OK, as a little follow-on to my recent 'sensibly sized field watch' thread, a little research has convinced me of the need for a comprehensive Sensibly Proportioned Watch thread. The reason? Such watches are becoming very, very rare indeed.
To start with a little background and a rant, I haven't taken much interest in watches for the past decade or so, although I used to keep up with things. Even then, the shift towards stupidly large watches was well under way, and even I wore an Orange Monster for a short while! Now I find myself in the market for a military/vintage-style/dive watch that ISN'T HUGE, I'm pretty much drawing a blank everywhere, and I'm quite happy to get my hand in my pocket for the right one.
It's a shame because there're some really nice designs out there. For example, Certina interest me - my Polish grandfather wore one for decades, after buying it in Egypt at the end of the war, and I recently bought one of their ladies' watches for my girlfriend; it's too big really but again, they all are. Looking at the gents' watches, some of them are really really nice, but the smallest of them are 40mm diameter!
I like G10/field watches, so this from Citizen caught my eye:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw3vRq5-_Ow
Great design now that Citizen have replaced that funny arrow shaped hand with a sword; it's phenomenal value, I'm sure the build and finish are excellent. But look when the guy puts it on his wrist! He looks like a little schoolboy who's been allowed out with his dad's watch on!
Similarly this:
https://www.certina.com/gb/watch/ds-...C0364071605000
Absolutely gorgeous, droolsome design, but a silly 43mm diameter. If they'd just stuck to the dimensions of the original, it'd be one of the best vintage-style dive watches available!
Not all that long ago, a Seiko skx007 was one of the larger dive watches (I still wouldn't mind one although the time keeping never was great and they're expensive now). This from Citizen today is actually pretty svelte in the grand scheme of things:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizen-Div...%2C153&sr=8-11
Gorgeous and just over £200; at 38 or even 39mm diameter it'd be one of the finest dive watches around, but no, it's so big it's not really practical.
Even 'dress' watches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSH6VUZjHpA
I really like the design of the DS-1 Powermatic 80 range, but look at the size of the damn thing! It'd probably look OK strapped around my thigh...!
I've always like G-Shocks, but the size of some of the recent analogues is simply beyond belief. Even if you've got wrists like a powerlifter you'd still look daft. Let's say I'm starting to understand why I'm now on my third 5600, and I can remember when they seemed a bit chunky.
The bad news continues. All the properly proportioned watches I can find - and there aren't many - seem to have some weird flaw, whether it's just a crazy price or some design faux pas. I really like the Hamilton Khaki 38mm, but they seem to have neglected to put an anti-reflective coating on the crystal, so all you'll see when you consult the watch is a reflection of yourself. The CWC G10 is nice, but is now £200 for what's clearly a £50 watch. I like Eddie's PRS-10 sapphire, but what's with the funny font at 4 o'clock? The PRS-29A looks very nice, as does the Everest 36mm, although it needs putting on a NATO strap and I'm not sure about the Minolta calibre. The Rolex Explorer itself has gone from a perfect 36mm to a slightly daft 39mm.
Apart from the above, I'm pretty much drawing a blank. Has anyone got anything to add in the 36-38mm diameter range? There does seem to be a need for a properly sized watch thread, to counter this insane fashion for Brobdingnagian timepieces!
Phew, end of rant! ;-)
Alex