wrist size/watch case size conundrum

Acknowledging that you have a problem is the first step. Congratulations.

7.75 inches here and i prefer a light 33mm watch. I can hardly feel it on my wrist and only know its there when i check the time.

8 incher here too! I have a 42 which I think is perfect. A massive Tuna which is big on any wrist but looks just right. And then two fliegers at 39.5 which is the absolute lowest I will go. I tried my GF's 37 just to see what it would look like. I really wanted a Seiko SNXS (38) but it would be lost on my wrist. So I decided that I would not go below 39 regardless of the watch. Sorry Nodus, that Sector GMT is gorgeous but too small for me.

I guess it's a personal choice.

Same here, large wrist and mostly larger watches. I do have a few that are smaller and I can still enjoy them. You will have to decide on a case by case basis by actually trying them on.

6'2" with a 7.65" wrist here. Currently wearing a 38mm Hamilton Khaki Auto. Looks just fine to me. My buddy's 36mm Explorer looks a bit small but I could just get away with it I think. My wife has a 34mm Mondaine that disappears on me. Most of my analogs are 40-42mm (44mm for the two Duros), and I have a G-Shock GM-2100 that's a bit bigger. But not huge.

My smallest and largest watches:

I have a 6.25” wrist and recently picked up a 34mm (my smallest diameter I own) and I think it fit pretty well.

I’m 5 ft 11” and 220. I workout everyday and workout heavily my smallest watch is a 30mm vintage watch I found at an estate sale

One trick I learned is looking down at your wrist it may feel and look small but check yourself out in the mirror and in coutures and you will see it actually looks good 👍

My wrist measures 7.5” around and I think smaller watches look cool on it. I have an old square Certina from the 50s that might be 25mm across and it looks great. I think a too small watch looks a lot better than a too big one.

8 inch wrist, currently wearing a 40mm watch which I think is the perfect size for me. A few of my watches are smaller than that and look equally good on wrist. Ultimately it depends on the watches styling, vintage or retro I expect to be smaller and when I see a larger watch mimicking the style of an earlier era it just doesn't look right to me.

I just said this in a reply to another post, LOL 🤣 I have an 8" wrist, and prefer 40+mm watches, although my absolute minimum is 38mm.

Large wrist here, and I'm comfy with most 41mm watches, or larger. When I hit 40mm, it generally goes out the window for me. So I wear a 41mm Seamaster, for example (in my profile shot), and I think it looks perfect. Then I'll try and wear a 40mm Timex Marlin (because I lover Snoopy), and it just feels ridiculous.

Look at it this way: collectors back in the first half of the 20th century would be looking at this thread with confusion. I think a lot of what we think is too big or too small is just modern trend influencing our beliefs on what is acceptable or not. If it feels good and looks good to you then just work it!

I m a 7.5" er, most of my collections looks great, between 40- 45 mm, but my diesel is mighty 52 mm, and even this looks good. It s a personal thing- when you like wearing your watch, it looks cool, thats how simple it is (imho)

It does look good. However, using basic math we can find that (8/6.25)*34=43.5 so that's, assuming similar proportions in his wrist/hand, how a 43mm watch looks on OP's wrist.

As OP is asking about below 43mm watches, the question therefore should be: How much smaller than 34mm would you go, 31mm, 28mm?

8.25" and I'll wear smaller. My smallest is 36mm but I did try this on recently.

I've been loosing a little weight and am down from 8" to 7.75". My smallest watch is a vintage JLC at 34mm. I also wear a vintage Caravelle at 36mm. Those were standard watch sizes at their time and it wasn't like people with 7.5"+ wrists didn't exist then

I also have a 38mm NOMOS and a 39mm Christopher Ward. I think both look fine.

As long as you can see the dial well enough to tell the time (using your normal prescription, if need corrective lenses), then the watch isn’t too small. Everything else is a matter of taste and/or habit. In general, people can wear watches smaller than their normal range, and they can wear watches larger than their normal range. But, we get so used to our normal range that anything outside of it looks and/or feels weird to us. And then we get self conscious about it. And so we go back to our comfort zone without giving ourselves the opportunity to get used to the different size and weight. And that reinforces our bias for our preferred size. And then we log on to our favorite watch fora to complain about how people who have biases that differ from our biases are wrong.

I also have an 8 inch wrist.

For me, 42 to 44 mm is my preferred size for divers or other rotating bezeled watches. 40ish for dress watches.

I can stand the 38 mm Hamilton field mechanical because of its long lugs.

My granfather's 36 mm dress watch never worked for me, so I gifted it to my sister.

My 38 mm SARB 033 went to my wife.

I feel your pain. My wrist is about 8 1/2 inches and I generally don't purchase anything smaller than 42mm. However, I did buy a couple of Vostoks that I thought were 42mm but were actually 41mm and a friend gave me a Swiss Army Garrison that is a solid 40mm. They don't look odd to me actually. I've pulled some photos from my WRUW archive for you to peruse. I think you can get away with smaller than you think. I'm considering ordering a 39mm watch from Wish for a few $$ as an experiment because there are a few actual 39mm watches I'm interested in.