POLL: Rolex 36 or 40-41mm Choose One

[patek_with_sellita]

I got big wrists and rock a 36 explorer. It’s just comfortable and sleek. That’s how our grandpas and other big balls men wore their watches.

 

[Charalampos21]

I got big wrists and rock a 36 explorer. It’s just comfortable and sleek. That’s how our grandpas and other big balls men wore their watches.

I never wore 36 mm watch. But I have big forearms. Do you think I can rock a small watch?

 

[dpd3672]

36 for dress and casual watches, bigger for tool watches (dive watches and chronographs).

I'm a fan of vintage, and think that Rolex following the "Invicta: bigger is better" trend is a little disturbing.

 

[Charalampos21]

36 for dress and casual watches, bigger for tool watches (dive watches and chronographs).

I'm a fan of vintage, and think that Rolex following the "Invicta: bigger is better" trend is a little disturbing.

Dive watch in 36 mm would not look ok imo.

 

[patek_with_sellita]

I never wore 36 mm watch. But I have big forearms. Do you think I can rock a small watch?

Of course mate. I have the same (not fat but fit). A 36mm date just is perfect for example. If people can wear a tank must without a problem then you can for sure rock a smaller watch. It’s more comfortable and trends are shifting towards smaller watches these days. Wear what you like, that’s the most important thing.

 

[jetsby1]

I understand people with bigger wrists will be partial to the 41mm but the Datejust is synonymous to being a 36mm. Also I’m biased because my first Rolex is a 126234 blue dial/fluted bezel/jubilee

 

[surREPtitious]

I always* prefer 36-38mm for watches with narrow bezels, and 39-41mm for watches with wide bezels (like divers and GMT).

This is with a ~6.5" wrist


*exceptions can be made for certain brands, like G-Shock and Panerai, though.

 

[repdoc3]

The 36mm is just classic and classy, very wearable, subtle "stealth wealth" I suppose. Even with the fluted bezel, not too flashy. The larger datejusts just look weird IMHO.

 

[omoyu]

36 mm, comfortable to wear.

 

[Opawlows85]

Pretty much wear Panerai daily (generally 44 or 47) but when I decide to wear rolex I gravitate more towards my 36mm models than the larger ones. As others have mentioned, something about the proportions of the Datejust 41 look off to me. Lately I have been finding my Daydate 40 to look a bit too large and sporty.

 

[Auksas]

41 here. With a wrist of 7.25 inches, anything smaller than 338-39mm looks too small

 

[WIS]

36mm on leather is

But I think it depends on wrist size tbh

 

[Hagus]

I love a 36

 

[mr.constantine]

36mm DJ & DD are perfect imo.

 

[aken]

Visually, I generally like larger dials. I think they look less cluttered and more readable, even more so when they feature sub-dials or date windows.

However, I don't have the wrists to handle a 40mm+ dial, regardless of whether it "wears small" or not, so a 36mm is it. Generally unless you're built like a tank anything bigger than 40mm just looks silly.
I have some vintage 34mm watches which don't look comically small on me.

 

[WatchKnob]

like everything else in life, im precisely stuck between sizes.. for me a 38-39 would be perfect. I love the look of the 2 new 36's DD's I got and fear ordering the 40's the'll be too big and then after selling these ill end up back with another 36 lol

 

[Pureblood]

36mm DateJust is definitely not too small. If James Gandolfini can pull it off as well as he did when he played Tony Soprano with his 36mm Day-Date then anyone can. And that guy was massive! It just takes some time to get used to if you have only ever worn big chunky watches. I think the proportions of the 36 DJ/DD are perfect for that style of watch, elegant and sophisticated. IMHO I think it loses that class when it’s ballooned up to 41mm, the dimensions just aren’t right and it becomes too gaudy.

 

[ebzen02]

A classic no complication dress watch should not be larger than 39mm IMO. I think DD/DJ look cheap and fake with that 41 mm diameter. Would bever buy one. I gues they were created for ballers that are huge lol.

 

[ebzen02]

36mm DateJust is definitely not too small. If James Gandolfini can pull it off as well as he did when he played Tony Soprano with his 36mm Day-Date then anyone can. And that guy was massive! It just takes some time to get used to if you have only ever worn big chunky watches. I think the proportions of the 36 DJ/DD are perfect for that style of watch, elegant and sophisticated. IMHO I think it loses that class when it’s ballooned up to 41mm, the dimensions just aren’t right and it becomes too gaudy.

100%

 

[RepsAllDay]

36mm DateJust is definitely not too small. If James Gandolfini can pull it off as well as he did when he played Tony Soprano with his 36mm Day-Date then anyone can. And that guy was massive! It just takes some time to get used to if you have only ever worn big chunky watches. I think the proportions of the 36 DJ/DD are perfect for that style of watch, elegant and sophisticated. IMHO I think it loses that class when it’s ballooned up to 41mm, the dimensions just aren’t right and it becomes too gaudy.

I agree with this 100% as well. It depends on the watch - generally sports watches especially dive watches suit larger diameters, but there are some exceptions. The Explorer 1 is a sports watch, but I would argue it’s better proportioned at 36 than the larger versions