Looking for a watch for the big wristed.

August 14, 2006 7:35 PM

Looking for a watch for the big wristed.

My fiance is a tall, big guy. We have never been able to find a watch that will fit his wrist. Help me find an affordable watch with some style that will fit his big wrist that I can give him as a wedding present. (He draws a cartoon so I don't think he needs anything strictly 'professional'.)

posted by eggerspretty to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (15 answers total)

Not to be tacky, but what do you mean by "affordable"? A watch costs anywhere from $5 to $20,000.
posted by Nelson at 7:41 PM on August 14, 2006

Response by poster: $50-$200. I can't afford much more than that.
posted by eggerspretty at 7:44 PM on August 14, 2006

Nato Style bands are pretty ling and will fit any watch. Barring that, I have a higher end Citizen Ecodrive that came with 4 or 5 extra links, and I can't imagine anyone needing to use all of them. Go to a jewelery store and ask how many links come with various brands or watches.
posted by vonliebig at 7:48 PM on August 14, 2006

Another option, find a brand you like with a metal band, and then before you buy call up the number in the warrenty card and see if you can get some extra links. You'll probably have better luck with bigger brands like Citizen or Seiko, if you can find one that fits your budget.

Or you could always buy two cheap metal band watches off of ebay then harvest the links from one to build an Über watch and take over the world! Muhahahaha.... sorry, I got carried away.
posted by vonliebig at 7:52 PM on August 14, 2006

I'm female (and not large-wristed), but I have a Citizen watch that is too big even with all the removable links removed. Considering vonliebig's comment, perhaps that's characteristic of Citizen watches, and would work out for your husband.
posted by amro at 7:56 PM on August 14, 2006

As people are suggesting, it's not necessarily the WATCH you need, but a band, I have large wrists (prob not as big as his but still) and bought myself a decent study watch, and separate wrist bands, and yeah, for a nice band talk to a jewelry store
posted by edgeways at 9:22 PM on August 14, 2006

You need both the band AND the watch. A standard-sized face with a larger band looks wonky. Not only that, but anything other than a large-faced watch will make your fiancee's hand and arm look freakishly larger (I had the same problem).

I have to agree with amro on the watch selection (Citizen) as that's what I decided on. Go to your local Macy's or whatever and try on the Calibre 2100 or the Nighthawk (the two biggest I found last year) just to get a feel for their size. As long as the bands are long enough, leave the store and go buy a new one off of Ebay from a reputable seller. No one counterfeits Citizens - there's more profit in the over-priced, under-engineered brands and the Eco-drive is difficult to mimic. Mine was $500 msrp, $380 on sale at Macy's and $220 online. Never needs a battery, is GIGANTIC and makes my big hands look more normal. Couldn't be happier.
posted by datacenter refugee at 9:48 PM on August 14, 2006

I often get watch and bands seperately. (as in, I buy a watch I like, judging primarily by the face, then I remove the band, then I add a different band that is more to my liking.) Bands can be as cheap as $5. Find one you like, buy two, use one as a source of extra links to make a longer band. When selecting a band and a watch, keep in mind the comment above to choose a combination that will look right once all that done.
posted by -harlequin- at 2:11 AM on August 15, 2006

Seiko Black (or orange) Monster - available with either a metal or rubber watch band. It's in your price range, and a quality watch. In general, you want to look for a watch that has a case that's at least 40mm. Otherwise it will look pretty dinky on the big guy's wrist.
posted by SteveInMaine at 2:59 AM on August 15, 2006

I am also a big guy with large hands/wrists and my favorite big watch is my Invicta Ocean Ghost II -- it is a big beautiful chunky stainless steel watch, it is an automatic (self-winding/no battery, and it comes in several face colors -- mine has the black face) -- I love it... You can generally find it for between 120-160. You can save a little bit of money by buying it on overstock.com, but I bought mine from an "official authorized dealer" for Invicta/Citizen watches - Discount Watch Online -- he also does price matching, so you can probably get it for $120 (i.e. the same price as from OverStock) -- plus, he honors the warranty, is great about returns, etc.

He has a printable PDF to measure your fiance's wrist (on the right side of the watch page) With that measurement, he will size it for you for free before shipping it - if his wrist is too big for the watch, he should be able to add in additional links. He has a 61 day no-hassle return policy, and he ships for free. I amvery happy with the watch I bought from him, as you can probably tell!

Good luck!
posted by wonderwisdom at 6:33 AM on August 15, 2006

I have a blue-face version of this Fila watch. It's quite large, and looks good. The band is not over-long, but you can get a longer one to fit it. The chronograph functions come in handy.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:39 AM on August 15, 2006

Let me preface this by saying that by saying that I am not a fan of Tommy Bahama. At all. In any way. Having said that, I was looking for a very specific kind of watch for my husband, and this was perfect: http://www.countryewe.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=2104&Category=85. The look is classic, but the numbers are kind of fun and add a twist, the face is huge, and so is the band. It dwarfs my poor husband's wrist (but he loves it anyway). He's using the very last notch and it's still too big. You could easily get a longer band if necessary - that's the beauty of leather bands. Best of all, the Tommy Bahama logo is tiny. It's almost $300 retail, but I got a new one off Ebay for less than $200, and it's the real thing.
posted by Evangeline at 7:24 AM on August 15, 2006

I'm gettin' a watch!
posted by clunkyrobot at 8:37 AM on August 15, 2006

Here is a nice watch I got from Overstock.com for 79% off the list price. Unfortunately, it made my wrist look like a little twig, so I returned it. The dial is less cluttered than a lot of watches, which is good if your fiance prefers a cleaner look.
posted by samw at 11:37 AM on August 15, 2006

My Citizen Ecodrive is pretty big. I'm a big guy, but I still had to have links removed. The face has a lot of weight without being chunky, if that makes sense, so it looks good on a larger wrist. Looks like it's in your price range, too.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 9:39 PM on August 16, 2006