How to Size a Watch to Your Wrist

Wrap a soft tape measure around the flattest part of your wrist, just below the bone. Note the circumference in inches or millimetres. Most adult male wrists fall between 6.25 and 8 inches.

No tape measure? Use a strip of paper and a ruler. The measurement needs to be accurate to about a quarter inch, no better.

Lug-to-lug is the total length of the case from the tip of the top lugs to the tip of the bottom lugs. This is what determines whether a watch overhangs the sides of your wrist.

As a rule, lug-to-lug should not exceed the flat width of your wrist. On a 6.5-inch wrist that is roughly 47mm. On a 7.5-inch wrist, roughly 52mm.

Two 40mm watches can have wildly different lug-to-lug lengths — 46mm on one, 50mm on another. This is why case diameter alone tells you almost nothing.

Under 10mm slides under a shirt cuff. Between 10 and 12mm is the comfortable everyday range. Above 13mm the watch will catch on cuffs, doorframes and desk edges, and it will feel top-heavy on a smaller wrist.

Dive watches and chronographs are almost always at the thicker end. That is a physical consequence of what is inside them, not a design failure.

Before ordering online, find the case diameter and lug-to-lug in the listing, draw that rectangle on paper, cut it out and lay it on your wrist. It looks ridiculous and it works.

It will not tell you about weight or thickness, but it settles the overhang question in thirty seconds and prevents most returns.