This just goes to show how difficult it is to design a watch that everyone will like. In many mid-to-high end watch circles, Hublot, Panerai and the Royal Oak Offshore are three of the cheesiest, giant choices out there. I wouldn't wear one if it was given to me. The regular Royal Oak is a classic, though.
Either way, no reason to make digital smart watches look like classic analogue watches. That big Moto 360 looks ridiculous, and, while a smaller, circular design might look ok, a rectangle makes more sense, functionally.
Most sport luxury watches that size are overbuilt for deep sea diving. A gentleman's watch is still usually in the 36mm-40mm range.
I can't think of a best seller luxury sport watch apart from the daytona which still is sold under 41mm (the rolex subs and similars used to but the new crown guard adds 1mm so they are now 41mm)
I suppose you are referring to some minority "in your house" snob watch circles because these are three of the most iconic actual sport watches, the offshore being around succesfully since 1993, the big bang have won quite every possible design award for a sport watch and a panerai luminor having one of the most timeless designs out there.
Maybe you think the AP royal oak 15400/15300 or the patek nautilus are sport watches but they are not really, they are just steel/metallic of more durable conception watches.
I'm myself a watch collector from a lange und sohne to panerai going throw seiko if you want and patek because I'm not biased, I'm not a stupid snob who is going to say a patek calatrava is a "connoisseur watch" which is much better than a hublot big bang just because I'm going to sound much more sofisticated that way. They are just different watches like a rolls royce phantom and a lamborghini aventador are different cars. Even if you say me the big bang or panerais do not use a inhouse movement, which actually they have now if you want (or we can argue about the real nature of that movements like the p9000 which probably is a jlc based movement actually, but whatever), there are plenty of pure-snob-loved watches that did not have in house movements.
Summarizing, do not be a snob, it does not make you more sophisticated.
I'm sorry to tell you that
nowadays anything below 40mm, not to say 36mm, being neither vintage nor very classic is basically a ladies watch.
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You have your numbers way off.
Most watches, dress watches are 38mm. The gentlemen's Pateks and the likes.
The Rolex Datejust is 36-38mm.
Most "toolwatches" are 40mm.
The entire Rolex SS line (with the exception of the newest EXPII).
The Submariner, The SeaDweller, the GMT Master, the Daytona
Omega's Speedmaster, Omega Seamaster are also 40mm.
This is the tried and true formula for over 60 years. 40mm is usually reserved for deep diver's watch and masculine Chronographs.
44mm was introduced in the 1990s by Panerai and picked up by the Hollywood A-List action stars. 44mm is large. Panerai pretty much pioneered the "oversize" market at 44mm.
47mm is an outlier size. The super big Panerais.
The Moto 360 is an outlier size at 46mm. It is definitely not in the norm. It has been compared to the Braun and Movados due to their simple, modernist look. Those watches are 38mm.
The Moto360 is no masculine watch. It can't go 4,000 feet underwater. It doesn't have 3-G anti-gravity and shock resistance used by air and naval tactical forces. Yet, it is in the size of those masculine tool watches.
It size is merely due to the fact it couldn't be engineered smaller.
You are not very into actual Rolex I'm afraid since all the iconic models using the submariner style case are indeed 41mm watches due to the new crown guard, not 40mm, that's why the case have changed for example from the 16610 to the 116610 and it's very obvious. The daytona keeps smaller BUT when you talk about the new 116600 there is the popular 116660 alternative which is 44mm. And, BTW, this is the biggest complaint to Rolex from most modern design lovers, their small sizes.
AND these (rolex) are the smallest popular sport watches nowadays, because omega is using 42mm as the small size for both the expensive seamasters (PO) and the speedmaster. Not to mention Blancpain and so on
A 36-38mm datejust is just a retired man, call it "the last time I thought about watches were the 80s", or a ladies watch.
Welcome to 2014
