Is 38mm too small?

I generally think that a 38 is too small, even for my marathon runner skeletor style of wrist.  

But - Its kind of amazing how some 40mm wear large and some small with just changes in bezel and dial design

There is no such thing as too small. I have gone into this in depth, but 28mm was a standard size in the 1940s. Wrists haven’t changed much so you wear what you like. I have 7 1/2” wrists and regularly wear sub 36mm vintage. Google Clark Gable and his 28mm Rolex or Muhammad Ali and his Cartier Tank; I wouldn’t tell Ali his watch was too small, he’d knock me into the previous century and then I’d have to have a pocket watch.

I go for both. I love pilot watches so some push 46mm I think I might have a 48mm others watches I have are 38mm. I personally think you wear what you like. I have a small wrist so I would be limited to styles and watches that if I stick to 38mm and 40mm I would probably quit the hobby. 

Here's a 39mm: 

45mm

44mm

36mm - 39mm = perfect size ( in my opinion ) ✔

I thought with my not so good eyesight that I would struggle to tell the time with this but I think the way the dial is it's easier than some of my larger watches 

It entirely depends on your wrist. Threads like this turn into people declaring there's a perfect size. I guarantee I could walk out in my office and find half a dozen people right away that a certain watch would look way too big on, or childishly small on... despite someone else thinking it's just right on them. 

Cos that's the thing, it's just right on them. Meanwhile there's no magical, universal, one size fits all. Probably the closest we get, for men at least, is around the 40mm mark, but even then, there's gonna be some men it looks silly on (either too big or too small), even before we get to a specific design.

I guess "small" is both relative in terms of the era and the person buying the watch. Mid-century watch design considered 34-36mm on the larger side for men. In today's market, where larger watches are preferred, these measurements would be considered quite petite. Similarly, guys with 8+ inch wrists would consider a 40-42mm small in the same way we prob regard a 34-36mm watch as modern "small". So there's probably no absolute definition of a smaller watch.

I will say that as collectors, we may buy into the design aesthetic of a watch and this will naturally push us towards smaller or larger watch sizes. While I know that there are exceptions to this, it's hard to imagine a Tank in anything other than its classic proportions. If this aligns with our overall style preferences, then we are naturally drawn to it. Conversely, if we're attracted to a 42+mm IWC Portugieser, then it's hard for us to consider (even though they're out there) a sub-38mm watch in this style. 

38mm to 40mm divers are perfect! 36mm to 38mm time only watches are perfect! 38mm to 40mm chronos are perfect! 

Good choice with that Marathon in 38mm! 36mm in a diver is too small, but 38 is great! Here are some under 40mm pieces that I currently own:

36mm

36mm

36mm

38mm

38mm

32mm (way too small)

Of course! This is a very subjective topic, I think smaller watches have more charm as the makers of the piece have packed so many details in a smaller case.

I have an average size wrist and I'm a pretty big guy, so I could wear anything from 34mm to 45mm and be fine with it, but I just love how intricate and detailed under 40mm watches are 👌🏻

38mm is considered large. Sports watches are large, hence range from 38-40mm. Everyday and military watches usually range from 35-37mm and dress watches usually measure 33-35mm. So yeah, it is not small.

Of course, our eyes get "used to" seeing something, and if all we educate our eyes to is contemporary oversized watches then yeah, 38mm may be considered on the smaller side, but you'll hardly find >40mm watches (save for a few exceptions of highly unique and sports pieces) in curated collections or simply in the watch rolls/boxes of knowledgeable enthusiasts. 

In the end, you should go with what you like, and as funny as I find the new trend of having watches with dials that cover your entire arm, to each its own. Just be aware of the fact that in classic horology, 38mm is a large size for a wristwatch, in high contemporary horology is considered a medium size, and for fashion watches / mass appealing new watches is considered small. 

There is no perfect size, but to be dismissive of 28-34mm is to ignore what was once a standard in sizing. If you look at the Army Trades Pattern watches of the 1930/40s, they are all upper 20s low 30s in diameter. In the 80s, the Tag Heuer models had ladies, boys, standard (34-36mm) and jumbo sizes, the latter being anything 38mm and above. Jumbo. Your 40mm+ watches of today are the anomaly, and how many times too I hear people moan about the fit of a watch on their small wrists.  
It is supposed to fit under your cuff, not replace your sleeve.

Straw poll: how many people have actually worn a 28-34mm watch. How did it fit? How did it feel? Did the crown mash into your wrists as much?  If you sacrifice comfort then wearing a watch becomes more of a chore than a pleasure.

Think the 38mm are very proportionate on your wrist but like you say 32mm too small 

Unless you are a lumberjack spending his spare time in armwrestling contests, 36-40 mm case sizes are perfectly fine for the modern gentleman.

One my fav watches is the 38 mm Sinn 556 (currenly waiting for the Carnelian Red to join my collection) and rocking today my Formex Essence 39, perfectly fitting my 6.00 wrist.

Who as ever considered a Lotus Seven too small a vehicle to be a great sports car ?

I actually disagree - if you look at the lug to lug as well some of the 38mm look possibly too large for the wrist. I would argue that the 32mm probably looks the most comfortable to wear out of all of them, followed by the 36mm Doxa.

If you're asking for my aesthetic requirements: 38mm is only too small if your wrist is 8 inches or bigger. My wrist is about 7 inches and 38-39mm actually marks the upper end of my comfort zone, with 35-37mm being my personal Goldilocks (broadly speaking; of course bezel, lug-to-lug etc. are crucial parts of the equation).

It may be a bit controversial but i personally think that watch can only be too big and not really too small.  Given that its not some 1930s woman dresswatch.

I'm wearing a 35mm today which I think is a hair larger than necessary. I share the sentiment of @chronotriggered. We are at the tail end of an extreme fad, similar to the way most clothing was comically oversized in the 90's. To anyone that grew up only knowing that, reasonably fitted clothing registered as tight to their perverted sensibilities. 

In the early 90's I had a CWC W10 clone that was probably 36mm. It seemed like a massive hunk of metal compared to everything I had known before. This is hugely an issue of frame of reference. Teens today think that trousers that don't bunch up around their knees and have a waistband well below their hip bone are odd, which is again a modern conceit born of inexperience  and ignorance.

I don't want to say that people are echoing silly things they've heard, but I don't see anyone speaking of these watches they've ever worn that were so dainty that they felt emasculated or like they were a giant. I suspect this is because such a thing never happened. This all seems to be unfounded belief that people accept as gospel. Y'all blindly following trends like lemmings!

Sub 40 is almost all I wear. With the exception of a few pieces that wear a bit smaller. I have a small wrist so I have to stick to smaller diameters. Here's my 34mm Tudor Oyster for example. Granted, the photo does make it look larger. I've found that 38mm hits that sweet spot of not too big and not too small.

The question here is "too small for what?"

• Too small to read easily?
• Too small to use/handle?
• Too small to work?
• Too small that mean kids might call me a sissy and say I wear a girls's watch?

For all the hooey about functions and features and specifications and reliability, size discussion is almost entirely about fashion (and male insecurity). 

The WWII GI spec A11 was 32mm. I doubt there was any whinging about proportional dissatisfaction or unsuitability. 

Not to change the topic, but tail fins on modern cars are way too small. They don't look like they'll fly at all.

I have watches that range from vintage 33-34mm pieces to modern day divers up to 44mm in case diameters and everything in between.  It depends on the occasion and what I feel like wearing each day.  Good discussion!

I prefer the way 42mm looks, and 36mm wears, so I've landed at 38-40 for most daily wear scenarios.

I have 7 1/2" wrists and I regularly wear watches smaller than 40mm. For me, I feel that my personal sweet spot is 39mm in size, and I gravitate to watches in the 38-40mm range. I do wear smaller and larger watches. I have a Timex Marlin hand-wind, and that is 34mm at the small extreme, and I also have a Pro Trek PRT2500 that is well over 50mm at the large extreme.

I will say that I think the Timex Marlin wears much larger than its 34mm size owing to long lugs and a dial that fills the entire face with no bezel space. To me, it wears as large as my SKX013 or my Islander #ISL-69, both of which have smallish seeming dials. My Hamilton Khaki mechanical,  at 38mm, and which has long lugs as well, wears as large or maybe even larger when compared to my Seiko SRPG35, which is 40mm but has shorter lugs. Conversely, my Seiko SNJ025 wears much smaller than its 45mm case diameter would suggest, feeling more like a 41mm or 42mm diver's watch, owing to its very short lugs. The size of the dial, the size of the bezel, and the length of the lugs are all important factors in the fit of a watch.

It all depends on your preferences and the size of your wrist.  I have a 36mm watch that for me personally is smaller than I like.  I still wear it from time to time but it isn't my favorite.  I have a Marathon 41mm GSAR that I really like.  It wears a little on the smaller side than I thought it was going to wear.  All of that said I have 43mm, 44mm, 46mm and a Casio Rangeman that is 53mm and they all wear really well.  The G-Shock is on the bigger side but it has specific purposes and for whatever reason it wears really well and flat for as big as it is.  So as long as you like it that is what matters.  

I've somewhat limited myself as I only buy 42mm +.  I have an 8" wrist cold so I kind of get away with it.

38mm to 40mm is the best fit for my wrist size.

If that's the Medium (MSAR), it's 36mm.  The Large (GSAR) is 41mm.  7" wrist here and either works, but the 36mm looks a tad small.  The OEM bracelet helps.

Coincidentally, a 38mm, if they made it, would be about perfect.

When you have the perfectly sized wrist (as I do) a 29mm jeweled lever (the best kind of movement, right @chronotriggered ?) is just fine. It reads larger than you think that it might.

At the risk of sounding like I’m playing favourites, that is a good combination 😂

I have a very small wrist, so I've enjoyed 39mm and under for watch sizes.  I think most can pull of 38mm still.

38 is okay but I wouldn't want to go much smaller.