Despite the virtually unchanged averages, there were hints that some brands were trying to toss more bones to the smaller-watch crowd. For instance, the range on Patek Philippe’s watches shaved off the high-end and expanded towards the smaller stuff.
IWC is the one brand that’s made significantly smaller pieces since 2019. The chart for the maker, best known for its huge pilot watches, actually features a noticeable downslope as it moves into the 2020s:
The brand’s releases in 2019 focused on historically accurate pilot watches, which were made large for extra legibility in the cockpit. Those pieces often clocked in at over 45mm! But IWC said phooey to traditional sizing over the past few years. Its Pilot’s Watch got downsized to 41mm and the brand released the crowd-pleasing Mark XX in a very wearable 40mm. In 2023, the brand only put out one piece larger than 41mm (compared to NINE in 2019). It so badly wanted to keep to this smaller size that its 2023 release the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 actually measured in at 41.9! I didn’t survey all of Panerai’s famously huge releases, but it’s also notably expanding its range of pint-sized pieces.
There are two main conclusions to draw from this data. The first is that really big watches are largely being phased out. IWC’s turn towards the friendlier low-40s speaks volumes about the market for pieces rumbling closer to 50. Audemars Piguet, meanwhile pushed its Code 11:59 down from 41mm to 38mm, and its premier releases with collaborators like Travis Scott and Alyx’s Matthew Williams started at 37mm and didn’t go beyond 41mm.
The second takeaway? The fact that the overall average remained stagnant tells me the pieces we hold up as examples of shrinkage are really just new ends of a widening range. Tudor’s Black Bay 54, for instance, came in at the nerd-approved 37mm, while the brand’s other new sport watches came in at 41, 42, and 43mm. Maybe it’s not necessarily that all watches are downsizing, but that there’s now a far greater variety of available sizes. As Cho told me last year, “it’s a very similar situation to selling clothing. You stock multiple sizes of a shirt because people come in all shapes and sizes.” Watch collectors will take that shift.
Via gq.com
