The ideal watch size survey 2022-2023
A few years ago, Mark Cho, avid watch collector and owner of Hong Kong and New York-based menswear emporium The Armoury, noticed that the majority of his customers and acquaintances considered their wrists to be small. Puzzled by this, he decided to set up a survey centered around perceived wrist size, actual distribution of wrist sizes, preferred watch sizes and the Delta between the results and current offerings by major watch brands.
The results could be interpreted as follows: The majority of watch aficionados consider their wrists to be small or smallish, probably because the average watch buyer is confronted with watches that don't match the average consumer's preference in terms of aesthetics and wearability. They eventually settle with watches slightly too big for their wrists, shrug and continue their lives under the impression that their wrists are on the small side, when in reality they're not.
Mark spoke about his findings in more detail at the Horological Society of New York, but now he wants to update his original survey for 2022/2023 to broaden the database. You can partake here. It only takes a few minutes and answering watch related questionnaires is always fun, right?
photo source: WatchBox Global
Classic menswear enthusiast, shoe aficionado, collector of vintage perfumes and colognes... Oh, and I love watches. Preferably sub 40mm.
Thanks! Checking it out now.
I heard a Podcast where he explained all this. Probably a recent W&W pod?
I wonder if the results will change now that many watches are smaller than they were 5 years ago?
I applaud the honesty of this man. Consumers have been deluded by marketer into thinking that they should like uncomfortable and silly-looking large watches. It's a cyclical fashion trick that they've been milking for a while now. Shame on the lemmings that bought into this. Yeah, I'm somewhat guilty but at least I admit the mistake.
I heard a Podcast where he explained all this. Probably a recent W&W pod?
He has been on our padcast but it's been a minute - actually spoke with him a couple weeks ago about coming on again so keep an eye out. Would like to revisit this.
He has been on our padcast but it's been a minute - actually spoke with him a couple weeks ago about coming on again so keep an eye out. Would like to revisit this.
Keep on plugging 💪 I always need more quality more horo-pod 😊
I bet the survey will show that watch enthusiasts are too obsessed with size 🤷♂️
They ask about lug-to-lug in the survey, not an info readily available in many cases, and not a data point I think much about.
Very interesting read! I am exactly the small wrist type, 6.25 inch. It has been difficult for me to see some many great morden pieces are just too big for me..
Yeah, all of what you've mentioned is crucial. Cageyjames' "ideal watch proportions matrix" probably needs a "lug downturn coefficient" as well. 😁
Good points. It seems to be a chicken-and-egg problem - maybe the exposure to smaller watches and the recent buzz about downsizing will have an impact. However, the age of supremely influential superstars ended in the 2000s and Ryan Gosling's 39mm Tag Heuer won't have nearly the same impact as Sly's Panerai or Offshore had back in the day.
Good points. It seems to be a chicken-and-egg problem - maybe the exposure to smaller watches and the recent buzz about downsizing will have an impact. However, the age of supremely influential superstars ended in the 2000s and Ryan Gosling's 39mm Tag Heuer won't have nearly the same impact as Sly's Panerai or Offshore had back in the day.
Correct, a Netflix movie is no 80s blockbuster. (I don't even recall the name of the movie with the Carrera in it. While it had nice action scenes, the plot made early James Bond movies seem plausible.)
That sums it up rather nicely. Unless you have to dress up for work, you may never have the need for a smaller, thinner watch.