Best big watches

Through the last 20 years or so, we’ve seen wristwatch trends come and go, and one rather prominent one at the turn of the century was big watches. You know the kind, kicked off in part by hip-hop music videos filled with gigantic iced-out Jacob & Co Five Time Zones, all 47mm of them, and very much in-your-face. Through the 2000s, the trend stretched further, with Panerai interest at a fever pitch. Luckily, as time has moved on, our appetite for larger watches has somewhat subsided, however, this has led to another problem. What if you have wrists that are comparable to tree trunks? While many people will tell you “Wear what you like, size doesn’t matter!”, I can assure you, I’ve struggled with smaller watches in the past – it matters.

It’s frustrating because there are so many watches that the larger-wristed among us would truly love to enjoy. A Cartier Tank, or even in some cases, a 36mm sports watch, just doesn’t work. So what choice do we have? Fortunately, there are some very cool big watches out there, usually measuring 42mm and over, and you don’t have to go back to 2003 to find them – just read this guide.

If you have arms like Rambo and often find yourself deep behind enemy lines, engaging in a one-man assault to save humanity, or, at least fancy yourself as doing that, then no other watch is up to that job than a G-Shock. In fact, if you look on the wrist of most muscle-bound commandos not only on the big screen but in real life, and you’ll find one of Casio’s finest shock-resistant watches on their wrist. Often chosen for their hard-wearing nature and resilience, G-Shocks on big wrists just give off that hard-as-nails appearance – even if you’re a big softy.

Our choice is the G-Shock GA-2000S-1AER, and while you wouldn’t describe it as a pretty watch, it’s not meant to be. It’s a typical G-Shock design through and through, tough and unapologetic in its wrist presence. At 51.2mm in diameter, it’s one of the largest watches on this list, but this particular G-Shock is circular, which is somewhat unusual for the brand, and tones down its appearance a little, which isn’t a terrible thing. Inside features Casio’s successful Carbon Core Guard technology, ensuring the watch maintains its high levels of shock resistance while remaining lightweight and easy to wear. The watch is packed full of features, too, such as 5 daily alarms, a date and weekday display, a world time function, a countdown timer, and much more. Finishing the watch is a hefty rubber strap, which offers a premium look and feel to this model. The watch is available in monochrome black and white, not-so-subtle black and yellow, olive green and finally, a camo dial variation for when you really need to go into the jungle. As usual, this G-Shock offers tough looks that are easy on the wallet. Price: US$150

There are plenty of watches out there that bear nicknames from the actors who wore them in movies, but not many of those actors manage to make a 47.8mm watch look almost small. The Seiko SNJ025 “Arnie” shares its nickname with the ref. H558-5009 it’s iterated on, with that watch featured on the wrist of muscle-bound, 22-inch-armed Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1985 cult classic Commando. Somehow, Arnold managed to make the gargantuan watch look perfect on screen, but in real life, the watch is actually a smash hit, too.