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Men: 38mm or 42mm?

  • 38mm

    Votes: 414 34.8%
  • 42mm

    Votes: 777 65.2%

  • Total voters
    1,191
I'm planning on the space grey aluminum with the black band.

I like the look of the white, but I doubt it will look good after a few weeks.
 
Thanks guys. Will go for the 38mm.

What a twist! The first time I tried on the 42 I thought for sure I'd get that one.

But anyway, at least I know that for me the stainless steel and the Milanese loop are amazing. Love that combo. The sport band was my second favourite.

The leather loop and link band I was disappointed with.
 
Thanks guys. Will go for the 38mm.

My wrist is the same as yours. I'm going to go 38 too now. Bigger screen might be nicer but this is more fashion than just hardware. I got my 6 plus for screen. I don't want something massive on my wrist all day.

but I also think the band comes into play. If you go for the sport style, a bigger watch front looks just fine. If you are going for the luxury look, the smaller front looks nicer on that size wrist.
 
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Thanks guys. Will go for the 38mm.

What a twist! The first time I tried on the 42 I thought for sure I'd get that one.

But anyway, at least I know that for me the stainless steel and the Milanese loop are amazing. Love that combo. The sport band was my second favourite.

The leather loop and link band I was disappointed with.

Damn I was settled on 42mm and now you have me second guessing myself again. Our wrists are about the same size. Honestly from the pics it looks like you could pull off either... I'm sure the 38mm will look good on me, I'm just worried that it'll be more frustrating to operate, so if I can pull off the 42mm, why not?
 
Damn I was settled on 42mm and now you have me second guessing myself again. Our wrists are about the same size. Honestly from the pics it looks like you could pull off either... I'm sure the 38mm will look good on me, I'm just worried that it'll be more frustrating to operate, so if I can pull off the 42mm, why not?
Try it on first it might work better for you depending on the shape of your wrist. I think I can pull of the 42, but as others have said it just looks a bit chunky which I feel is a bit disproportionate to my arm/hand.
 
170mm, 57mm across.

This... is almost exactly my measurements and looking at your arms is freaky, like looking at my own lmao. How did you steal my arms‽

In all seriousness, this was very helpful. Absolutely settled on the 38mm now. The way the band falls directly to the edge of the wrist on the 42mm is something I really don't like when wearing a watch. All subjective, I know, but, to me, that's the first sign the watch is too big. It's all about the way the band lies.
 
Damn I was settled on 42mm and now you have me second guessing myself again. Our wrists are about the same size. Honestly from the pics it looks like you could pull off either... I'm sure the 38mm will look good on me, I'm just worried that it'll be more frustrating to operate, so if I can pull off the 42mm, why not?

Comes down to the band imo. The bigger watch will work with a sporty band. Most sporty watches are big. If you want an elegant band or a dressier look, you prob better off with the smaller size.
 
This... is almost exactly my measurements and looking at your arms is freaky, like looking at my own lmao. How did you steal my arms‽

In all seriousness, this was very helpful. Absolutely settled on the 38mm now. The way the band falls directly to the edge of the wrist on the 42mm is something I really don't like when wearing a watch. All subjective, I know, but, to me, that's the first sign the watch is too big. It's all about the way the band lies.

Glad I could help, hopefully my posts help others to decide. I know how confusing it can be.
 
You know what else is weird? I just noticed how in videos where they angle the camera to show the right edge of the watch (aimed more towards the left elbow than the fingers) the watch appears smaller. Like your eyes compare the height of the watch with the thicker area of the arm further up and it doesn't seem odd.

I don't know. Just noticed in the pics in the previous page the camera was angled to face the watch's left edge, whereas in the NY Times review (where the 42mm looked fine on a dude with a smaller wrist) the camera was angled opposite.
 
Glad I could help, hopefully my posts help others to decide. I know how confusing it can be.

nope..didn't help me...made it worse!!

I have 170mm circumference wrist, but only about 55mm width. I wear a pebble which looks fine so I was thinking 42mm...but now...maybe I should get the 38mm instead of the 42....

decisions decisions
 
Thanks guys. Will go for the 38mm.

What a twist! The first time I tried on the 42 I thought for sure I'd get that one.

But anyway, at least I know that for me the stainless steel and the Milanese loop are amazing. Love that combo. The sport band was my second favourite.

The leather loop and link band I was disappointed with.

Thanks so much for your feedback! Why were you so disappointed with the link band?
 
nope..didn't help me...made it worse!!

I have 170mm circumference wrist, but only about 55mm width. I wear a pebble which looks fine so I was thinking 42mm...but now...maybe I should get the 38mm instead of the 42....

decisions decisions

There isn't much of difference I the actual screen size. You can google to see.

I'm about 60mm wide and the 42 looks about right, if I had 65mm it would be perfect. When I get back into my gym routine I'm put on some size and my wrists will get a little bigger.

There is a return/exchange policy, 14 days I think, don't quote me. I'm sure apple will be a busy with exchanges.
 
definitely the 38mm for me.

those pics of the two watches side by side on page 1 - 38 certainly looks more proportional on his wrist/arm.
 
After looking through some posts and calculating according to the golden ratio of .618, looks like the 38mm is right for me. I have a wrist width of 50-55mm. Multiplying 55mm by .618 is ~34, closer to 38 than 42 obviously. Hope I'm happy with the choice :)

I just don't like how Apple made preorders the same day as try-ons. That didn't make much sense in my opinion.
 
After looking through some posts and calculating according to the golden ratio of .618, looks like the 38mm is right for me. I have a wrist width of 50-55mm. Multiplying 55mm by .618 is ~34, closer to 38 than 42 obviously. Hope I'm happy with the choice :)

I just don't like how Apple made preorders the same day as try-ons. That didn't make much sense in my opinion.

Same for me. Only disappointing thing is that I put a white 42mm in my fav right before the store went down! The 38mm shots on the last page or so really sold me.
 
Same for me. Only disappointing thing is that I put a white 42mm in my fav right before the store went down! The 38mm shots on the last page or so really sold me.

I know I had just settled on 42 and switched my favorites over before the store went down... Then these photos started popping up and now I'm freaking out.
 
I think at this point, the safest thing for me to do is order both 38mm and 42mm and cancel one after trying one at the store.
 
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