34mm or 36mm...how do you feel?

I think you know this, but... What is your wrist size, the lug to lug of the watch, the bezel size etc.?

34 mm on a 7+ inch wrist:


34 mm on a 6.3 inch wrist:

I have a 7.25” wrist and greatly enjoy wearing 34-36mm watches.

34mm

36mm



34mm


35mm


36mm

My problem with the newer 40+ cases is that there is no horological reason for them. The movements aren't larger...same old movements from the 36mm watches. The big cases are just there to "justify" bigger prices. The actual "big case" tool watches from the past had specific reasons to be "big"...readability of the dial or operation of chrono functions under adverse conditions. The same people who wore these big "special circumstances" watches, went back to "normal" sized watches...33mm and 34mm...when they were back in normal situations. Even the jump from 34mm to 36mm is questionable. Same movement in a 34mm Rolex Date as in a 36mm Datejust. I would venture that the Turn-o-graph version of the DateJust is perhaps the only one that justifies the 36mm case. All that said, since I'm a sucker for a 36mm case, who am I to cast stones at someone who loves a 40?

Sports or everyday

36mm looks like a toy on my wrist.

41 or 42mm fills wrist space, if lug to lug size is good with medium thickness.

Dress

38 or 39mm better if no bezel

Well I'm not sure there is any advantage to a modern 2022 Rolex over a vintage, so that is one reason I would not buy one, in 36mm or 41mm. They might be new, but I don't think they do anything better than a 20 year old Rolex. And at the cost of the new Rolexes, I can probably by 2, if not 3 vintage ones. So vintage certainly offers more for the dollar.

My 2 favorites, side by side...the 34mm Constellation and the 36mm 1013...on matching navy blue alligator straps. I keep swapping them back and forth...keeping the one I'm not wear in a pouch in my pocket...I can't get enough of these two.

Wow, these are lovely watches. Great combo.

My most worn 34 and 36 (lately).

Very nice.
Do you always wear them together?

Only when checking accuracy. As you can see, the Omega is running at about +25 seconds. Or maybe the Rolex is -25? I don’t know, I’m not a watchmaker. In any case, wearing both ensures I can seamlessly fit into any occasion since the Omega is on the dressier side and the Rolex is more casual 👍

Always be prepared and looking sharp!

The twins...reunited...and if a gold jubilee seems a little too much...a simple strap will cool things off without taking away the beauty of the head.

We have found this on many watch brands and types when it comes to 34 vs 36 mm.
I think one difference between your all-gold colored gorgeous constellation and some OP's is the gold colored dial on your Omega matches-blends into the similar colored watch bezel and case. I have found this sorta makes the watch appear larger on the wrist. Same goes for a silver-dialed OP verses a black dialed version. We have a couple of 6694's and the silver dialed version blows away the black dialed one as far as wrist presence.

A few recent generations ago, a 34mm would have been a bit on the large size for a man. Certainly, at the very least, not small. Over the past 25 years I've had a variety of modern Omegas and Heuer re-issues and loved them all. I really never considered anything in the 34mm range and vintage watches (up through the early 80s) really don't appeal to me. Once I started looking at Rolex watches I noticed that the 34mm range had more appeal to me than other brand's 34mm offering. I would have thought the 34mm to be too small for me. However, a few additional parameters began to reveal themselves. At 6'-3" and a slim build carrying 200lbs, I realized that the (Ploprof inspired) Seamaster 1200m was not too much for my frame. So, I wondered how that played out at the other end of the spectrum with a decidedly much smaller watch in the form of a 2015 Air King with an Explorer style 3-6-9 polar face. My smallish wrist enabled me to easily wear it, but it didn't look feminine. I do believe the white dial lends to the perception of a larger watch. Visually, my polar Air King seems to be quite similar in size to my black dial Datejust, except when you have them one right beside the other, and even then... So, another few qualities to use in evaluating how a watch may look on you is your overall build and the color of the dial. There was a color insight above to a degree, but to my eye, a black dial looks smaller than a white one and that has factored into which watches I pursue in a given case size and dial color. At one end of the spectrum In my collection is my 34mm Rolex Air King and a 44mm Rolex SDDS at the other end. Both look right on me, I believe, but I can see where a different frame type may not yield the same results. YMMV.

I have a 7" wrist and I'm 6'3" tall. I've had various Speedmasters and I can tell you I ended up selling every single one of them because they looked and felt too big on my wrist. That being said I never got to try the FOIS or 57 60th anniversary.

The problem for me isn't the 42mm but the lug to lug (48mm). I've also had various watches from 36-41mm and for me personally, the watches I wear most consistently, are the most comfortable and get the most wrist time are my 36mm watches. The fit is too classic and too perfect.

The 1016 Explorer would be a reference/example of a watch that I would describe as actual perfection.

I think the difference between 34mm working with Omega and not with ROLEX could be due to thickness? I have a vintage 1940s 34mm Omega (actually under 34mm, I think it's 33.8 or so) and I used to feel like this is too small when I first purchased it. But lately I've been digging smaller watches. I tried it on the other day and it felt so right. It's a thin watch at under 8mm. I think that's why it works so well. Alternatively, I have a 38mm Seiko SKX that is just so thick that I can't stand to wear it, even though technically 38mm typically works well on my wrist... probably the sweet spot. Having a bezel makes it wear even smaller.

Aside from my 3861 Speedmaster (which wears fairly big, but I just love it), my most worn watch lately is a vintage Seiko that is 36mm and 8mm thick, lug to lug of 43mm. It's all dial and wears perfectly at that size for my wrist.

I'm not sure what the thickness of the 34mm Rolex are, but I would guess they are thicker than the vintage Constellations and such. On a side note, I would LOVE to have a vintage Constellation.