# ladies watch sizes, what's considered small or large?



## fareastcoast

I'm considering buying a watch for my SO, but I have no perspective on how the sizing works for ladies watches.

As a comparison, on the men's side, 36mm is considered the absolutely smallest that is acceptable nowadays and anything over 45mm is considered huge. The average tends to fall between 38 and 42mm with dress watches being on the smaller side of that.

What are the equivalent numbers for women watches?

I'm having a hard time deciding between a 28mm, 30mm and 36mm Vacheron Constantin. Some perspective would be appreciated!


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## coastcat

This is tough to answer! Ladies' watches are all over the place in terms of size. Looking at Macy's website, for example, I see lots of ladies' watches in the sub-28mm range (thin bangle watches, little cocktail watches that pay homage to vintage) and lots in the 40mm+ range (big "boyfriend" watches). It's really a matter of personal preference!

Looking at the serious watch world, 28-34mm is a typical range for ladies' watches. The 28mm and 30mm would be safe choices.

I have several vintage men's Hamiltons that are in the 32-34mm range, which I find is a fantastic size for a professional watch. My more casual watches are larger, plus I have two delicate watches for those rare occasions when I want to look civilized. :-d I think that's a good guideline, in fact - mid-size (28-34) for office/professional, larger (36+) for casual/sport/weekend wear, and small (under 28) for dressy occasions.


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## GinGinD

6 inch wrist.

21 mm

View attachment 1015172


31 mm

View attachment 1015173


36 mm

View attachment 1015174


Jeannie


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## Vivian886

I second the "mid-size" recommendation of 31mm-35mm. This will, however, depend on her wrist size first and foremost. I have a tiny wrist of 5.4 inches, and yet the smallest size I would wear is 31mm, otherwise I feel like the watch looks and feels too small. For dress watches, I keep it at 31mm and 32mm, and for sports watches, up to 34mm or 35mm. In my opinion, it is unfortunate that so many women's mechanical watches are still so tiny. There doesn't seem to be too many options for mid-sized watches unless you really spend time looking for them.

Out of the 3 choices of the Vacheron Constantin you mentioned, if it is a dress-styled watch, 30mm would probably be safest (28mm would probably be too small). If it's a sport-styled watch, then 36mm would be my choice.


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## KCZ

And at the other extreme of personal preferences, I have a 7 1/4" wrist. The largest watch I would ever wear is probably 33-34 mm. Anything larger than that is like having a hockey puck strapped to my wrist. My "dress" watches are 14-27 mm. I agree that it's particularly difficult to find 30-33 mm watches.


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## archer501

I have a tiny wrist at 5" and I currently wear a 33mm but I feel that it's "just the right size." I have friends who wear much smaller watches but personally, I find them too "dainty". I like being able to see the dial clearly and easily and I like the watch to actually feel like it has some presence on my wrist but still small enough to be subtle and appropriate for workplace and dressy events. My next watch is going to be a 40mm pilot and I was anxious about it looking awkward and overwhelming but then I went into the shop and tried on watches of similar size and discovered that 40mm isn't as gigantic as I feared. Yes, it does look a little disproportionate but I kind of like the idea of it making a bolder statement (especially if I worked really hard to save up enough to buy it!). But of course, it's all a matter of personal preference!


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## banks504

This may already have been mentioned, but while case size is important I find lug to lug a better measure of how it will look on my wrist. The largest case my 5.5" wrist can handle is 38mm, but I have a rectangular case that is 28mmx43mm. Smaller lugs can make a big difference.


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## dmaria1120

fareastcoast said:


> I'm considering buying a watch for my SO, but I have no perspective on how the sizing works for ladies watches.
> 
> As a comparison, on the men's side, 36mm is considered the absolutely smallest that is acceptable nowadays and anything over 45mm is considered huge. The average tends to fall between 38 and 42mm with dress watches being on the smaller side of that.
> 
> What are the equivalent numbers for women watches?
> 
> I'm having a hard time deciding between a 28mm, 30mm and 36mm Vacheron Constantin. Some perspective would be appreciated!


This is such a tough question to answer since it comes down to personal preference. I have a petite wrist but prefer a midsize 31 - 35 mm. I would suggest purchasing from a certified retailer and not online, this way you can see it first and return it without a hassle if the size is not right for her.


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## fiona_jdn

Current trends are for larger watches for women. So a larger size may look more current, but a smaller size may look more classic. It's really down to preference.

Great job doing your research though! Good luck 😁

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## mcarter7

It just depends on what culture you are in. If you are in North America the norm is for women to be more masculine and, ironically in a way, traditionally male ways are idealized more. So a small watch might look unfashionably feminine there. In Europe women tend to still be more feminine and thus more petite watches are the norm. Part of things of course is also the body type. North American women tend to have body weights more similar to men than they do in Europe.

I would say that in Europe 30mm is most typical but in North America perhaps 32 or even 34.


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## scentedlead

mcarter7 said:


> It just depends on what culture you are in. If you are in North America the norm is for women to be more masculine and, ironically in a way, traditionally male ways are idealized more. So a small watch might look unfashionably feminine there. In Europe women tend to still be more feminine and thus more petite watches are the norm. Part of things of course is also the body type. North American women tend to have body weights more similar to men than they do in Europe.
> 
> I would say that in Europe 30mm is most typical but in North America perhaps 32 or even 34.


34mm? That's way too small for american tastes.

36mm and above is what I see. 36mm - 40mm is the small end of normal. No one wears smaller than 35mm unless they're a grandma type.

Also, the reason for wearing a large watch is 1) to be more conscious of deconstructing gender expressions or 2) because they have a large wrist or 3) to be more be more feminine, "Look at my *boyfriend* watch (*hint*hint*)."

There's no reason for anyone to wear a small watch.


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## rationaltime

scentedlead said:


> 34mm? That's way too small for american tastes.
> 
> 36mm and above is what I see. 36mm - 40mm is the small end of normal. No one wears smaller than 35mm unless they're a grandma type.
> 
> Also, the reason for wearing a large watch is 1) to be more conscious of deconstructing gender expressions or 2) because they have a large wrist or 3) to be more be more feminine, "Look at my *boyfriend* watch (*hint*hint*)."
> 
> There's no reason for anyone to wear a small watch.


It appears you have drawn some some rather specific conclusions from
your observations. I have to say your data is not a sufficient sample
of the population. Further, I think you have missed seeing those whose
primary reason for wearing a watch is that they want quick access to
the current time of day.

Thanks,
rationaltime


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## KCZ

scentedlead said:


> 34mm? That's way too small for american tastes.
> 
> 36mm and above is what I see. 36mm - 40mm is the small end of normal. No one wears smaller than 35mm unless they're a grandma type.
> 
> Also, the reason for wearing a large watch is 1) to be more conscious of deconstructing gender expressions or 2) because they have a large wrist or 3) to be more be more feminine, "Look at my *boyfriend* watch (*hint*hint*)."
> 
> There's no reason for anyone to wear a small watch.


There may be no reason for you to wear a small watch, but other people can wear whatever they like. Derogatory name-calling ("grandma") is not appropriate and adds nothing to a discussion of watch sizes and styles.


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## CMSgt Bo

Gosh, thank you for being the spokesperson for the 157 million American women worldwide. So, just how does this work...does my wife have to turn in her 24mm Precision Oyster, 28mm DateJust, 28mm Seamaster, and 29mm YachtMaster; or can she keep them if she agrees to adopt someones else's grandchildren? Maybe she could avoid both and just turn in her American Woman Card. Decisions decisions. ;-)

Oh wait, _there is_ a reason for someone wear a small watch...because that's what they prefer to wear.


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## mcarter7

I think American women consider it more progressive to be more masculine. To have children, wear skirts, be petite, etc, is old fashioned (think Grace Kelly, Jackie O, etc) and the modern woman is more manly (think Lena Dunham, Rosie O Donnell). When a woman dresses in a feminine manner such as Jackie O might have she apparently feel regressive.

Its quite sad, really, as the rest of the world is not like that. I don't know what happened in the US to make women feel so much pressure to assume gender roles which are not even their own.


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