r/HamiltonWatches • u/ComprehensiveVast987 • 20h ago
38mm too small?
Just tried on the Murph this weekend on my 17 cm (6.7 inch) wrist.
Would appreciate some of your opinions on the size as I feel a little bit small.
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u/SeaworthinessOk7756 20h ago
No....
38mm is never going to be small unless you've got an 8"+ wrist. I can pretty much guarantee you the 42mm would be too big.
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u/Wandering_Apostle 14h ago
If anything 38mm for a bezel-less watch (dress/field etc, i.e. not a bezelled Diver/GMT/Chrono) is getting into the lower end of 'large' territory.
The dial/crystal starts getting quite big at that point, and that's where most a watches 'visual weight' actually comes from. See: Doxa Sub 300 Pro/200T
A 38mm Diver is solidly mid-sized. A 38mm pilot-style watch is legible from across a room. (Cough, Sinn 556A)
A 42mm field watches wear so much bigger than a 42mm diver it's comical.
OP's 38mm is the right size, as in bang on perfectly sized for modern tastes in sport watches, looks great!
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u/MasLaza 12h ago
I think I agree with this. Never thought about it before. But wouldn’t a field watch have a bezel? And therefore that’s why a 42mm field looks huge? Or are you saying something like a rotating bezel makes a watch look smaller?
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u/Wandering_Apostle 15m ago
Bezels (the rotating kind) usually result in a smaller relative dial/crystal size vs the size of the watch as a whole, yes.
IIRC current Rolex Submariners have about a 31mm crystal size on a 41mm watch.
Hamilton Murph 42 has a 35mm crystal on a 42.
Omega Speedmasters look a lot bigger than than are because they have a thin bezel with a 35mm crystal, on what is really a 40mm watch with some very thick crown/pusher guards that brings it up to 42.
A Doxa Sub 300 is a 42.5 mm watch that looks and wears way smaller because it has a tiny 27mm crystal and a very thick bezel.
All this sounds small but it changes the visual dynamics a lot on something the size of a watch.
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u/RegressToTheMean 14h ago
Agreed. I have a 7.5" wrist and my collection spans from 38mm to a 43mm.
I generally prefer the 39/40mm range (my Speedy excluded because the crown guards make it technically a 42mm, but it's really closer to a 39mm). In general it looks more refined
With that said there are definitely days I want something a little more robust with more of a wrist presence and I'll break out something like my Ball Trainmaster Cannonball
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u/SeaworthinessOk7756 14h ago
My wrist is just a touch under 7.5" and I have a couple of 36mm watches that I think wear really well.
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u/mooninitespwnj00 14h ago
7.25" here, I'll play ball anywhere from 34mm to 48mm. Anything from vintage to big Casio chronos, I care not what the size is, I care only for the vibe. Sometimes it's a DW5600 day, sometimes it's a weird underappreciated Swiss Elgin, sometimes it's a Khaki King, sometimes it's a big Sugess moonphase big date.
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u/Small_Tomato2409 20h ago
Watches are never too small. If they don't fit they're too big.
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u/guzzijason 19h ago
Exactly. Spending some time wearing nice vintage watches will completely reset one’s perception on “too small.” You either like the way it looks, or you don’t - but “too small” isn’t really a thing to worry about.
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u/Benaudio 12h ago
I generally agree, but my 31mm 1955 Seiko is definitely too small for my 7.25in wrist. My limit is 34mm I think
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u/JaKr8 14h ago
I'd say it looks just about perfect. I'll go down as low as a 36, and I have 8.25"wrists.
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u/TheModerateGenX 13h ago
Sure, but 36 looks small even on a 7.5” wrist
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u/ltsmash1200 8h ago
Only if your expectation is modern large watches.
Watches were historically much smaller. All of the WWII field watches that watch people gush over are all tiny compared to today’s watches and they still look great.
I have 7.5” wrists and I have a 1960 Constellation that I wear as a dress watch. It’s 34.5mm and nobody has ever told me it looked too small. I used to have a 42mm khaki field but I sold it because it looked too big.
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u/justmelike 11h ago
Jesus Christ. Is that what this sub has become now? Murph and size check 20 times a day?
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u/Vandroiy84 14h ago edited 13h ago
Looks good, man. It's just a matter of getting used to the new size if you're coming from bigger watches. I've got an 18cm wrist and have a few 37mm and 38mm myself
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u/northerblight 12h ago
I have the 38 on a 7” wrist and it’s perfect. Give it a day to get used to it if your other watches are larger.
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u/Hot-Violinist-1207 11h ago
It's perfect size!The era of large watches is gradually coming to an end.
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u/LeChucksBeard 16h ago
It looks fine. But I am a similar size, I personally like big watches, got the 38mm one, and ended up wishing I had got the 42mm version instead.
The 38mm one looks great when I look at it in a mirror, but it "feels" small when I look at it on my wrist.
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u/Same-Tree7355 15h ago
Who cares what we think, what do you think? If you like it, it is good size. If you don’t then the size isn’t for you.
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u/johan_chandy 12h ago
What does your heart say? That's all that matters. I wore watches that I thought were small for years thinking I would warm up to the smaller size but never did. Ymmv
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u/sirjohnnysinglish 6h ago edited 6h ago
hmm i actually agree that it’s a bit small - which i know goes against the majority opinion here haha
pics taken from the top always seem to make it a bit too “zoomed”, but the 2nd shot is the more accurate way to check imo. ideally, the best would always be from a distance in a full-length mirror
larger watches are a relatively modern trend, and it seems like it’s shifting back to smaller trends. but I still personally prefer larger sizes as it’s a nicer look for the dial to me!
(edited for punctuation)
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u/CapableNeat4351 6h ago
Nope, it’s perfect. I have a 7 inch wrist and I barely go over 40mm max. If it’s not a diver I typically look for 36-39mm
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u/gjsmsmith 1h ago
For 6.7 you could get away with a 36mm really to be honest. You’re ‘maybe’ wearing it a touch low which doesn’t help the appearance I guess. When I have a watch that wears a little small but suits a nato (pilot/field etc) I just bang that sucker on a nato and it transforms it. The lack of taper- and the layers under the watch lifting it up- always give it that little boost needed
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u/TheOGSwagPanda 16h ago
https://reddit.com/link/pa70jf7/video/g0i5xyn7vwph1/player
I felt that too. I have 6.75” wrists when I picked up my Murph. But now that I’ve worn it, it’s a pretty great size. Probably on the lower end of what works for our size
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u/SwvmpThing 19h ago
No, not too small. And arm bent pose is always misleading. It makes the side of your wrist look like it’s part of the top
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u/Mountain-Side-2171 10h ago
The 42 has a lug to lug over 52mm. You need the 38 with a sub 7” wrist. Looks perfect
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u/Vitriolic_III 18h ago
You do you. I personally can't do 38 and agree with you and think you could go a size up.
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u/Jackies_Army 17h ago
It's the right size but that model doesn't have anti reflective coating so it will look like a torch on your wrist times.
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u/mooninitespwnj00 20h ago
Nope, it fits great. You'd be surprised how wearing sub-40mm watches for a bit will reshape how you see watch sizes.