Why Did Watches Get so Big?

Basically, size is design detail that kinda splits the audience. 36mm watches can be perceived as "too big" or "too small" and both views are typically advocated by vintage or modern watch lovers, respectively.
But why is that such a dividing topic and why does size even matter?
Read the full article here:
goldammer.me/blogs/articles/h...
0:00 - Intro
1:40 - Historical Background Check on Watch Sizes
3:00 - Watch Size Heat Map
4:03 - Not All Diameters Are Made Equally
4:49 - Tool Watche Have to be Bigger
5:35 - Beyond Complications
6:23 - Not All Watches Getting Bigger
7:10 - Conclusion
For more information check our website:
goldammer.me/
our our Instagram account:
/ goldammer.me

[@dannyleung9448]

I really don't understand the current trend of huge watches. I prefer vintage watches and I think the 36mm Rolex is perfect. I hear a lot of people say that's not in fashion or it's a woman's size. I don't care. I like 34 - 36mm when I see a huge watch that doesn't even fit under your cuff, it just makes me wonder......why? Hopefully the huge watch trend has peaked and we'll see some back to normal sizes again. it reminds me of when cars were as big as boats for no reason.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

The current trend is clearly back to smaller watches, fortunately :D, but I'm sure that even this trend will eventually weaken again and go to larger watches. This was already the case in the 20th century and will always remain so. Tastes change from decade to decade, but those who really have taste (like you and me 😂) stay true to classic sizes and simple designs.

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Size matters.

[@cjack202003]

My issue is...they keep making dressy looking watches over 40mm. Rolex has the 41mm Datejust, AP has the 41mm Code 11.49, Omega has the 41mm Aqua Terra. Like come on! Make your dressy looking watching 40mm and under...and have all the designs and dial options for 40mm and under.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

The brands are always based on the current market and demand. This has nothing to do with the fact that the companies are not able, can not or do not want, but that the demand for larger watches was simply higher than for smaller ones. However, we can observe that this trend will reverse in the future and customers will prefer smaller and less flashy simple watches!

[@LaurentiusTriarius]

​@@GoldammerVintageWatches I used to think of bigger watches as a fad but I have to eat my humble pie because since I made that prediction almost 20 years ago demand has outgrown the market and brands like MVMT are bought by Movado. You could see that in the 1970's with the rise of the expensive "tool watch", but it's easy to say from 2023.

[@NATNETINARELLI]

I prefer 32-36mm for dress watches and 32-40mm for sport watches. I can't understand big watch syndrome trend where bigger falsely means more musculine.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Fortunately, we can observe that this trend is currently on the decline and watches are getting smaller again. But as with fashion, tastes change from decade to decade and the trend towards larger watches will always return. But vintage remains vintage, that's for sure 😄.

[@RidleyMMA]

Today, I figured out i love watches. Great video. Ill check out your others! Im a sucker for fancy things and ill never be able to afford one. The mechanical aspects and the precision is mind-blowing! The esthetics are reallt cool too.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Thanks so much man!

[@oorangeo]

Thanks for the shout-out! That was all the info I could have hoped for. I find the heat map particularly interesting. It would be interesting to see that that graph would look like 50 years from now. Thanks again, and cheers!

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

We are glad that we could answer all your questions! I would also be very interested in this graphic but we have to be surprised :D Have a great Sunday

[@oorangeo]

By the way, I also watched the Mark Cho video referenced in your article and I found it very interesting as well. It's a good compliment to this video.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Nice to hear. That was really an impressive presentation

[@wolfsulhan9955]

Great video. Thank you

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Glad you enjoyed it! Much thanks

[@thinaphonpetsiri9907]

I always prefer a vintage watches for the sizes. For my 5 inches wrist (despite almost 6 feet tall), any dress watches bigger than 39mm is a no go, except the dive watches that I pick a big one because I want to be able to see it easily underwater (I used to take 36mm to go diving but later had to squint to see time). I work in a very formal field where I have to wear suits pretty often so I prefer small dress watches as I want people to see my face first and not my watch. The large watches also don’t go well with suit at all in my opinion.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Thanks for sharing mate 🙏🙏

[@matiasortuzar6306]

Really interesting!!!!

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Thanks!!!

[@user-cd1gc3pe5b]

شكراThank you, you are a professional and an expert in watches. Keep it up⚓⚓⚓⚓

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Thanks kindly! We will 🙏

[@yutthasakkomjornkijborworn6185]

Tolles video! Mach weiter. Alles gute von Thailand.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Vielen Dank! มีวันหยุดสุดสัปดาห์ที่ดี 🙏

[@Anirossa]

I got a 33mm tissot recently as I think its fasinating and good design to have a small watch if it dosn't take more space to fit a new powermatic 80 automatic movement anyway. I study mech. enginnering and do tend to prefer small solar watches, but also struggle to turn down a well made quality mechanical watch at the cheap.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Thanks for sharing your opinion, a good offer should always be scrutinized more closely!!!

[@gregoryreed8567]

What a great video. I wonder if you would share your heat map and other depictions for your audience of watch enthusiasts. Many thanks.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Thanks kindly! Just check our website www.goldammer.me and look for „articles“. If you have any further questions let me know:)

[@gregoryreed8567]

@UC9A3PHTUGf_I5DR6ux9ZuAQ thank you. I am referring to the reference material, graphs, and statistics used for the video. The heat map was the colored depiction that showed how watches have increased in size from 1940s to 2000s.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

I was confused because I thought your comment was on our newest video :) just check our website for all graphs 📈

[@ebob4177]

It is terribly annoying for small-wristed people like me that diver watches are generally plate sized. 😢

[@briankelley987]

If you were to do another series of charts (like these of average case diameter by year or by watch type), it would be interesting to study the diameter or popular calibers over time. For example, does the rise and fall of movements that are widely used by 3rd parties statistically affect the case diameter? I am thinking along the lines of Seiko NH35 in terms of movements widely used by many watch companies. Admittedly, there are often adapters between movements and cases, so that a cases can accommodate many sizes. These movement dimensions have the ultimate limitations on the final watch dimensions, so that period of the space age in which size goes from engineering to aesthetics is really quite fascinating. As to why watches tend to do everything in even numbers of millimeters, I imagine that's all down to ease of standardization. I discovered the hard way just how much easier it is to replace watches with 18 or 20 mm wide leather straps than one that was 19 mm. If I was choosing between two watches with all else equal, I would pick a watch with an 18 mm wide strap over 19 mm every time. So it seems we find cases (and likely case adapters and calibers) compatible with 38 and 40 mm but less so for 39 mm.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

First of all, thank you for your detailed comment and for taking the time. I find your proposal very exciting and also makes me a little curious. We will discuss this in the team and see if we can craft a story out of it. Secondly, the issue with the leather strap size we also know only too well, there are many little things that you have to pay attention to when buying a watch :D have a fantastic weekend ahead!

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Amen.

[@benediktcaestecker]

I would be happy if ultra thin watches would be reviewed !

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Thanks for the inspiration. We will see what we can do!

[@ccooper8785]

Nothing as hilarious as seeing a fashion victim wearing their huge, oversized watch ON TOP of their shirt cuff. This reminds me of small kids wearing a sweatband under their first watches. 34-36 will always be the sweet spot for me and I hope it comes back into fashion asap.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

I’ve personally never seen someone wearing a watch on top of their cuff 😅 but yeah, sounds kinda weird 😄✊

[@johnnyarsenault9124]

Completely agree with you but the early (pre-1914)pocket watches were also offered for women, these were much smaller ex.: 33mm. (early Omega Grand Prix) . With the arrival of the first WW-1 some of the smaller were retrofitted with hand made lugs to accommodate the fonction of trench watches. While some other demand for driving watches (reading at a 45 degree angle) were also seen in the automobile circle of high horology. So it seems we have made a complete circle size wise💁🏻‍♂️. Very interesting topic! 👌❤️👍

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Cheers Johnny, thanks for your feedback! It was even many years earlier than pre 1914. In 1868, Patek Philippe began production of its first wristwatch: an ornate affair with a baguette-shaped, key-wound movement called Caliber 27368. The watch is now in the company’s museum.

[@Odysee505]

Die neue universal geneva vintage im sortiment ist bombe!

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Wie aus dem Ei gepellt 😃

[@daviddunand3334]

What is the watch that you are wearing in this video? Looks extra thin.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

It’s my fist vintage watch. A quarz Seiko from the 90s. Bought it a few years ago for 150€. It’s nothing special but means a lot to me. I wear it a lot and even on my wedding ;-)

[@daviddunand3334]

@@GoldammerVintageWatches it's beautiful!

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Much thanks!

[@anandanil8158]

now thats what i call a hairstyle

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Haha 😂 🙈

[@duskomeljineduskomeljine842]

Great video!Best size is 34 mm for every man!💪Big watch-cheap watch😉

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

I love 34mm on an Air King 😁 thanks a million!

[@duskomeljineduskomeljine842]

@@GoldammerVintageWatches i agree,that is legendary watch!I have Tudor Royal 34 mm black dial,it's gorgeous!🤩

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Also agree! we understand each other 😀😀

[@duskomeljineduskomeljine842]

Sure bro,you should continue with this great reviews!Best regards and thank you!Dusko from Montenegro.💙👊

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Thanks mate, iam glad you enjoyed them ☺️✌️

[@jerryglasses2229]

165mm wrist. 38mm is my favorite size with lug to lug no more than 47mm. Curious why it's hard to find 38mm watches. As your data show 36 and 40mm are very popular

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

This is a rare size indeed! I think only about 5% of all our watches sold are 38mm. It just wasn't the most famous size of the last century. However, we already have some 38mm watches in stock like an Omega from the 1940s. Just check our website :D

[@Odysee505]

Direkt abonniert

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Danke 🤩

[@mogret7451]

I bought 90s tissot to get a dress watch with a nice size.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Congrats! Which size is your sweet spot?

[@LaurentiusTriarius]

If you ask my wife I think she'll say size does matter... Of course she has a very small wrist! I don't mind big dinner plates but they need to be thin, something we lost in the recent years appart from "out of reach" outliers like that QR code horror.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

It's not the car you drive that matters, it's the arm hanging out of the window :D

[@yutthasakkomjornkijborworn6185]

Hoffentlich gehe ich in der Zukuenft nach Rostock und schaue mal an diese schoene Uhren (natuerich ich muss unbedingt 1-2 kaufen. Ich habe jetzt die moderne Uhr, Nomos die auch kleine ;35mm.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Rostock ist immer eine Reise wert :D

[@woodchild48]

Watches over 40mm just look silly. On my 19cm wrist, anything over 38mm feels wrong. My grandfather was a big, strong man and he had a 36mm Omega

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Your grandfather had a lot of taste for sure!

[@woodchild48]

@@GoldammerVintageWatches I'm fascinated by the fact that he wore this watch for almost half a century. When he got it it was pure luxury, later when he became prosperous he didn't want another watch. Anyway, Merry Christmas!

[@bilalmugal1364]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

♥️🫶🙏

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@alvinkoh5556]

This video will offend many people with big wrist, for they wore their watches around their member.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Nah I offend no one. But thanks for your opinion anyway

[@user-cd1gc3pe5b]

You are an expert in watches, why don't you do auctions on Facebook, broadcast live, and sell rare, old and used watches?

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

We are a german vintage watch dealer 🙂 www.goldammer.me

[@user-cd1gc3pe5b]

@@GoldammerVintageWatches Do you have a Facebook

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

We have a Facebook account but we’re not active there. Only on Instagram

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Bigger is better.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

Not for us! :D

[@turbolenza35]

i will never wear big watch!!!

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

🙏🤝

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

I 👍 everything BIG because i am 06'06" height and very nice too.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

💯

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Size matters in everything.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

😅

[@joelmills7498]

✋ ƤＲＯ𝓂Ｏ𝕤ᗰ

[@patrickliu822]

Because people's brain are getting smaller

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

🤣

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

People are bigger.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

🫠

[@chensien75]

Bingo from eating too much GMO and meat

[@twosecondswatch]

😂

[@eg-g]

Just bad taste and big ego.

[@GoldammerVintageWatches]

😝😅

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Seize matters everywhere.

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Fake news.