Bracelet Taper: How important is it?

Depends on the watch and how tight it's worn.

Non tapered is more balanced/comfortable, tapered looks more elegant.

Honestly, the perceived importance of bracelet taper mystifies me, so maybe someone can explain it to me.

I generally wear smaller watches (40mm is my largest) so I'm wondering if this is simply not an issue I've encountered since my watches all have 18-20mm lugs and I'm perfectly happy with 20mm non-tapering bracelets (Forstner BoR and ladder wear great for me).

What's the deal? Is this a 22mm lug bracelet thing?

It's somewhat important. But exactly what Inkitatus mentioned it depends on the watch in terms of balance and comfort. For that specific watch the Omega Seamaster 300m, it would be nice to have it tapered from 20mm to 16mm. I've seen videos that the Aqua Terra and the Speedy are interchangeable with that Seamaster 300m.

Every new watch I've received that doesn't taper from 20 to 16 or 22 to 18; I do try to find a reasonable aftermarket bracelet that will fit and taper to those measurements. But I won't pay 50% of the cost of the watch on a bracelet. If I don't find one. Oh well ... Power UP and Push Forward 💪🏽 Great topic discussion 🤙🏽

Stay Thirsty My Man 🍻👊🏽

Depends the watch style. I think tool watches are best without a taper, and dressier watches are great with

But this is a case by case situation, if you'll pardon the pun. I had a dressy seiko 5 that looked way better without a taper at least imo

For me it matters a lot for the types I own.. I think that if the watch size and lug width are well balanced, then maybe it's fine even without a taper. However, if the lug width is large compared to the diameter, then it really does need to taper or the bracelet/strap end up looking out of proportion. For example the PRX integrated bracelet starts very wide, and would look ridiculous without a taper. Similarly, I tried a 20mm untapered bracelet on my Lorier Astra (36mm) and I think it just looked very odd with a wide bracelet and small watch diameter.

I vastly prefer a tapered bracelet but I can suffer a wideboy for an excellent enough watch. I have an Oris Divers 65 which tapers from 20 to 14 and I like it very much

Tapered bracelets are elegant (look great, accentuate the watch's presence) and functional (save weight, wear well, doesn't affect strength of bracelet)

My grand Seiko is the only one that doesn’t taper, but it is a sub 40mm watch and it works. If I had a 42mm which didn’t taper, I might consider either not getting it, or put it on an aftermarket strap perhaps

I'm very meh on taper - as indictive by the Omega SMP bracelet is one of my favorites of my watches. 🤣

Yes to the answers that said depends on the style or type of watch. Agree there. The more dressy the more it calls for taper. For me the more rugged the look, the less the taper.