Wearabilty | TheWatchMetrics

Wearability

A variety of factors drive the perceived watch size versus wrist size.

Some types of watches are naturally larger; for example, tool (pilot & dive) watches tend to be larger and thicker than every day and dress watches.
Watches with more complexity (pushers, sub-dials, bezels, crown guards...etc) will look larger.
Watches with lighter dials look larger.
Metal bracelets make a watch look larger.

To start, Watch Metrics will focus on the more easily quantifiable measures to watch wearability as determined by:

a) Wrist Size

Average wrist size:

b) Key Measurable Dimensions for Watch Wearability

Lug to Lug size - also referred to as the "length". This is not a metric provided by all manufacturers but is perhaps the most useful measure.
Case Size - or often referred to as "diameter" or "width"
Thickness / Height
Weight

Commonly recommended watch sizes for different types of watches (Dress / Every Day / Tool):

for the average man (~7" wrist size)
- 39mm case size (as small as 37mm for dress watches and as large as 41mm for tool watches).
- 45mm lug to lug (as small as 42.6mm for dress watches and as large as 47mm for tool watches).
for the average woman (~6" wrist size)
- 34mm case size (as small as 32.3mm for dress watches and as large as 35.7mm for tool watches).
- 39mm lug to lug (as small as 37mm for dress watches and as large as 41mm for tool watches).

Putting the reference table to work:

Example: Above shows a ~7" wrist.

What is considered "wearable" changes over time

The two charts below created by Marcus Siems using data from ~50k watches off Chrono24.com illustrates the distribution of watch sizes over time and broken down by type of watch. See (https://goldammer.me/blogs/articles/history-watch-size).

The average watch case size has increased from ~35cm between 1940-1960 to ~38cm by the 2010s. However, the 38cm average hides the fact that the actual distribution now centers around two peaks at ~40cm and ~35cm.
Technological innovation in the watch world (increased power reserves and new complications requiring larger cases) along with the rising popularity of tool watches including divers and chronographs is a well reasoned thesis on why this is the case, no pun intended.