Daytona: which wears bigger?

[pistebasher]

Of the two most common steel options (white face with black ring subdials and black face with silver ring subdials), what do you Daytona experts think "wears" bigger on the wrist?

Normally I expect lighter dials to wear bigger because they blend in more with the silver watch body, however with the daytona the black dial blends in more with the ceramic bezel, so I have a sneaking suspicion the black might appear the larger watch on the wrist. Anyone who has both care to comment? The Daytona is not a large watch so I'm after the variant that looks a little bigger.

Thanks!

 

[mpx]

Due to the big black bezel they wear pretty similar, maybe the white one looks slightly bigger, but as you said, it's still a pretty small watch. Here it is on my small 16.5cm/6.5" wrist. I think if your wrist is larger than 20cm/8" the watch is probably too small for you, unless you like smaller watches of course.

 

[andyc]

The steel bezels wear bigger in my opinion.

 

[pistebasher]

Due to the big black bezel they wear pretty similar, maybe the white one looks slightly bigger, but as you said, it's still a pretty small watch. Here it is on my small 16.5cm/6.5" wrist. I think if your wrist is larger than 20cm/8" the watch is probably too small for you, unless you like smaller watches of course.

The white suits you very well. My wrist is 17cm so very close to yours. I had a rose gold and choccy daytona which wore very well but I used to wear that only with a shirt so it was fine that it was a little on the smaller size.

 

[p0pperini]

The steel bezels wear bigger in my opinion.

Agreed. I have the ceramic bezel 116500 with black dial and white dial, and the steel bezel 116520 with black dial. To my eye, the steel bezel watches look bigger, and out of the two ceramic bezel watches, the white dial is the one that looks biggest. Quick snap in the watch box:

What's misleading in my snap is the reflections on the steel bezels, which camouflages how they look. They're wider on the watches than the ceramic*, and as they're catching the light they give an added sense of size. So I'm not sure how helpful that pic is. But hey, I tried.

And thanks pistebasher for raising this question, as it prompted me to grab my box of Daytonas to take a look - which has also prompted me that I should crack on and conclude my little photo article about my Daytona collection. I was hanging back, waiting to add a good vintage PN build to the collection. But they're like hen's teeth, and life's too short...

 

[pistebasher]

Beautiful collection p0pperini. I'm not sure if it's an optical illusion, but the chrome bezels look thicker than the ceramic ones, likely making the watches look bigger. I was decided on a ceramic but now I'm back to square 1 I fear....

 

[HomeRye]

Yep - yet another lovely collection matey! lol.

 

[p0pperini]

I'm not sure if it's an optical illusion, but the chrome bezels look thicker than the ceramic ones

Interesting - because I also would have sworn that the stainless steel bezels are a little wider than the ceramic ones (and said this in my initial post). But I just measured both, and they're identical - 38.5mm. So yes, the stainless steel gives the impression of being wider - it's an optical illusion. Not that this should come as a surprise... it's why big boned people are advised to wear black.

And just to add, in case anyone's curious... the watches above are, from left to right: Noob v2.2 116500, converted to 116520 spec with gen dial and latest CF stainless bezel, stock ARF 116520, stock ARF 116500, and Noob v2.2 116500 with ARF v2 white dial and bezel.

 

[SS72]

p0pperini Very nice!

I'd love to add some Daytonas to my collection, but the absence of watchmakers in AUS who will work on fakes greatly increases the risk of a me ending up with a thousand dollar piece or steel collecting dust. ​​​​I bought one about five years ago (not here) and that's precisely what happened... about three months and a dozen wears after I received it.

 

[p0pperini]

p0pperini Very nice!

I'd love to add some Daytonas to my collection, but the absence of watchmakers in AUS who will work on fakes greatly increases the risk of a me ending up with a thousand dollar piece or steel collecting dust. ​​​​I bought one about five years ago (not here) and that's precisely what happened... about three months and a dozen wears after I received it.

Thanks. Ah, that is a bummer. Unless you throw yourself wholeheartedly into the hobby and start learning to service, fix and mod your own watches, you may well find it tough. The current watches are generally more robust and build quality improves all the time, but they're fragile mechanical objects... that do go wrong. And when you factor in that the chrono movement is also a complex thing, and sprinkle that with Sod's Law...

 

[nomana]

For me ceramic bezel looks bigger on wrist. The black bezel produces contrast with case, bracelet , (white) dial or your skin in any light conditions. It will pop on the wrist all the time. Watch also looks bigger with black dial.

However, steel bezel can blend better. reflecting light and make watch look smaller (black dial for example)