Are Watches Getting Smaller? Case Sizes of 932 Men's Watches on Amazon

What we measured

We track watches across Amazon US, UK and Germany. For this piece we took every published men's model with a stated case size (932 watches) and, where the listing gives one, a release year (627 watches). Women's models are left out of the trend because their share changed over the years and would skew it.

From 44 mm to 42 mm, then flat

Release years	Men's models	Median case size
2010-2017	186	44 mm
2018-2021	183	42 mm
2022-2026	258	42 mm

The step down happened before 2018. Newer releases have not kept shrinking, and 42 mm is still the middle of the market. Women's models sat at 33-35 mm in every period.

How men's sizes split today

Case size	Share of 932 men's models
Under 38 mm	7%
38-40 mm	21%
41-42 mm	24%
43-44 mm	21%
45 mm and up	27%

More than a quarter of the men's watches are 45 mm or larger. That is why small wrists still have fewer choices than the "smaller watches" headlines suggest.

Which brands have the smaller watches

Brands with at least 20 men's models in our catalog:

Brand	Men's models	Median size	40 mm or smaller
Hamilton	62	40 mm	61%
Timex	111	40 mm	50%
Casio	93	42.5 mm	40%
Orient	78	41.5 mm	28%
Bulova	54	42 mm	27%
Longines	20	41 mm	25%
Rado	25	42 mm	24%
Oupinke	23	42 mm	21%
Invicta	230	46 mm	12%
Stuhrling Original	36	42 mm	8%
Guess	90	44 mm	6%

If you want something at 40 mm or under, Hamilton and Timex give you the best odds. Invicta is the largest brand in the catalog and also the biggest on the wrist.

Thickness, lugs and water resistance

• Thickness: the median men's quartz watch is 12.0 mm thick and the median automatic 12.1 mm (618 and 273 models). Across the whole catalog quartz looks thinner, at 10.5 mm, but that comes from slim women's quartz models.
• Lug width: 22 mm is the most common (287 models), then 20 mm (236), 21 mm (76), 26 mm (68) and 18 mm (54). Check it before you buy a strap; 21 mm turns up more often than people expect.
• Water resistance: 100 m is the most common rating (301 models), then 50 m (250), 30 m (164) and 200 m (108).

What this means if you have a small wrist

Case diameter is only part of the fit. Lug-to-lug length decides whether a watch overhangs your wrist, so a 40 mm watch with long, straight lugs can wear bigger than a 42 mm one with short, curved lugs. Our guide on how to size a watch walks through measuring your wrist and reading these numbers.

Limits of this data

This is one Amazon-focused catalog, so it leans on Invicta, Casio, Timex and fashion brands, and luxury brands are thin. Release years come from listing data and are not always clean. Sizes are the manufacturer's stated case diameter.