Hi, my recent purchase is a Genève 34.5mm dial with 18mm. Has anyone tried bulking up the watch with a widening strap like in the photo below? My wrist is fairly standard around 6.5 inches. I could get away with the standard strap but just a thought .. Anyone has any photos where they've done something to bulk up the watch?
It's your watch and your wrist. You're the only one who can decide if that's the fashion statement you want to make. I'm not sure you want us judging your decision based on that watch and strap, though.
A larger strap may well make the watch look smaller, by comparison. A tapered strap from 18 to 16 or 14 may be better.
I played with cutting straps at the lugs to make a wider strap fit to make it look more "cuff" like, and like @S.H. said, it actually makes them appear smaller because the head gets swallowed up by the strap. I have found that for watches that are too small for me to wear comfortably on a standard strap (because they look dainty like 32mm), Nato or single pass style straps seem to help in bulking them up. There are even very nice shell cordovan or calf Leather NATO style straps that look sharp.