Horological Meandering

It's going to be a slow week, so how about a fun little experiment? We're often reading posts and quotes about watch size (such as Mr Stern's quote brought to us by Stefan, below) and what has been very interesting is the range of views expressed in reply...  

can be counted as " small" ?...  

..in your watchbox, Quan, strap it on, leave it there, and tell us next week what you think about watch sizes! Cheers, pplater.

the smallest and my very first mechanical "I have make it" type of watch. often I wear it for the whole week as my habit to give turn to each of my "love"

When I came back home with my latest addition, yesterday, my wife told me that it was much too small for me, and that I had to gift her. That 's the problem with this Pre Xmas era... More seriously, I epxerimented several times... In my collection, I have... 

So - which one in your phenomenal collection is the smallest, and will you wear it all week? Your thoughts at the end of a whole week would fill a book! Cheers, pplater.

Without doubt, this Mark V II Weems, which is only 33 mm, but you can easily get used to its size, due to its strength. I already wore it during a whole wee, and with a lot of pleasure. Well, there are chances I wear another small watch, my new 35 mm one,...  

really b e a u t i f u l Congrats! Oliver

This is a nice one with the red 12. br, Dirk

There is nothing new from you on the JLC forum and it can't be the Hybris Mechanica GS which is 43.8mm, so what can you possibly mean???? ;-) ;-) Looking forward to reading about your week, Cheers, pplater.

...before we have to start a vintage forum just to host your divertissements , Nicolas! Cheers, pplater.

As I can end something with this latest one... I think you will appreciate it... I just have to prepare something about it. Best, Nicolas

there is a photo with a smaller but more modern photo my friend...... Cheers

that photo will appear in next Fridays wristscan. Maybe you should post it here. Then pplater will have to write a review about that one! LOL! Best, Martin

With your permission of course... Cheers

give it to your wife???? Cheers

As I'm trying to close a beloved thema... More later.... Best, my friend. Nicolas

very close to your accomplishment...... I am very happy for you : )) Cheers

The proof of the the pudding is in the eating! I´ll join in with my oldest watch which my wife gave to me when we married - seems as if it had been yesterday - an Oris 34 mm with calendar, moon phase and second time zone. I´m interested to learn about the...  

Looking forward to learning your thoughts in a week's time. Cheers, pplater.

small watches that I wear: Patek at 33mm Longines at 32/33mm Longines at 33mm br, Dirk...  

...(a baby anniversary Lindbergh?) would appear to be the smallest: will you wear it for the week? Cheers, pplater.

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Craig...  

It's an indicator of the trending, Craig, when a watch with a case diameter of 40.5mm is the smallest in such a deep and diverse collection as yours is! Even that sensational AP is 43mm, apparently. Well, you would be a good marker buoy for the outward re... 

. . . wrist time this week since the 7th grade . . . gamely, Art

Will it be necessary to fit a larger strap? ;-) Cheers, pplater.

. . . I capped out by the 9th ;-) . . .

my relatively old Explorer 1 circa 97. Initial impression was that it was REAL small despite average watch size of watches in rotation to be 38mm to 40mm. BUT have gotten used to it and in fact, FEEL its 99% there as in a being a light enough, perfect dai... 

...and will you sign up for a week of wearing the smallest you have? Cheers, pplater

although have to admit that my smallest is IWC Mark 12 but that is being used by my son who is away on a school trip and VH classic is in the bank. Thanks again for a great post/thread pplater!!

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it's a Juvenia with Pesseux 7001....  

...are you up for a week wearing the Juvenia? Cheers, pplater.

i've been wearing it for two weeks already, and i think i might wear it for at least two weeks more. it is a great watch for me.

Hi pplater - I think I might have mentioned before that I've got my watches on monthly rotation at the moment (there are only three in the pattern), so I'll be wearing this one all this MONTH!! Best, J....  

...to the MUT title! That's a lovely piece: looking forward to comparing notes with that one, especially. Cheers, pplater.

It looks like yours has a darker dial and white script - is it the platinum version? Or some other special edition? J.

It's the WG/Ruthenium dial. It can be a bit tricky to read in some light but that frankly is half its charm. However: after careful deliberation, it turns out that the WG MUT is not the smallest piece in the watchbox. Shock! Horror! The week will now be s... 

All 3 are 36 mm or smaller I think....  

Some heavy artillery there! Any one of those would do nicely: which will you pick? Cheers, pplater.

lover, I have vowed never to wear any one piece for an entire week LOL. The only piece that was only wirst for a week was Le Freak when I first got it.

...some of us would be happy to have that PP surgically implanted on the left wrist! ;-) Cheers, pplater.

you're kind with words PP. The 5056 is guaranteed at least 1 day a week.

Hi PPlater What a brilliant idea. Having moved myself a little away from large watches after I sold the Panerai Marina some 2 years back and having a period wearing vintage Omegas Round th 35mm mark That said, my daily beater is still the Rolex Turn-O-Gra... 

.... other than Dirk's Lindbergh, that could be the smallest so far. Cheers, pplater.

pplater, it is a very nice and pleasant idea. My watch for the week will be 69 years old and 31mm "small": The watch will get a lot of wristtime next year, because it is perfect for all 70s birthdays we have in 2010 in the family Oliver...  

That is a very lovely watch - and now the smallest declared entrant so far. See you here next week.... Cheers, pplater.

I'll be alternating between the Langematik(37mm),which is due for some wrist time anyway. and this Longines at 38.5mm: These two are my smallest pieces but I feel so comfortable with them. cheers fernando...  

...you can play with two - but no straying over 38.5mm, you hear? ;-) Cheers, pplater.

The smallest watch in my collection is the Minerva Pythagore. The Minerva is 34 mm, but it doesn't feel like a small watch. I’ve never been a great fan of oversize; all of my watches are less than 40 mm in diameter....  

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I look forward to wind it up an wear it every day next week.

I guess formally my smallest in regular rotation is the La Tradition at 37 mm - although I know it does not feel small at all to me. So I am proposing to wear this JLC which is 37.3 mm but much thinner. Best Andreas...  

Who says .5mm doesn't make a difference??? ;-) Cheers, pplater.

This is the smallest. A family heirloom. Although I feel quite scornful about the recent big watch trend, at 27 x 20 mm I do find this one a bit too small to wear: Hamilton Brock 14k This Nomos Orion is a practical size at 34mm: An Eterna automatic at 34m...  

but your Dad´s Omega is my favourite one of yours. Lovely Oliver

You have some beauties there, Steve. Can you be persuaded to try persisting with the Hamilton for the week? Given all the other 'smaller' watches at your disposal, it would give great context to the question for you to report against the smallest you can ... 

Never seen it, what an absolute gorgeous watch. Please do post that watch more often. GEO

In fact, i do not like big watches and all my watches fall below 42mm. Will wear my smallest watch the whole week. Small is intricate, stealthy and everything a clock is not!

A terrific turn of phrase! Looking forward to your assessment next week. Cheers, pplater.

given that I have a number of smaller vintage watches. I think I'll go with this Tissot......  

...looks sub-34mm - is it? Perhaps 31, 32mm?? Cheers, pplater.

it is 34mm. It does look small, perhaps because the crown is semi-recessed. Most of my watches are 34-36mm, and they all work well on my small wrist! Regards, Tony C.

...  

You are set for a terrific week ahead with that piece - what great condition! What is its age and size? Cheers, pplater.

I will check the detail and come back later.

I find a smaller one sit with him, which is Huber with around 26mm. Quite small indeed. Here I have a photo for sharing to show the size which you may be familiar....  

It is what this week will be all about! Cheers, pplater.

This is the first watch that I bought. Purchased at Herrods in 2001 and used daily for about 3 years. I wore it a couple of weeks ago for the entire week for exactly the reason you state. It changed my mind about size....  

...that you have already run the experiment JD: it will be especially interesting to read your conclusions next week. Just how 'diameter-challenged' is that Zenith, and what size do you 'usually' wear? Cheers, pplater.

Maybe closer to 35. My other daily wear watches are: Breguet XX Aeronavale (39mm) - I love this watch, it is a keeper. IWC Vintage (new) Ingeneur (42mm) - love the dial, but the watch is thicker than it needs to be and if I had to do it all over again I w... 

...the RGM will still be a keeper after a week with the Zenith Cheers, pplater.

...  

That's taking the challenge literally Joey - well done! Cheers, pplater.

Omega cal. 26.5 30mm...  

Thank you for the idea and thank you for playing along. That's a lovely piece to bring to the table. Cheers, pplater.

I don't promise to stick with one watch all week, but I will commit to staying under 34mm for the week (starting tomorrow, as I am out of town today and wearing a massive 34.8mm watch).

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most of these are 25-28mm across: (click for a closeup)...  

That's just a sensational grouping, Steve. Is there any particular favourite amongst them? Which of them is the smallest? Will you wear it for the week? Cheers, pplater.

below. (Charming policy of naming watches, I think, perhaps AP could apply this to their various RO-LEs) This watch measures 24mm by 28mm, not counting lugs or crown, so pretty small. It also has a creased crystal, making for some interesting reflections ...  

....are a mark of the evolution of watches. What would the RO LE's be named today if that practice were to be followed? "Shaqil", "Mikey", "Keyshaun", "Tyler", "Carlos", "Seth", "Barack"..... ??? Cheers, pplater.

....there is absolutely nothing at all wrong with the names "Shaqil", "Mikey", "Keyshaun", "Tyler", "Carlos", "Seth" or "Barack"; they were mentioned as being illustrative only of the evolution of such things and in no way intending any disparagement of a... 

the (rther strange to 2009 ears) names Hamilton chose for these models were intended to resonate with their market as sophisticated but practical American men, circa 1953. AP is marketing very expensive sport watches intended to make a very different stat... 

...  

...in wearing that for a week!! What are the specs db? Cheers, pplater.

Pplater,I will stick with my wrist scan from friday,my jean D'eve Sectora at 36mm the smallest in my collection i have never worn, A Louvic mystery at 40mm long and 19mm wide,advertised as unisex circle on the dial is 8mm ,cheerz...  

...and in great style too. Are you sure you can't be tempted to give that spectacular ' mystere' some wrist time? Cheers, pplater.

Hi Like the Idea & your MUT. Will be wearing my Nomos Tangente all week. Think its 36mm - nothing smaller Lanco Alarm the same size, but a bit thicker. Nothing above 39mm. Did try a Pam Alam on last week - which while huge, sat quite well. Did try a Polar...  

... have the same Classic Bauhaus design, very classic and light to wear. The only thing which I think is not optimally solved is the imbalanced postition of the power reserve indication. Nevertheless a nice timepiece. Best regards, anaesdoc

Hi Thanks for your comments, Bought this four or five years ago when they first came out - allegedly it was second one in UK & if I hadn't bought it then it would have been a six month wait, something I'm never good at. Sort of understand your comments ab... 

Hi JML, yes, the watch is really nicely finished and excellent value for money. Concerning the date change mechanism, I did not notice a special loudness of the click compared with other watches I have. Of course it all depends on your judgement of what i...  

Hi Thanks for that - Like your version too esp how it goes from black to white as the power declines. Cheers JML

According to half a dozen Googled sites the Nomos Tangente is 35mm in diameter. So there you go - you like even smaller watches than you thought. Maybe after this week you'll be eyeing off one of those 21mm Elgins.... ;-) Cheers, pplater.

Hi thanks for that - think its just that it wears a lot larger, due to very thin bezel. And yes smaller watches can be very appealing, a friend has a vintage Oris pointer date with a black dial which is only about 30mm, but it looks wonderful. Cheers JML

I found two, both are older Hamiltons - one is 25 mm and the other 29 mm I have attached the pictures...  

...and as lovely as they both are, it would have to be the 25mm for the sake of the exercise, wouldn't it? Cheers, pplater.

I was not sure if the 25 mm was a women's watch or not- So if we are only looking at men's watches, then it would be the other for sure- In either case, watches were much smaller way back then Steve

Dolce Vita Chrono. I'm basically a big watch guy. So I'm not sure if I can pull this one off all week......  

Take a deep breath; suck it in and hang in there ! Remember: you're not alone Look forward to learning next week if/how you managed, and what it has done to your idea of being a 'big watch guy'. Thanks for being a sport. Cheers, pplater.

...  

For the benefit of our friends here, the book on which your watches rest is entitled "Seeking Wisdom" [or is that seeking WIS-dom?]. In a small way (no pun intended) that is what we are doing, isn't it? Which of those two lovely ladies will grace your wri... 

responding to yours. amazing how u do it with ease, deciphering my message more than well, i just hope my fellow colleagues could do as well as u do so i don't have to be clearer. lol. having too many ladies is a problem ! they'll have to take turn with t...  

... and your meaning is very very clear when you present us with such a feast for the eyes! Cheers, pplater.

nt.

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The Gerber is 34mm, the Prescher 38mm, the VH Goldpfeil is 29mm. So is the VH or Gerber my smallest watch? I'll wear the Gerber for a week... Best, Mike...  

... to see those three precious lovelies in the one spot - and that spot isn't right here!! Good to see you onboard Mike - not like it's a huge sacrifice with those pieces, mind you! ;-) Cheers, pplater.

...  

...you have voted with your wallet! That's a lovely group. Which is the smallest (the AL&S, maybe?), and will you keep it on for the week? Cheers, pplater.

I can't wear the same watch all week. Well, I could and think I may have occasionally, but if I do that I might figure out that I don't need more than one watch

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My Seiko 5 is 37mm. It's the only watch I own under 41mm. I love it, and would have no problem wearing a smaller watch like your MUT. All this discussion about small versus large watches is very interesting. I don't feel invested in a preference for eithe...  

... that the question of 'larger than average' or 'smaller than average' is one on which the owner and the beholder will rarely agree! As an uninvested wearer of 41mm+ you bring an interesting view to the table. Will you wear that Seiko for another week a... 

...  

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Dear diary: Day 2 of SWW (smallest watch week) has come and gone, yet it is only just now that I realize what's been nagging me all day. You know that feeling you get when something just isn't QUITE right? What's wrong with this picture? Something is amis...  

You've found an extra day in the month! ;-) Rest assured, Daos, you were no orphan! Cheers, pplater.

...the effects of the product pictured below (*hiccup*), so it's onward and upward to day 4! Cheers! Daos...  

This one ? :o) NO...actually...this one :o) Best Chung...  

... that first one comes with its own microscope? You would have our sincere admiration wearing that one for any length of time! Cheers, pplater.

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Santos Dumont 1913. GEO...  

LE of 100 pieces? Indeed, quite small for a watch that is only five years old. What's the back-story - is the model number '1913' a relevant clue? Cheers, pplater.

It's a replica of the 1913 Santos Dumont. At that time watches were much smaller. This re-release was introduced in 2004 at the celebration of 100 Years Santos Dumont. GEO

i'll wear my 1st re-edition Reverso (1973) oval movement...  

Have you personalised the reverse side, or is it open to the movement? Cheers, pplater.

Can you share some more info (and pics)? Many thanks, Dirk

watch and picture. Would love to see more pictures and to get more details ;-) Oliver

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Hello, congrats for your nice Reverso, really classic look. Which caliber ? Do you know the correct production years from Reverso family ? When stopped and intorduced again ? Cheers, Milan

In 1972 Giorgio Corvo (Corvo&C. spa, Italian Distributor of JLC) asked JLC Manufacture to produce again the Reverso...they said no to him, but they had in stock (from the 40's) about 200 Reverso cases in steel...he convinced them (they absolutely doesn't ... 

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sorry for the bad quality This message has been edited by jek on 2009-12-09 11:16:22...  

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I'm unable to gain access to my 38mm FP Journe CS at the moment..... But if I may, I'm currently strapped to my other Journe - 2mm up size..... my 2nd smallest watch in my collection. Can I still play? ;p I used to wear watches alot bigger ie. > 44mm but ...  

...after all, that watch is really conjoined twin 20mm watches! ;-) Cheers, pplater.

Vte...  

...what's the age and size? Cheers, pplater.

Must be somewhere around the final 60s or first 70s. I think size is 36 mm. A cool timepiece. Thanks for the interest. Vte

Sorry, phone camera. Size comparison: Cazalea This message has been edited by cazalea on 2009-11-30 13:22:46...  

....with a "B-Uhr" if it were your smallest - nice to have you along for the ride! Cheers, pplater.

this hamilton measures in at 29mm. i'll wear it all week. i was probably going to anyway!...  

...that your Eterna[s] exceed[s] 29mm? There must be a fair few 'compact' Eternas around as well. Cheers, pplater.

i do have a lovely eternamatic tank that comes in at around 26mm. in fact, i have no watch that exceeds 33. all my watches are vintage. mostly hamiltons and eternas as i feel the brands are vastly underrated. or perhaps underpriced would a better word. tr... 

Sorry for the picture, but the weather is cloudy today... Cheers, Milan This message has been edited by foullis on 2009-12-01 00:07:30...  

Congrats on this classic watch, Milan! anaesdoc

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my smallest watch at 32mm by a micron or 2 is my Bulova Accutron Alpha from 1960. a wristshot taken only a few minutes ago after a new battery was fitted. i cant promise to wear it a whole week, but at least until friday. good topic, will it bee biggest n...  

(The watch, that is; not you...). Let's see if you can stay away from the exotic orientals (the watches, that is...) until Friday. ;-) Cheers, pplater.

the Bulova is actually quite a milestone piece as it is from the first production run of the Accutron tuning fork. its not called the 'Alpha' for nothing. i also have an original 1962 spaceview which also rarely gets worn. i carried on wearing the Alpha w... 

But how tiny is tiny? Cheers, pplater.

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I've got both a 760 and 761 based watch, the last automatic movements made in the US. A

the elgins were, as far as i'm aware, the only autos manufactured in the US. the other two were elgin bumper autos. the 760 and 761 were also free-sprung. fantastic watches. do you have pics?

Made at least a few automatic movements in the US, I think the 10BZAC is one of them A

i have read some opinions that they made the parts in the US, but haven't seen any real evidence to back that up. i know they assembled swiss made parts here, and think it's fairly likely they did the same with their autos.

Here's a shot of the dial, not great, but you get the idea The chapter marks and the "12" are applied, but the intra-chapter dots are embossed A...  

but here is mine....... A new acquisition and my first vintage..... Cheers...  

That's a great watch, and it was very thoughtful of you to buy it just to play along! ;-) How big isn't it? Cheers, pplater.

but I did not buy it just to play along....:: ))) However it seemed to be great timing..... It is lovely... thank you (37mm) Cheers This message has been edited by PinkPanther on 2009-12-02 11:08:33

...develop a 'joke' signal to replace the 'wink' emoticon it seems!) Hey, with that one you could post a 'wav' file with your photos! (Just a thought...). Cheers, pplater.

This message has been edited by PinkPanther on 2009-12-02 11:12:43

Sorry I am a bit late, but I was busy mistreating a JLC 751 movement in Paris. Here is my contribution, my 35mm NOMOS Orion. I accuired it in the second half of this year, and my second purchase this year was 37mm. Due to my chicken wrist I get along well...  

Hopefully you won't be moved to mistreat the Nomos as well.... ;-) Cheers, pplater.

I thought that you had a smaller watch my friend.... Lovely Nomos Cheers

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What a nice idea, pplater. Sorry I am a bit late to this, but I have been travelling. I have been wearing the Rolex 5513 continuously for the last 4 weeks and I can’t seem to get it off my wrist. I will therefore strap the 34mm Connie on the other w...