When we think of large watches.. some of the names that come to mind are Breitling, Panerai, Zenith, maybe Bell & Ross with the BR01 instrument watches. Is the big watch trend here to stay? Sure looks like it to me… watches are only getting bigger and bigger, with Omega’s 49.2mm Railmaster leading the pack (i think).
Other Factors that Affect Perceived Size
Keep in mind that sometimes bigger isn’t always better, and its not always about diameter. Wrist presence is a combination things including Dial Color, Case Thickness and Bezel Thickness. Take for instance.. a Breitling Super Avenger.. perhaps one of the most famous and popular Big Watches out there currently. Two identical Super Avengers, one with a white dial and one with a black dial when worn on the wrist, have a completely different presence. The white on my small 6.75″ wrist looks overwhelmingly big, while the black suits me.
This can happen with so many different watches out there. Recently I purchsed a Breitling for Bentley Motors with a white dial. This watch is actually slightly larger than the Super Avenger (48.7mm over the SA’s 48.4mm) but the watch seems much less obtrusive on the wrist. This is due to the thickness of the watch and the presence of the bezel. The sunken dial gives it more depth and the height of the case makes the watch stick out a mile from the wrist.
Above is a Bentley 48.7mm and a Chronomat 44mm
44mm, 46mm or 48mm? Which One is Best?
Like anything out there, its personal Preference. One thing I’d like to say however is that you shouldn’t base it on diameter only. There are many watches out there like the Chrono Avenger, the SuperOcean Steelfish and The Chronomat Evolution that are all 44mm watches, but each of them wears differently. And remember, just because the black face seems to look good, doesn’t mean the white face will too.
Panerai’s and Breitlings and Omegas are all available in many different sizes, so don’t just go with the bigger is better philosphy. For example, I’ve always liked the Omega Seamaster watch, and having seen the Planet Ocean, I wanted one. I figured that it would look great at ~45mm, since other 45mm watches looked good on me and so did the 42mm Seamaster. I was wrong!
The Planet Ocean has a very long Lug-to-lug length, which gives it a very elongated profile on my wrist, making the endlinks ont he bracelet stick out oddly from my wrist. The 42mm Planet Ocean suits better, however still has that elogated look that I’m not so fond of.. so for me its the Chunky Seamaster Chrono.
Panerai’s at 44mm wear very large. You will find that a 44mm Luminor Marina wears bigger than a 44mm Chronomat Evo. This is partly because of the thin bezel and partly because of the somewhat square face, giving it a bit more wrist presence. The Crown protector also adds a bit of width to the overall look of the case. The 45mm Radiomir’s are even bigger looking without the crown protectors.. but I am not a fan of the wire lugs.
Your best bet if you plan to buy online is to go to a dealer and try on the difference sizes and brands of watches, taking note of how they feel and look on your wrist.. and remember switching between a bracelet and a strap changes the presence of a watch as well. A bracelet will make a watch wear slightly bigger as well quite often… and will also make a heavy watch feel heavier.. obviously.
It’s been a couple years now since the Seiko Spring drive has been unveiled, and there are many ardent followers of the brand. Seiko’s higher end line Credor is much sought after by collectors as well. Having seen the Spring Drive in person I can attest to it’s appeal… the watches are VERY well made easily the equal of more expensive Swiss watches.
In case you are unfamiliar with it, the Spring Drive is a revolutionary new movement from Seiko with many special characteristics that I’ll be talking about.
What makes the Spring Drive Special?
Having seen the literature on the Spring drive on their website, I could not find anything that really told me what made it special at first glance. There were some videos and such but I wanted to find a one liner that said “Springs Drive is a revolution because…” But I just got some marketing talk about how it moves the way time really moves or something.
Looking deeper and watching the videos, it explains that there is no escapement like a typical mechanical watch. Oh? That’s very interesting. Everything in the watch moves in one direction, unlike an escapement which bounces back and forth under the strength of a mainspring. It has some sort of magnetic component inside and of the 280 components, 4 of them are electrical, so this is not an entirely mechanical watch as far as I can tell. That is unfortunate.
The movement has a 72hr power reserve and the rotor winds about 30% faster than traditional rotors due to the efficiency of the mechanism.
My personal concern lies in whether a company like Seiko will ever mass market this technology and make it very affordable, thus devaluing the Spring Drive? Obviously the Spring Drive will not displace the Kinetic in the market place as the Kinetic offers much more electronic features which are desireable to a large market segment.
Still, the beauty of the timepeice is evident, and the perfect sweep of the second hand, unlike that of traditional mechanical watch movements which tends to be a bit choppy, is a very nice feature. Enough to convince buyers to part with $4000+? Perhaps. For the time being, Spring Drive is here to stay. I should hope so, seeing as Seiko claims that this is the culmination of 28 years of advancement in their own movement design!
I’ve been slowly adding to the series of articles on my website on how to make sure you identify those fakes Breitlings out there. There are plenty of folks out there just ready to take your hard-earned cash and replace it with a cheap replica. Be armed with the information you need to make informed choices.
Currently there are three written articles:
General Rules on Spotting Replicas
Spotting a Replica Dial
Spotting a Replica Caseback
And one more video article examining a Fake SuperOcean steelfish which has already been posted here. There will be an article on a fake Chrono Avenger up soon which should be very useful for people.
Also on that page is a series of other articles that can be handy for identifying things about your watch such as date of birth and tutorials on how to properly size your watch for maxium comfort. Keep checking back as this page is also getting new information added to it.
I’ve been conversing with a lady named Margaret about a watch that she got from her Father around the 1950’s. I am not a vintage watch expert, so I turn to you, my readers. This is the initial email she sent:
“I am trying to trace history of a Breitling Watch purchased by my Father around 1950
It is a stainless steel watch with stopwatch facility which I believe he purchased for use in his job after the War which involved time study.
The watch has a number 63832 4 with another number of 176 underneath.
I would be very grateful if you could give me information of anyone who might be able to let me have any history or any info at all on watches from this period”
To me it probably means that the movement is a Venus 176 Chrono, but I dont really know what else to tell her. If you can provide any info that would be great… pics have been attached.
Concord is part of the expanding Movado Group… and ever since the Movado Group purchased Ebel in 2003, they have had somewhat of a resurgance in the watch world. The Movado Group consists of Concord, Movado, Ebel, Coach, ESQ and Tommy Hilfiger brands among others. Both Ebel and Concord had been showing their age, but have recently been revived with new models, Ebel with their 1911 BTR’s with the new In-House movements, and Concord with the new C1.
In addition to the C1, Concord does have some nice (albeit overpriced) options in their lineup. The newer Saratoga XL line is a big 44mm Saratoga that overwhelms my wrist with it’s presence. Very nice and noticeable in the 44mm size. When I tried it on at a jeweler’s he tried to convince me that Concord was an even more prestigious brand than Ebel and much more so than Omega or Breitling. Then he told me the Saratoga had a list price of $10K. I beg to differ…
Ebel is Movado Group’s highest end brand I think, and Concord has always been the brand that is offered with the highest discount in any watch store. During sales, Concords always had the extra discount. That turned me off them immediately, however I do admit the Saratoga XL looked pretty sweet… and if it’s any indication of what the C1 Chrono is going to look like.. the C1 when it’s introducted in Winter 2007 will be one hell of a watch.
The Concord C1 Chronograph looks like some sort of hybrid between an Hublot Big Bang, Dewitt Academia and a Concord Saratoga… and that is a good thing, because the Big Band and Academia’s are beautiful watches. I really think that Concord may be onto something with this new watch… It was introduced several months ago and Concord’s website now consists of nothing but a video for this watch.. no current models, no nothing.. just a video with the C1 in it. Must be big. Can’t wait to see it myself… Concord might hold some interest for me after all.
Concord C1:
Diameter: 44mm
Water Resistance: 200m
Movement: ETA Valgranges A07.211
COSC Certified Chronometer
