[Barnaby'sDad]

Who cares about what divers wear lol

That sounds like something someone says right before they begin to tell folks about their 500M+ rated dive watch that will never see the deep end of a swimming pool.

 

[kritameth]

If it ain't king size I don't want it.

 

[Viseguy]

I wear divers of divers sizes, and I suspect that others do, too.

 

[vmgotit]

Wear what you like. I prefer my Tool Diver to be my largest. General statements but keep this simple. Vance.

 

[kritameth]

Do you dive? Things are magnified underwater when viewing through a mask/lens. Anything over 42mm is a vanity piece.

Edit: Go meet divers…see how many of them are actually using a traditional dive watch for its intended purpose (pretty much none of them, other than those that do it for the lol’s). The only time mine gets action is if I’m bored at a safety stop and decide to set it, because timing your deco or safety stop when you’ve got two dive computers automatically tracking it is necessary, lol.

Is 42mm the scientifically proven largest diameter the human field of vision can visually absorb? As long as we're throwing out numbers, why not anything over 34mm?

 

[valuewatchguy]

I thin kthe sub 39mm tool watch or dive watch will be short lived.

 

[8505davids]

In answer to the post I'd say no, its not likely to be the year of the Big Diver - those are perhaps mostly past for a while - its now (and has been for the last year or two) the year of the Moderately-Sized Diver ... or perhaps the year of the Return to Original Size Diver. At the end of the day, the 38-42 is the size range dive watches have been for most of their existence so its not a new 'fad'. In the 80 and 90s you often had a choice between ladies size, mid- size and 42mm ish in the same model. Styles and fashions always change of course but the large wristed will likely prefer bigger watches and the smaller wristed smaller (at least L2L) watches and the amount of options each will have will vary with fashion. I would say makers do seem to be giving much more attention to the wear-ability of their designs especially with regard to L2L and lug shape/curve to appeal to as broad a market as possible.

At the end of the day, buy and wear what you like - nobody else will likely notice or care.

 

[DiveFirstCoast]

Wear what you want. Fit the occasion though. Don’t wear a Rolex to go work on a rig and get upset when it gets “dinged”. I’m wearing a seiko right now that looks beat to hell like a Dr Strange watch but still runs. I almost think has some lucky force holding together at this point.

 

[nelamvr6]

 

[Rojote]

Lol. I think that kinda started back in 2009 with all the Micro’s taking off. Wear what you like not what a watch forum tells you…

 

[doggbiter]

The year of over-inflated luxury watch maybe, but Big Watch peaked somewhere around 2010.

What we should be celebrating is that we live in a time when more quality watches are available in a greater variety of sizes than almost any time previously.

 

[Seabee1]

And for everyone that has strong dislikes for larger watches and feel like all watches need to be smaller, word of advice:
When at the urinal, eyes front and center at all times...no peeking

 

[countingseconds]

Because large vs. small triggers so much debate, let’s put that to bed up front. People should wear what works for them, and I’m happy when watch manufacturers make them in a variety of sizes. Oris, Longines, Breitling do a nice job offering multiple sizes in quality dive watches. I wear them larger because that’s what works best for my wrists.

Without specifically looking for larger watches, the two dive watches I purchased this year both have 46mm cases, which is a few millimeters larger than what I most often buy and wear. I tend to look for watch cases around 43-44mm cases and 50-51mm between the lugs, though I have a few watches larger than that. As the Seiko Tuna proves, a large watch can feel much smaller when the lugs are closer together.

For the most part, I bought these based on overall impression, just saw them and thought I would really enjoy wearing them. Anything up to 48mm works OK with my wrist. However, I have been pleasantly surprised that the lugs on both of these aren’t very long considering their size (51 and 52mm). I had considered a Longines Hydroconquest 44, a very nice watch, that ’wears larger’ with 54mm between the lugs.

View attachment 16624287 View attachment 16624290

For the sake of comparison, this is the largest watch I wear, and it has aftermarket lugs that facilitate more strap options but also lengthen the lug-to-lug distance. It’s a big watch, 48mm case, 55 lug to lug, 18mm thick. I have been wearing it more frequently because i finally found a strap that really works - a Borealis vulcanized rubber strap that looks similar to Isofrane without the price tag. View attachment 16624296

So - is 2022 the year of the big watch, or are people looking for smaller wristwear?

Excellent watches with nice wrist presence. Well done!

 

[Nokie]

Large or small, it is all a matter of personal preference, IMHO…..

 

[chrisnortonsiroc]

yes

 

[Jonathan T]

Divers tend to be bigger so not sure what "big diver" really means? like SUPER big?

 

[predapio]

43, 44,45,46,42

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Is 42mm the scientifically proven largest diameter the human field of vision can visually absorb? As long as we're throwing out numbers, why not anything over 34mm?

Sure. Why not?

Wear what size watch you want…wee watch or dinner plate sized. I just find it amusing when folks throw out a huge watch as being somehow necessary for performing the labeled task. Just own it. I.e. “I wanted someone to be able to identify EXACTLY what I was wearing from 10’+ away.”

 

[Dark Overlord]

Will this year be the year of he big dive watch? I very seriously doubt it as trends across the market are moving downward. But that doesn't mean there isn't a spot for larger watches in the general public or among collectors. I prefer larger watches myself. I have divers as small as 40mm (Zodiac SSW) up to 53mm (Invicta Venom). Personally I tend to enjoy watches 44-46mm myself presuming all the other dimensions work. My 46mm Breitling SOH II is superb as is my 44.25mm Omega SMPc.

H2O watches makes a lot of cool watches in the 42-26mm range. Oris, Doxa, Blancpain, Brands with real heritage in the Diver game as well.

 

[ofted42]

That sounds like something someone says right before they begin to tell folks about their 500M+ rated dive watch that will never see the deep end of a swimming pool.

1000m actually, and I'm totally taking it in the deep end this summer! I figure with a 1000m rating I'm safe both in the pool and washing dishes.