Oversized Luxury Watches: Going Out of Style?

A few years ago it seemed that everyone almost suddenly jumped on the oversized luxury watch trend. For men, many were opting for much larger dials and chronograph styles and I personally saw many women wearing men’s watches as part of this trend. But is the oversized watch now a thing of the past? Today we’ll be taking a look at the oversized luxury watch trend and deciding whether it’s thriving or diving and whether or not now is the right time to sell.

What Do We Class as an Oversized Watch?

Luxury Watches

Of course, the answer to this question is a little bit subjective because it depends on the wearer. However, generally speaking, we suggest that anything around the 42mm range and bigger would be classed as an oversized watch for men. For women, anything around 38mm and above could be considered oversized. It all depends really on the size of your wrist as that can affect the appearance of the oversized aesthetic.

What Made Oversized Watches So Popular?

Luxury Watches

Once again, this can depend on who you’re speaking with. With women in particular it became the ultimate fashion accessory and seemed to compliment the whole “power suit” aesthetic. At the time they first became popular, oversized blazers with padded shoulders were all the rage and an oversized luxe watch really complemented what was considered a bold, statement look.

There were and are also practical implications. The bigger the watch, the larger the dial making it far easier to see and read; especially if you’re using a chronograph watch which has a lot of smaller dials on the watch face.

There’s also the quality aspect of it. Many smaller watches, especially women’s watches, are made with quartz movements which are usually done for practical reasons due to their size. Whereas, mostly all men’s watches have a mechanical movement; especially in the luxury watch market. This makes them a far more reliable investment. Modern luxury oversized sports models are also extremely practical for the modern wearer who wants to seamlessly transition from the office to adventure. They’re made from high-quality materials that tend to be scratch resistant and impervious to the elements.

So, Is the Oversized Watch out of Fashion?

Fashion trends can come and go quite easily, yet one of the appealing features of a luxury watch is that it usually has a timeless, classic design that will look good for years to come. So, if you’ve invested in an oversized watch already, or are thinking about doing so soon and you decide that it’s not for you, you can always choose to sell it on to someone else. Remember the term ‘oversized’ can often be subjective. Oversized to you might not be oversized to someone else, meaning if the trend fades, you won’t be left with something you don’t want to wear or can’t sell.

Do I think that oversized is past its time? My personal opinion is no. I think they’re here to stay, even if it’s just for a little while longer; especially in the men’s market. Nevertheless, I decided to do some more research to see if my opinion backed the trends. It appears that the number of searches for oversized watches has decreased in popularity over time and there’s not as much interest as there was circa 2016/2017 when the trend really peaked.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean an item is no longer fashionable, it just means not as many people are rushing to find out more about them, or purchase them. So, I also took a look at the collections of some luxury watchmakers and although trends like minimalism or colour pop have worked their way into some designs, the overall larger aesthetic still appears to be a thing.

There are some daintier ladies options out there but in general, the campaigns are still featuring large chunky designs, which is in keeping with current jewellery fashion trends too.

So for now, though interest in oversized watches has decreased, they’re not quite out of the door yet. We’ve probably reached the saturation phase and the hype isn’t where it once was.  

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