Reply With QuoteI will need to weight all my watches now but have never noticed this wrist fatigue thing.
Are you confident it's the watch causing the issue?
... the weight.
Having swapped between my BB GMT (175 grams) and BB 58 (144 grams) the weight difference was noticeable. Mainly by the end of day. Wrist fatigue is a thing. I’m surprised how much of a difference it makes in terms of comfort for what on the face of it, is such a small difference.
My omega AT being only 1mm thinner, 2mm smaller between the lugs and weighing in at 148 grams is also considerably more comfortable later in the day.
1mm here and there really makes a noticeable difference to the comfort, more than I appreciated.
Stu
I will need to weight all my watches now but have never noticed this wrist fatigue thing.
Are you confident it's the watch causing the issue?
After 18 months of wearing a Garmin as a daily wearer I found that my Planet Ocean was just too 'much' watch. I've just picked up a BB58 and it's so comfortable as the weight is less. Coupled with a Vanguard rubber strap when that arrives next week it should be perfect!
I'm the other way. I don't like when a watch is too light as it doesn't feel like I'm wearing one.
I have two watches (Exp2 42mm and MM300) I find uncomfortable to wear on their bracelets (and the crown of the Exp2 digs into the the back of my hand) but both are extremely comfortable on Erika's Originals straps, which you can also adjust through the day. I don't know if it's the extra weight of the bracelets or the way the watch sits on my wrist with them but for me they're unwearable with bracelets but perfect without.
On the other hand my 1000M Seamaster is very comfortable on its correct original mesh bracelet. Could it be a 20mm lug width doesn't cope so well with a heavier watch but a 22mm lug does?
I don't have wrist fatigue by the end of the day but I do notice how I don't notice lighter watches but do remember when I'm wearing a heavier one.
"A man of little significance"
I am indeed. I also have a rubber strap longines conquest which is 41mm in diameter, 12mm thick but on a rubber band and a 40mm zelos horizons GMT. The only watch I ‘feel’ in the evenings is my BB GMT.Originally Posted by aldfort
When my Dreadnought Voyager arrived I knew as soon as I lifted out of the box that I could never wear it on it's bracelet. Sliding it on my wrist, just sitting there unfastened, merely confirmed this, far too weighty for my taste. I had it on the supplied rubber for quite a while, which was a nice weight to wear, but after losing the screw out of one of the strap bars 9 (I guess from friction from the rubber loosening it) I loctited the bars on and it's been on Haveston natos ever since, both nylon and now mainly canvas. It's also surprising how hefty the 36mm Everest feels on the rivetted bracelet, not so much to change it for anything else however.
F.T.F.A.
Weight definitely an issue on the wrist, I don't know why you wouldn't consider it. As the OP, the very reason I didn't buy the BB GMT. As above, too light is also a put-off for me (which is why I never wear my Aquanaut).
I wish more manufacturers/retailers would include the weight on their web sites. Christopher Ward do, but I can’t think of any others - I think some of the small brands do too. At least give us the weight including strap/bracelet, preferably also the weight without strap/bracelet.
110 grams is about my limit for weight including strap/bracelet. My latest buy, a Nomos Orion date 360, comes in at 58g, which is incredible for a 40.5 mm diameter case. Despite its size, the lightness means it is a very easy wearer. I love it.
My first mechanical watch was a Seiko diver that I bought in August. 168g with the original bracelet. As I did not try it on before buying, I was a bit put off at first because of the weight. After fitting a cheap NATO, it is a much more comfortable 111g.
Comfort, if not weight per se, is an absolutely key consideration for me. My titanium GS diver is ~130g on the bracelet, which is close to my limit (but then I have quite bony, skinny wrists). The steel version on the other hand is approx. 200g, making it a complete non-starter for me.
I tend to favour a bit of heft on my wrist, although not crucial in a choice, I do like the feeling of solidity. My Fortis B42 & Breitling chronospace being cases in point. However, I can still enjoy wearing my B&M capeland on 2 piece nylon which is very lightweight. I do personally find that I don't know I'm wearing a heavy watch after a few minutes on the wrist, it makes no difference whether heavy or light to me.
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Wrist fatigue??
Gordon Bennett!
Cheers,
Neil.
Combined weight of Watch and bracelet (or strap) has become a factor for me over the last few years. I originally set myself the limit of nothing over 200g but that has come down somewhat along with height off the wrist. Nothing worse than lugging something around that feels like you are wearing half a house brick.
I probably look to stay under 150g these days and height not above 15mm.
There was a thread on here a while back where people weighed their watches (lockdown boredom....). I was surprised to find that in many cases the bracelet weighed more than the watch! So if you think your watch is too heavy, maybe think about changing to a different sort of band.
Does seem odd!
Maybe sufferers could work their way up to the heavier weights?
It does seem a bit bizarre. Common - man up - get one of these babies around your wrist:
I find an incorrectly sized bracelet - either too tight or too loose affects how a watch feels rather than the (total) weight. The BB58 and BBGMT case shapes / heights are somewhat different and if I had to choose between the two it would the the BB58. The GMT was too 'slab' like
Martyn
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 28th December 2020 at 17:56.
It's something I've always been conscious of, but I would add that it's how the weight is distributed and not simply tonnage. My SD43 is my heaviest watch on the scales but it doesn't feel the heaviest since the bracelet is so good at balancing the watch head.
My days involve a fair amount of manual movement.
I make things out of wood, and am often sawing, hammering, planing etc.
I maintain some land and woods as well, so have to clear thickets, chop wood etc etc
I am also predominantly left handed and wear my watch on my left wrist, as I was told to as a nipper.
As a result, my watch gets moved about a lot on my wrist, and I am very conscious of excess weight and so called top-heaviness.
And almost everything is worn on a strap (not a bracelet) as the fixed hard edges of a bracelet are very uncomfy in most cases.
There are a few watches that I have moved on due to lack of comfort in the wrist, a Tag Heuer Aquagraph for gouging the back of my left hand, and a Seiko SUN019 for being so heavy that is crashed about up and down my wrist when worn on any strap that wasn't too tight for comfort.
But it is not simple weight, for me. It is the strap choice, wrist fit and case shape that makes the difference. The THAG was heavy, sure, but the gouging was because a very sharp-angled crown was way too low on the case.
The SUN019 could not be worn on a NATO (it looked crap) and the weight all seemd high on the case, hmaking it rock back and forth. The same was true of a golden Tuna (even if it was Ti and Ceramic, so relatively light), so that went too.
My ideal watch is a light one, but I still have some chinky stuff in the collection that wears some considerable weight quite comfortably.
Dave
It was one of the first things i noticed, heavier watches tend to slip down my wrist when walking and i can feel the weight and dislike it.
I must admit, I do prefer the feel of a heavy watch
One of the most comfortable (large and heavy) watches I have owned - I put this down to the adjustability of the bracelet which is on par with the Deep Sea.It does seem a bit bizarre. Common - man up - get one of these babies around your wrist:
Martyn
Currently wearing a dreadnought voyager which is also a big lump, but I don’t notice the weight. The only one I did notice was a Breitling Seawolf on bracelet which felt quite heavy, I think because of the lack of adjustability, and therefore never found a great fit for it
Me too.
I detest heavy watches. In the 60s watch bracelets were designed to be light, links were hollow, the aim was to have a bracelet that looked substantial but didn’t feel heavy on the wrist. In the same way that cars have become bigger/ fatter/ wider / heavier watches now have ‘heft’ to give the buyer a warm feeling. All utter bollocks, the pins securing the heavy bracelet links are no more substantial than they ever were, so the rugged feeling us something of an illusion.
Anyone who is impressed by the weight of a watch is falling for the hype, cases and bracelets don’t need to be heavy and if they are its not a plus.
Only watch I have owned which felt heavy at the end of the day when wearing it was a Planet Ocean on bracelet.
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Same here. After a short time I became aware of how big it actually was, and the weight of it just compounded the problem. I sold it in the end purely because of its size and heft.
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Rarely without a watch on, I miss the weight when I haven't one on-usually just out of the shower- tried a couple of titainium and just couldn't adjust.
Some people’s only complaint about the platinum Datograph was its top heavy weight. Comfort is definitely an issue as well as wrist fatigue in lockdown!
I have a Omega PO Chrono which comes in at 245g, after 6hrs my wrist starts to ache.
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Like sports and aerospace, I’ve always equated lightness with performance.
Shogun (Ti) on its bracelet is 110g, on a sailcloth strap a lovely featherweight 75g.
If I’m going for super-light and don’t want to feel all that weight flapping around when I’m riding off-road, it’s got to be a Casio F-91 (21g)
If I can feel the weight, that's not comfortable. It shouldn't remind me I am wearing one. It's always refreshing to wear a light watch after wearing a heavy one for awhile, not the other way around.
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