Lots of brands wear smaller than their stated specs, especially a number of the micro brands, IMHO.

 

Look at the size of the dial. I tried a watch that I could not believe was 45 mm, the dial was smaller than my JLC Polaris. The 45 mm watch felt smaller than my 41 mm.
A lot of watches in the range 40-45 mm have the same dial diameter, the case making the difference in size.
Of course the lug-to-lug length is also playin an important role.

 

Look at the size of the dial. I tried a watch that I could not believe was 45 mm, the dial was smaller than my JLC Polaris. The 45 mm watch felt smaller than my 41 mm.

^^ This.

Here's a direct comparison of a 45.5mm Hublot Classic Fusion and a 38.5mm Genesis Aura. In my opinion they both look properly sized on my 18cm circumference (7.1'') wrist, despite their 7mm(!!) diameter difference. But the Hublot also has a 1mm smaller dial and crystal compared to the Genesis, actually..

 

The 6306/6309 Seiko Turtles from the 70s/80s are the definition of "Big watches that wear small." 45mm in diameter but 47mm lug to lug, and the undercut on the case flank and flat caseback make them sit completely flush with the wrist.

 

I think the current turtle also wears small for a big watch. They are 45 mm but don’t seem much bigger than a lot of my 41-42 divers

 

Seiko come to mind... Tuna, turtle, maybe the arnie a little too? Big dial and small case lugs. I think steeldive has a model thats all dial/bezel and no case lugs at all.

 

Willard and Tuna come to mind.

 

I was going to say solar tuna . In fact seikos in general.

 

Ploprof.
Wide, but short.

 

Panerai are big watches. The wire lugs make them comfortable while still maintaining their presence on the wrist.

 

Case diameter is what a lot of people seem to focus on - and not wrongly - but lug-to-lug is also important. I have a 43.5mm Aquis that wears smaller than some of my 42mm watches because of the lug design. It’s one of my favorite watches.

The 41.5mm Aquis would probably fit your wrist well, yet still maintain the wrist presence you’re looking for. For that matter, the 43.5mm version may be worth considering.

 

A lot of Seiko divers wear smaller than the dimensions would lead you to believe.

 

Seiko does this wonderfully indeed. Some of the reasons behind I came to identify through the years with the help of fellow forum mates:

• small dial diameter
• bold yet balanced dial designs that minimize negative space
• wide bezel inserts compared to other dimensions
• bezels that are smaller in diameter than the case
• polished case sides where this polishing is visible even from the top, so they can disappear when the lighting is just right
• beautifully & ergonomically curved lugs that hug into your wrist, and so mask some of the overall thickness
• short lug-to-lug in many cases

Hmm, yes, Seiko divers can still be loved for many reasons, despite all their quirks.

 

The dial diameter is more important than the case diameter.

 

Rado says it is a XXL D-Star 46mm.

One of my most comfortable watches on my 6.75" wrist.

 

My Casio Oaks are 44.4mm with 49mm lug to lug - on paper far too big for my 6.25'' wrist - yet both wear extremely well (more comfortable in fact than the small Citizen field watch I briefly owned before returning it). The fact that my wrist shape is quite flat helps a lot too.

 

The Clerc Hydroscaph. The movable lugs make it a much better fit than its size would suggest.

 

Ooh - very nice!

 

Fellow 6.5" wrister here. The Orient Ray II and Orient Kamasu both wore a lot better than I thought they would.

 

Those look great, we only got Orient officially in Europe recently!

 

Also Linde Werdelin. I bought this homage from Aliexpress just to see if I could wear a watch this size. It works!

 

Good God! That makes my metal Casio Oak look tiny by comparison - look at the size of those links!

 

On my 6.6" wrist
Baby tuna

 

Good to know - I've been eyeing one of those but was worried it would swamp my wrist. It looks big - but totally okay - on yours which makes me want to give it a shot!

 

Often you just have to try watches on to know for sure how you‘ll feel about them; an unfortunate truth. In my experience (as others have already said) Seiko are masters of making ‘large‘ watches with a small foot print: see especially the turtle (45mm, but cushion case) Marinemaster 300 (44mm? Smaller dial than the skx) and the 42mm skx007/9, which all defy their numbers and work well even on smaller wrists. Out of those three the MM300 was most surprising. I’ve personally found that even the Pelagos 42, which people constantly seem to say wears large for it’s size and is ‘chunky’ and ‘slab-sided’ is actually very wearable for my wrist, which is a mere 17cm.

 

Short lugs and integrated bands tend to wear smaller.

 

I dig a sizable watch, and have found that the lighter weight of titanium (vs stainless or gold/platinum) also helps wearability. Less mass to bang around.

 

I typically wear 36mm and under watches, but the Oris Aquis 43mm and Bulova Oceanographer 44mm both wear great on my 6.5" wrist.

 

This very big Timemachinist Naval Model wears much smaller and is significantly lighter on a leather strap than when on the bracelet it comes on.

 

Now that is a brick. Very nice

 

Seiko Marinemaster 300.

 

I like watches with a lot of presence

What does this even mean?

 

search the forum for 'hidden lugs' or 'hooded lugs,' which means the lug distance is roughly equal to the case size. for example: Why so few shrouded/hidden lugs these days?

Quite a few G Shocks. or get a tuna smaller than the Arnie. SRPH77 and its variants (there are a few different color combinations), 43mm case, basically 44mm between the lugs.