain discreet and elegant. Especially if it is your first watch!
For men, we recommend 40mm as on our Antoine collection or on our Jules automatic watch which has the same diameter but which appears more imposing due to its thickness!

 

Conclusion

When you love something, you don't count! This is also valid in watchmaking, so there is no need to measure your watch, as long as you love it. However, we still recommend that you try your watch in store for a first purchase, and if you are a collector, don't hesitate to compare it with one of your watches of the same style!

So now, go to our boutique in Paris or to our configurator to find the ideal watch.