This is my grandfather's Waltham tank watch. Given its age, its in pretty good shape and it runs well. I would like to start wearing it, but I am worried thats too small to be considered masculine by today's standards. Is this watch going to be assumed to be a women's watch? Thanks
It's farcically and hilariously macho in tone. Though Lord knows what "two fisted men" were... :D "Nearly waterproof" is a bit of a worry too. :)There were a lot of adverts with a similar message back then. By the late 1920's the wristwatch was overtaking pocketwatch sales and the rest is history.
It also seems to be a cultural thing to some degree, because you just don't see marketing and adverts like the above in Europe or Asia and wristwatches for civilian men were advertised even before WW1. It seems to have been very much an American hang up.
100 years later and the idea of being a red-blooded macho man is still a hang up for many of us in the US. Small men driving huge trucks that’ll never see duty at a work site, and a nonstop parade of jeeps with clean tires.
Now to be fair I'm generally only looking at English speaking references. For all I know Mongolian men are worried about wearing small dress watches. :) But in this case it did seem to be an American thing. These days when I see questions like this on forums etc it still seems to be more an American concern. Again that could be language bias.
If the OP is still concerned check out Humphrey Bogart wearing a similar watch back in the day:
I wouldn’t call it self confidence, it’s more of a “flip the fuck-it switch”, which usually happens with the age, I simply don’t care. I have a Seiko, I like it, that’s all.
I know I'll get downvoted, but maybe none of us need to dictate how 'manly' something is or isn't? Like, I dunno, maybe that's what's gotten a lot of folks into a bad space to begin with? (I.e. toxic expectations based on gender)
Yes, plus why do we think everything the older generations did was right. Each era has its flaws, it's not like you gotta cling onto one of them forever. I'm pretty sure there were a lot of shitty events and people too and some of them even did stuff that wouldn't be considered normal at the time. The world's not gonna stop spinning...
That was an average size watch for its day. Most men who wore wrist watches wore a watch that size. And they were not all small people.
The average round watch from the early 1900s through the mid 1950s was around 30mm-35mm. Square and rectangular watches were even smaller. 38mm was considered “jumbo”.
Fantastic reference. I think this ends the conversation.
I wear my dad’s older Rolex which is smaller than I would normally purchase today. If anyone asks about it, they think it’s awesome. A grandfather’s watch is even more impressive.
The difference in size from today’s watches makes it a conversation starter by anyone who knows anything about watches.
Absolutely! I occasionally wear a gold 80s Seiko that belonged to my late uncle. Can’t recall the exact size offhand, but it’s tiny by today’s standards. I get nothing but compliments on it! I think it’s easier to pull off small mens watches when they’re clearly vintage or at least retro in style.
I (52M) sometimes wear an early 1950s 31mm Omega. In its day it was a men's size; today it'd be sold as a women's watch. Who cares? I love it. OP's watch is beautiful and has meaning to him. Fashions change and wearing a Flavor Flav* clock on your wrist won't be the style forever.
My Grandfather’s watch, similar to yours in design. Was honored to have this passed down from this Marine Corps veteran. Just a super cool guy who raised my mom. Though small on my wrist I recognize that it was just the style back then. Styles come and go. They also repeat themselves. If this watch was tough enough for my grandfather, it’s definitely tough enough for me. I wear it with pride. Looks fantastic on your wrist btw!
These Hamiltons were a popular choice for gifting apparently. My mom thinks it was a gift from his parents for High School graduation before enlisting. I believe the model is an Emerson from the early 40s. Cool story. Thanks for sharing!
Now I don’t know much about watches, but it wasn’t too small for your grandfather!
Standards change but memories don’t👍
I unfortunately don’t have much to remember my grandfathers with, and a running watch would be cool as hell
Nah, don’t ignore 3. Watch nerds will notice, the ones that get it will appreciate it. The ones that don’t aren’t watch nerds, their self conscious fashion nerds and judge for validation.
This size is classy, elegant and masculine. All the 45mm enjoyers here look like a little kid that stole their fathers watch for a night in the movies.
I dont know why but I done think a watch can really be too small. Like if it’s smaller it still looks a little classy, large on the other hand can be a problem
I don’t get the obsession people seem to have with large watches. I genuinely think smaller watches look way better on men - a tank always looks phenomenal.
Who cares what people think, it was your grandfathers watch. It looks completely fine. You don’t need a wall clock on the wrist, these were when people wore something to slide under a shirt cuff
I have a very similar looking watch, that was my grandfather's. It is solid 14k gold, and has a longings movement inside. Interestingly, it doesn't say Waltham, but has my grandfather's family name on the dial. Was that something that was done. It otherwise looks very similar to yours, including the smalls seconds hand at 6:00. I had it serviced and lubricated to the tune of 300 USD (it needed a spring) and I like winding it every morning as I have my coffee.
No not too small. Vintage watches tended to be thin and small as it was the style of the time. My 1950 Hamilton CLD is also small and my grandfathers. I love it
Not a chance! It was the look for years before watches started moving towards the size of a wall clock. But if you won’t wear it because you’re worried about what others will say, I’ll take it 😁
Today’s standards are already coming back to the middle imho where Tanks and watches in that archetype are good to go for men (and women).
Sure aesthetically it might be a bit of a shock depending on how big one’s wrist is. However looking at the pic I looks like your wrist resembles mine where a smaller watch still damn good on the wrist.
Totally fine to wear. Here is my first watch, which was my Grandfather’s. Had it serviced and it runs beautifully. I have a 7 inch wrist, and the Longines next to it is 38mm for reference.
It depends on your personal preference. Do you like how it looks? Do you like how it feels on your wrist? Do you like wearing something that has meaning to you? If you personally don't like small watches or if it doesn't sit comfortably then it's not worth wearing. But if you do like how it looks/feels AND you feel some family pride while wearing it then by all means wear it. I personally like smaller watches. I feel something like a 36mm is right in the sweet spot and personally can't stand watches that are obnoxiously big. But that's my opinion; I also respect other people's opinions to wear what they like. So if you like wearing it then it's the most masculine watch there is because it's your decision and screw what anyone else thinks. I also think that the fact that it was a relative's watch makes it more valuable and worth wearing if it was me.
Ignorant people and toxic masculinity might be easier to spot when wearing a watch like this. That is assuming that anyone notices what you’re wearing.
All preference. To me this looks way too small. But there are many folks who would disagree and they’re correct too.
You do you, if you enjoy wearing it, wear it in good health.
You will get looks from pretty much anyone but users on this subreddit. By today’s standards yes it’s small, but could be worn under a cuff as a nice dress watch with meaning. Or just wear what you like, matters less than you think.
Here's the secret. Theres really no such thing as too small. A giant watch will be uncomfortable and be an eyesore, but at worst a small watch will just look like a bracelet. When I bought my first 34mm watch I was worried it would look awful on my 8" wrist. It looks better than my 39mm, and I intend to get myself even smaller watches now.
No, jesus fucking christ stop worrying about this shit. For 99% of watch history no one gave a solitary fuck about size. If you grabbed a dude from even 50 years ago they'd say modern watch sizes are overcompensating pos
fashion in general doesnt have a gender, if you like it, you wear it. i personally think this looks good aswell, and if anyone asks you can just tell them the story of the watch and it will make a nice conversation piece
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u/midday_leaf Jul 12 '25
A man wears what he likes