No More Watches > 40mm For Me.......

[Jason71]

Originally Posted by eonflux

Fair enough
What if a watch really isn't "40" mm?
The DSSD bezel does not actually measure 44mm across. In fact, when it was first released, it was advertised as 43mm. Some confusion was caused when Rolex changed to advertising the DSSD as 44mm.
If I had a rule about not getting watches that were "44" or larger, what do I go with? What the watch is advertised as, or measure it myself?

What if some "40" mm watches really aren't 40 mm in bezel diameter, but more or less? What if someone said he/she isn't getting watch 40mm or larger? I believe the steel Daytona (non ceramic) bezels don't actually measure 40mm.

And as stated by others, lug end/lug end length may be more important than what the bezel diameter is, or is advertised as.
And case design as well.
And other features/parameters such as weight, bracelet or strap curvature, balance, footprint on wrist, shape of case back, etc, all affect how comfortable a watch is no matter what particular parameters measure in length.

This issue reminds me somewhat of shoes sizes.
I've got dress and sports shoes that span a 1.5 size range, even from the same manufacturer. That shouldn't make any sense. But each manufacturer may have slightly different interpretations of shoe sizes, shoes are different shapes, etc. So I buy what fits me best no matter what "size" the shoe is. Same with shirts, in which I'm in between 2 label sizes.

I've had 3 "44" watches, and they were/are all very different in visual size on my wrist and comfort:
DSSD (black and blue), Panerai 275, and AP ROO

By measurements, the ROO is the largest, but happens to be most comfortable, due to lighter weight, strap (material, width), balance, etc. On the ROO, 44mm across on the bezel is between flat sides of the octagonal bezel. Measured across between vertices, would be larger, I think more than 45mm. And that's at the top of the bezel, which widens towards the base. So if I had a "no watch over 44mm" rule, maybe the ROO should have been ruled out.

To me, the nominal "size" of the watch doesn't necessarily have a direct correlation with comfort, and ruling out watches based on the advertised "size" may leave out watches that I would enjoy wearing.
Not trying to be too oppositional here, but ruling in/out watches by "size" may not be the optimal approach to finding a comfortable watch, even if one finds a general correlation.

Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts on the 'virtual paper' of this forum and for your objective opinions. It is nice to have a friendly discussion without people getting their tails tied in knots just because not everyone agrees.

I get what you are saying, and you make some very valid points. I have toyed around with the idea of a Panerai mainly because I would like a leather strap watch that would accept something wider than a 20mm strap. This way, I could start collecting straps rather than watches.......buying a new watch every couple months is getting rather expensive. However, I just think it might look a bit silly on my wrist. a watch > 44mm with a 24mm lug width is just going to look comical on my skinny little wrist.

My other dilemma is the fact that at the moment......I really only enjoy the styling of Rolex watches. AP, JLC, Patek, Omega........they all do nothing for me whatsoever. With that said, I've owned the DSSD. I don't really care for dress watches (this rules-out the DJ II). I could look at the 216570, but I have tried it on and don't really care for it. I'm not really interested in the YM II. The only Rolex that I really like that is > 40mm is the Skydweller.

This is the only watch that is > 40mm that I would even remotely consider at the moment.......and I don't like it enough to spend > $30k on it.

Tastes change.......But I've gone through the 'big watch stage' and am done with that part of my life. I may end-up with something bigger than 40mm at some point in the future, but I am surely not interested in it now.