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Do you suffer from Pseudo Small Wrist Syndrome (PSWS)

5K views 50 replies 42 participants last post by  vulcan_innova 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

Just curious if anyone else has any WIS buddies who adamantly refuse to accept modern sized watches and who possess a normal sized wrist. I have a buddy who has a 7 in wrist and he claims that anything over 40mm is way too large for his wrist. He has a growing collection of 32-34mm vintage dress watches and his birthday is right around the corner. So, as a means to combat this pervasive but otherwise benign disorder I have decided to give him the obligatory Seiko SXK007 to add to his collection. I feel that it is my duty as his friend and fellow WIS to help him overcome his wrist dysmorphia and learn to appreciate a modern sized watch!

Obviously, if your wrist is small and you wear smaller watches, that's a different story. Also I recognize that there is an all too common trend towards obnoxiously large watches (maybe this can be termed Pseudo Large Wrist Syndrome-PLWS)…

 
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#3 ·
On overall, to each his own. If he doesn't feel comfortable wearing large size watch its his problem not yours.
Yet I agree that it is nice to try different things and go toward new sizes-shapes that one might have not considered. I did go that same route, collecting only very small vintage watches and only recently accepting watches over 38mm on my wrist.
Having friends sporting larger/diffferent watches and being able to try them on definitely helped them to grow on me.
Yet, in my book, anything above 42 looks ridiculous unless you are a 7"tall bear. Many will disagree and they are completely free to do so!

Anyhow, joke aside, the SKX007 is a perfect entry drug into larger diver watches. Its not too big and very well balanced. Also incredible watch for buck and it will probably be loved and cherished by your friend.
 
#6 ·
Honestly I think its all in the mind. To me on a 6.5-6.75 wrist, 44mm Concord C1 looks fine, so does a 43mm Terranova, but a 36mm dress watch looks fine as well. It is watch specific based on design and how it sits on my wrist and my personal preferences.

I think people might be overthinking things a bit here, just wear what you like wearing and enjoy it. I never get these "does it look too big on my wrist" threads. honestly only you can determine that, others are not going to be able to tell you how you want your watch to wear.
 
#7 ·
I do on occasion suffer from this (I have a 6.5 - 6. 75inch wrist) and I do find myself sometimes getting hung up on case diameters etc. but then I've come to realize its not so much the case/face diameter of a watch but the lug to lug length that I've found more accurately gauges how a watch will fit on me as I do have a flatter wrist which affords me a little play size wise. as it stands my lug to lug limit is typically from 48mm - 50mm but no more.
 
#12 ·
Hey guys,

Just curious if anyone else has any WIS buddies who adamantly refuse to accept modern sized watches and who possess a normal sized wrist. I have a buddy who has a 7 in wrist and he claims that anything over 40mm is way too large for his wrist. He has a growing collection of 32-34mm vintage dress watches and his birthday is right around the corner. So, as a means to combat this pervasive but otherwise benign disorder I have decided to give him the obligatory Seiko SXK007 to add to his collection. I feel that it is my duty as his friend and fellow WIS to help him overcome his wrist dysmorphia and learn to appreciate a modern sized watch!

Obviously, if your wrist is small and you wear smaller watches, that's a different story. Also I recognize that there is an all too common trend towards obnoxiously large watches (maybe this can be termed Pseudo Large Wrist Syndrome-PLWS)…
I don't get that wound up trying to justify my choice of watch sizes. Or more importantly demeaning the choices of others. Good grief...it's only a hobby....
 
#15 ·
Each to their own. However, I warn you that you run a risk doing what you intend to do. Imagine if he begins to like the larger size watch and as a result his long time collected smaller vintage watches no longer look good to him - he may not thank you for it, especially since it is difficult to get that vintage watch look in larger sized watches.
 
#20 ·
I have 7", and in my collection i have from 42mm, up to 46. now, I have recently found that its not really the diameter of the watch that makes it too large for me, but the real metric for me is the lug to lug measurement, and even more so, the lug length. for example, my Deep Blue Sun Diver is 45mm diameter, and 52.5mm lug to lug.and my Armida A2 is 42mm, and 51mm lug to lug. so the Armida is smaller on paper, but my Deep blue wears smaller because the lugs are very short and stubby. my Armida has long realtivly straight lugs, and this makes it wear almost too large for me, even though the numbers say its a smaller watch. I actually think my SKX009 wears the best, its about 42mm, but only has a lug to lug of I think 46mm, I think thats the sweet spot. I hope this makes sense.
 
#21 ·
There is a generational component to this as well. My father-in-law, who is about to be 80, looks at my (to me) reasonably sized 40mm watches and says "but they're so big!" Who is to say he's wrong?
 
#26 · (Edited)
My wrists are the same size as your friends, 7in, and I'm on the same page as him I think. Generally, 38-40 is my personal sweet spot, and I'd rather go smaller than 38 vs bigger than 40. As others have said, it all depends on so many other dimensions though, and it's all what the wearer is used to. Dial size, lug to lug, thickness, etc. For example, I'm currently wearing a Traser Commander. 43mm...but it's thin, and it wears and looks like a 38-40mm watch. I personally think a watch that looks a tad small is classier than a watch that looks too big. I get it though, it's tough these days when women are wearing big watches for fashion and we are seeing many others wearing dinner plates on their wrists. Our innate male instincts tell us we can't be outdone, shown up, or have anything that is smaller/weaker etc. Once we ditch that nonsense, stop wearing what is being pitched to us, and embrace our own personal likes, it's quite freeing. Good thing there are plenty of sizes for us to all enjoy. It also looks like several companies are starting to offer smaller sizes again, i.e. the new Tudor BB 36mm:-!:p

 
#27 ·
I had this syndrome with the Kobold Lynx for just a brief moment before somebody's snide comment made me go back to 40+ mm for a 7" wrist. And I'm totally fine now since it does allow my eyes to see it easier. I think the benefit of the smaller sizes though is that 1. lightweight and 2. won't bang as easily on everyday objects since it's inherently smaller.
 
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