On him even the 45mm looks big lol if you have a man’s arm with hair it won’t look huge
The 45mm looks too big on me even with hairy man arms.
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Look how big Apple Watch Ultra is on a small wrist!
- Thread starter canyonblue737
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The 45mm looks too big on me even with hairy man arms.
I apologize if I missed anyone calling this out. I think John Gruber nailed this topic on his website Daring Fireball. Here is what he said about the size of the Apple Watch Ultra:
"Here’s a thing I’ve learned over the years as a somewhat serious watch enthusiast. A lot of people are very self-conscious about wearing a large or even large-ish watch. “I’ve got small wrists, I don’t know if I can pull it off” is a sentiment expressed dozens of times per day, every day, on watch forums the world over. But it’s almost never the case that you, the wearer, look bad wearing a too-big watch. It’s that the watch itself looks too big. It’s the watch, not the wearer. But we humans are self-conscious beings, and a first-person perspective of your own wrist is not at all like the perspective of others looking at your wrist.
What I’m saying here is that if you go to a store and try on an Apple Watch Ultra, there is a very good chance your reaction is going to be “This is way too big for me.” If you’re thinking that because you don’t like the way it looks, well, then Ultra is not for you. Your watch should make you happy every time you look at it. But if you’re thinking “this is too big for me” because you’re worried about how others will think it looks on your wrist, you’re overthinking it. If you like it, wear it. People — men and women alike — with even small wrists can get away with surprisingly large watches. Buy the watch that makes you happy. That’s my advice for any watch."
I have always found John's reviews of Apple products to be incredibly insightful. Here is a link to his full review, if you are interested in reading more: https://daringfireball.net/2022/09/apple_watch_ultra
"Here’s a thing I’ve learned over the years as a somewhat serious watch enthusiast. A lot of people are very self-conscious about wearing a large or even large-ish watch. “I’ve got small wrists, I don’t know if I can pull it off” is a sentiment expressed dozens of times per day, every day, on watch forums the world over. But it’s almost never the case that you, the wearer, look bad wearing a too-big watch. It’s that the watch itself looks too big. It’s the watch, not the wearer. But we humans are self-conscious beings, and a first-person perspective of your own wrist is not at all like the perspective of others looking at your wrist.
What I’m saying here is that if you go to a store and try on an Apple Watch Ultra, there is a very good chance your reaction is going to be “This is way too big for me.” If you’re thinking that because you don’t like the way it looks, well, then Ultra is not for you. Your watch should make you happy every time you look at it. But if you’re thinking “this is too big for me” because you’re worried about how others will think it looks on your wrist, you’re overthinking it. If you like it, wear it. People — men and women alike — with even small wrists can get away with surprisingly large watches. Buy the watch that makes you happy. That’s my advice for any watch."
I have always found John's reviews of Apple products to be incredibly insightful. Here is a link to his full review, if you are interested in reading more: https://daringfireball.net/2022/09/apple_watch_ultra
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Yep, most logical wording on the size of the Ultra to date.
Exactly!! There is no such thing as "this is way too big watch for me". There is only this is so small it is useless, especially digital device with the screen you need to see and touch. There is a reason iPhone Mini is a failure. I predict in 2-3 years we will see even larger Ultra and regular AW will increase.
Solo Loop size - or wrist circumference in general - is not a very good metric, though. It matters more how wide your wrist is. You could have a relatively wide, yet skinny wrist or a relatively narrow, but meaty/muscular wrist and would end up having the same circumference, but the Ultra would look much better on the first guy vs the second guy.
Ultra on my dainty 155mm wrist. It doesn’t look as big as I thought! Not to me anyway and that’s all that matters 
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Chiming in as a size 130 wrist (size 1 in solo loop). It looks gigantic on me, as I expected, but it totally fits — even the one size fits all ocean band— and incredibly I love it! The fit and finish the battery life the incredible size of that bright bright screen! Coming from a 41 it is a big shift and I’m not sure about using it as a daily driver. But for exercise hell yeah! And maybe daily as well — I love it that much! Both the alpine loop band and the ocean band fit well and comfortably. I love it!
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Reviewing my photos I have to say it does look a bit like a salad plate on my wrist! But the photos distort the size. Best to check out in person.
I think most overthink this - I probably did too. I have a small wrist at 175mm - not as small as some, but not large. For me fits comfortably and looks just fine. My wife has a very tiny writs at 150mm and tried it on - she now wants the Ultra too (battery, screen, etc.). Looks good on her. If you like it - great, if not no problem. More about what you like than anything else
I really dont care what people wear or what it looks like but I do care about the complaining about inaccurate heart rate measurement posts that are about to start coming in droves due to too much movement of the ultra during activity. This is one of the main complaints from fenix wearers.
My personal watch tastes have changed over time. At one point I was all about diver's watches - BIG ones. I wanted a watch that entered the room before I did. Real wrist-dominating time pieces.
As I got older I began to appreciate less wrist presence. Not small, but something that blends in better and fits a little more traditionally.
I've put my fancy mechanical watches in my safe now and I wear either my Watch or a Casio G-Shock basic square. Sometimes even a FitBit Versa 2. I don't dive anymore and I'm more about step count and workout monitoring. Also I've come to rely on a 24-hour time system as that's what my company uses. Once you get used to 24-hour format the whole AM/PM thing is an unnecessary complication.
As I got older I began to appreciate less wrist presence. Not small, but something that blends in better and fits a little more traditionally.
I've put my fancy mechanical watches in my safe now and I wear either my Watch or a Casio G-Shock basic square. Sometimes even a FitBit Versa 2. I don't dive anymore and I'm more about step count and workout monitoring. Also I've come to rely on a 24-hour time system as that's what my company uses. Once you get used to 24-hour format the whole AM/PM thing is an unnecessary complication.
The original large-faced watches where designed specifically to be worn on top of what you were wearing - e.g. dive watches were not put on an exposed wrist but rather on top of your neoprene suit. Likewise with pilot/aviator timepieces designed to be worn on the outside of flight suits - the point was to always be able to see time or elapsed time without needing to fiddle with pulling a sleeve up, moving your wrist up close to see time, etc. Things that made the watch even bigger were things like rotating bezels - they only turn in one direction, could be rotated with gloves on, and were your real indication of how long you've been underwater.
They were never meant to be every-day wear. You wore it because it was essential to the activity. In comparison, men's "dress watches" were < 35mm in most cases, and even smaller for women to match a smaller wrist.
At some point, the larger watches became trendy because they represented wealth and drew attention because of their presence. Of course, most Rolex Submariners and Sea Dwellers never see water beyond rain. The Breitling Emergency was meant specifically for pilots with a real RF emergency beacon in it, but became a unique status symbol for some frequent flyers once upon a time. And of course, nobody buying a Omega Speedmaster intends on using theirs on the moon.
These days, it's just about personal preference. If you like it and you can wear it *confidently*, that's all that matters. Just buy it for yourself, not to impress others.
All that said, Ultra does appear to be purpose-built for diving. A large visible display and glove friendly button design, along with a crown guard are all good things for someone that is going underwater. You can obviously use it for every day wear if you want, but considering how much Apple leaned into the dive functions in their presentation, they paid the most attention here. It's the first generation of the Ultra line, so I would fully expect more sizes and shapes down the road. This is a big experiment for them as well, as much as the $10k gold Apple Watch was.
Personally, I might have jumped at a 47mm and absolutely at 45mm, but 49mm is just too big for me. I would not be surprised if Ultras became a 45/49mm offering, and regular AW stayed at 41/45mm.
They were never meant to be every-day wear. You wore it because it was essential to the activity. In comparison, men's "dress watches" were < 35mm in most cases, and even smaller for women to match a smaller wrist.
At some point, the larger watches became trendy because they represented wealth and drew attention because of their presence. Of course, most Rolex Submariners and Sea Dwellers never see water beyond rain. The Breitling Emergency was meant specifically for pilots with a real RF emergency beacon in it, but became a unique status symbol for some frequent flyers once upon a time. And of course, nobody buying a Omega Speedmaster intends on using theirs on the moon.
These days, it's just about personal preference. If you like it and you can wear it *confidently*, that's all that matters. Just buy it for yourself, not to impress others.
All that said, Ultra does appear to be purpose-built for diving. A large visible display and glove friendly button design, along with a crown guard are all good things for someone that is going underwater. You can obviously use it for every day wear if you want, but considering how much Apple leaned into the dive functions in their presentation, they paid the most attention here. It's the first generation of the Ultra line, so I would fully expect more sizes and shapes down the road. This is a big experiment for them as well, as much as the $10k gold Apple Watch was.
Personally, I might have jumped at a 47mm and absolutely at 45mm, but 49mm is just too big for me. I would not be surprised if Ultras became a 45/49mm offering, and regular AW stayed at 41/45mm.
I'm the original poster of this thread... its a big watch but credit where credit is due... I have really small 160mm wrists for a guy and I just put it on with the Alpine Loop (which obviously has lugs) and I think it looks really good. I was worried I couldn't pull it off but I think its fine. It helps the watch is a rectangle so the width is smaller than an equivalent 49mm round watch would have. I honestly think it is the nicest looking Apple Watch I've ever had and I've owned the S0, S3, S4, S6, and S7. The screen as everyone knows is essentially the same size as the 45mm S7/8 but as an illusion it *appears* quite a bit larger when doing things like enter passcodes because the image doesn't wrap downward at the edges anymore so it seems "more roomy." I like it, I think Apple has a real winner on there hands for getting people to shell out premium money, certainly a lot better an option than the old Edition models which despite those of us who loved them, sold in very very small numbers.
Another size 1 solo loop here. Just tried the Ultra at an Apple store, and I agree -- it looks gigantic, but it fits! It felt especially comfortable with the ocean band. In fact, it felt more snug than my current 41mm S6 with Nike sports band. Granted, I only had it on for a minute, so who knows how it feels after a few hours. But this is a pleasant surprise, as when I've tried the 45mm Apple watches before, it's always been an immediate sensation of, "no, this is too big, it's uncomfortable, I'll never be able to wear it." I fully expected the same or worse from the ultra, but instead it was like, "oh, comfortable, I'd like to wear it for a day and see how it works out."
So my conclusion is, if you aren't concerned with how a watch looks to others, and the ultra has features that interests you (for me, it's the brighter screen, which I hope will make the screen easier to see as my eye sight is only going to get worse with age), then you should give it a try, even if you have tiny wrists. There's something different about the way the ultra lies on your wrist vs previous Apple watches, so the ultra may fit, even when the regular Apple watch doesn't.
Night Spring you are definitely onto something regarding the fit. It is just way more comfortable than the other Apple watches — even the 41. Wearing the Alpine loop now and I don’t even notice it is on my wrist. As for worrying about how it looks to others, who cares??? That said, I showed a few people yesterday and they loved it, saying chunky is in! The screen brightness is a joy, and the battery life simply amazing. You can work out for a couple of hours while listening to music and still have battery for hours and hours. My Apple Watch 7 would not be capable of that kind of use without running out of battery very quickly. This watch, I believe, is the best Apple has ever made. Is it big? Absolutely. But it is a joy to use!
That's great to hear. Your alpine loop is the small size, right? The alpine loop they had at the store must have been a medium or large, it totally didn't fit.
I'm currently on the fence about getting it this year, mainly because I'd like a temperature sensor that can tell me if I have a fever. Wondering if Apple will have that next year, or will it take longer?
If I do get the ultra, I'd probably go for the ocean loop, because I'm always getting the watch band wet when washing my hands/doing dishes, and I heard the alpine and trail loops take a while to dry. Have you gotten your band wet yet, and if so, how long does it take to dry?
Unfortunately, this is highly unlikely. The wrist is just a very poor place to accurately measure core temperature.
It will be fun to see all the folks convincing themselves it ”fits”, looking like flavor flav, switching to the upcoming smaller size with relief next year…
Most of the pictures showing how big the Ultra is are taken with the wide angle lens of the iPhone. This lens creates a lot of distortion for objects close to the camera making the size appear greater than it is. For that same reason fashionable photographs use lenses that put them at a distance from the model and flatten the distortion.
Agree that a smaller size would likely be more comfortable for smaller wrists, but if you do want one now, then the current model is wearable, as opposed to being so uncomfortable it's unwearable.