The big watch "fad", is here to stay

After more than a decade, I think it is fair to say that the big watch "fad", is here to stay. Omega's Seamaster's have grown up to Planet Oceans. Rolex has several watches now, the Yatchmaster, the Sea-Dweller, the Datejust, the Day-Date and the Explorer II all in cases larger than 40mm's. The other watch brands have offerings with bigger cases too.

The 44mm case of the Panerai Luminor is not all that big by today's standards.

While the trend to large watches is largely credited to Officine Panerai, the trend toward for larger watches has actually been going on for some time. Officine Panerai did redefine what we consider to be large. 

The trend to large watches has been derided in forums as a fad. In the first half of the 20th century, of the smaller watches, meant having to have smaller more intricate mechanism, which meant that they were harder to make and were more expensive. Top watchmakers today still take pride in how intricate a mechanism they can place in a small slim case. Still things like Patek Phillipe's  36mm Ref. 3940 Perpetual Calendar watch was replaced by the 37mm Ref. 5140, not for any mechanical reasons. But from a practical standpoint, wearing the biggest watch that your wrist can bear makes much more practical sense. A larger watch has a bigger dial, hands and markers making it easier to read time. It can have a thicker stronger case. For mechanical watches, a larger case can house a large movement, which means it can be made more robust and can be given a longer power reserve. For chronographs and watches with pushers or "buttons", it means easier to access controls. 

What is large today, has obtained a different definition from a decade ago. Officine Panerai's 44mm Luminor is still a large watch, but today you will even find watches which are upwards of 50mm's. These large watches are nothing new. The original Officine Panerai divers watches had 47mm cases.  In 1939 the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force, commissioned IWC to build large 55mm watches to be use by it air crews, the IWC Large 52 S.C. Calibre Pilot's Watch.   

These new larger watches are not for everyone. Women can wear an "oversized watch", one too large for their wrist without looking odd. For men, it is still best to wear what fits your wrist, although today, that would be the largest size the fits your wrist.

Despite excellent features, Rolex Explorer II has always been a slow mover on the Rolex line-up. Rolex is hoping the larger 42mm case changes this.

I do not see a return to the classic sizes. It is not like wristwatches have been around all that long. The very first commercially available wristwatches, the Cartier Santos-Dumont, were made one hundred years ago in 1911. As technology makes it easier to make things small, smaller slim watches wont have the same sense exclusivity that they used too. I do not see extremely large 50mm+ watches staying around for too long.  

I think what we will see it "right-sizing", people wearing what fits best on their wrist, which is not such a bad proposition overall. 

Some unsolicited watch buying advice

If you are reading this blog, you may be thinking about your next watch purchase or more likely are starting up a watch collection. A member at a popular Rolex Forum advised that if you decide to collect watches that you should come up with some kind of theme, otherwise all you will have is "a bag full of watches." Collecting watches by brand, by function or collecting the different variants of the same watch as it has evolved over the years does make for a more interesting collection.

Might be a good place to start a watch collection...

One approach to a collection is to collect the iconic watches of a brand, by function, giving you a watch for any activity you may be thinking of engaging in. Getting a dual time watch from one brand, chronograph from another brand, a divers watch from a third brand and a dress watch from a fourth manufacturer might be a good way to go. A Rolex GMT Master II, Omega Speedmaster "Moonwatch", Panerai Luminor and an IWC Portifino will give you a nice collection which combine different traits of functions of a watch. One will keep track of multiple time zones useful when travelling, the other is a stop watch and can be worn during sporting events, the thirds can withstand pressures equivalent to 300 meters below sea level or more and the last sits nicely on your wrist for the most formal of occasions.   

Another is to collect by brand. A Rolex Datejust for work, a GMT Master II when going abroad, a Submariner to be worn on the yacht, a Daytona for the race track and an Explorer II for your next climb up Everest or visit to the Artic circle. Okay, you may not do all those things, few do, but you can wear the watch that expresses your mood for the day.  The businessman, the traveler, the driver, the diver and the explorer.  

My own personal favorite would be collecting the different variants of watches over the years. The submariner date is a good subject. You could start with the current model 116610 or the previous 16610 model. It should still be easy enough to find a 16610 in excellent condition at a good price. After that I would try to grab a Ref. 1680 or Ref. 16800 Submariner on opportunity. That gives you a very nice four watch combination. If you are looking to expand this collection, you can get a 16800 or 1680 models with the word COMEX on the dial. COMEX labeled watches indicate those made for the French Company which specialized in underwater operations.

If you are looking at starting up a collection, it may be good to set path and make targeted purchases as opposed to loosing value hawking watches later on as you rationalize your collection.