Even though a watch is an accessory, how you wear it does matter–and finding the perfect fit is essential. Watches are a stunning addition to any ensemble, but how do you know if yours fits appropriately? How tight should you be wearing your watch?
Your watch should be loose enough for a single finger to slide beneath the band. However, the band should fit tightly when a finger is inserted. If your watch can rotate or slide on your wrist, it’s too loose and needs adjusting. A good fit ensures the watch won’t drop too close to the hand.
In the rest of this article, I will discuss how to get the perfect fit from your watch, why you should care about its fit, and signs that yours fits poorly. Plus, how to fix an improper watch fit. So if you want to learn more about wearing a watch like a pro, read on.
Table of Contents
How Your Watch Should Sit on Your Wrist
When it comes to wearing a watch, not only is there an ideal tightness, but there is proper wrist placement. Some people like to disregard the placement; however, a properly placed watch does look significantly more fashionable.
So, where exactly should your watch sit on your wrist?
Your watch should always sit centered on your wrist, slightly above the wrist bone. Placing the watch above the wrist bone ensures you still have complete flexibility in your wrist, rather than knocking it into a clunky piece of hardware whenever you try to move.
You must check for correct tightness to ensure your watch stays in place. If it’s too loose, it will not stay above the wrist bone, and you will have a watch that loosely hangs and is too close to your hand. Likewise, if your wristwatch slides more than 1 inch (25mm) on your wrist, it’s likely too loose.
Reasons Wearing a Watch Incorrectly Is Bad
Wearing a watch too tight or loose is not only a fashion faux pas, but it can also cause problems for you and the watch. I know that sounds a little dramatic, but there are a few things to consider before wearing a watch incorrectly.
- An overly tight or loose watch looks odd. Watches are meant to sit in the middle of your wrist and act as a fashionable timepiece. A watch twisting and sliding all over the place looks messy and far less stylish.
- Wearing a watch too tightly causes wear on the bracelet. When you wear a watch band too tight, it can stress the links, which can cause them to break over time.
- A band that’s too tight can cut off proper blood flow to your hand. If you wear a watch extremely tightly, you can alter how much blood can flow to your hand. A blood flow issue is generally more of a concern with leather bands.
- A properly fitting watch is much more comfortable. When your watch lies where it’s supposed to on your wrist, you will feel far less discomfort. You will also have to adjust it far less throughout your day.
- A loose watch will hurt your wrist and pull out arm hairs. If the watch is constantly sliding around, pinching, and pulling out hair on your wrist. You will especially notice this problem if you wear a chain link band rather than a leather one.
As you can see, there are quite a few reasons you shouldn’t wear your watch incorrectly. However, the most important reason is your comfort. An improperly worn watch can cause several issues and look a little strange.
Signs Your Watch Doesn’t Fit Properly
Now that you know why watches need to be worn correctly, you might wonder how you tell if you’re wearing yours right. Of course, the easiest way to know if your watch is on correctly is to ascertain your comfort level.
However, if you are still unsure, there are a few signs that your watch isn’t fighting as it should.
- It keeps sliding up and down.
- Your watch can rotate on your wrist.
- It is often getting bumped or scraped on things.
- It feels uncomfortable on your wrist.
- It is cutting off circulation.
- Your watch band looks like it’s straining.
- You can’t insert a finger under the band.
Each of these are signs your watch needs adjusting. It’s important to note that wearing the same watch over the years requires re-adjusting.
Bands on watches can weaken over time if they aren’t high-end, and gaining or losing a significant amount of weight can also significantly affect the fit of your watch.
If you feel your watch doesn’t look good or feels strange on your wrist, there is a good chance it needs adjusting.
What To Do if Your Watch Doesn’t Fit
Watches typically come slightly oversized to compensate for larger wrists. A larger band allows you to remove links from the band to fit your watch to your desired size. However, this can be tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing. So what exactly should you do if your watch doesn’t fit properly?
Ways to fix a watch band that doesn’t fit:
- Order a new watch band. Many watch companies offer different sizes of bands that you can add when placing an order for a watch. Typically the band a watch comes with is quite large. However, removing one is generally easier if your watch has metal links than swapping out the whole band.
- Ask the retailer to remove links before shipping the watch. Some watch shops are willing to custom-size the watch before shipping if you ask. Having another remove the links can be ideal if you have shaky hands or don’t want to deal with removing a link from a watch.
- Remove the links yourself. The best way to ensure a good fit is to remove the links from your watch personally. If you remove too many or few, you can constantly adjust them. Removing them is easy, and most watch retailers will provide you with a link adjustment kit.
Though removing links from your watch band can seem daunting, it’s the best way to get a perfect fitting watch. Additionally, if you happen to fluctuate in weight, it’s an excellent skill to change your watch’s tightness level as needed.
How To Easily Remove Links From a Watch Band
Being able to remove watch links is a valuable skill. Plus, it’s relatively easy to accomplish, so long as you have the correct tools. If you have a leather or band made of material other than metal, you will likely need to purchase another size rather than alter the watch band.
What you will need:
- A ball peen hammer.
- A watch link removal kit.
If your watch didn’t already come with a removal kit, I recommend EFIXTKs Watch Band Link Removal and Repair Kit (available on Amazon). This kit is fantastic because it comes with every size link remover you could need, a dual head hammer, and it has over 24 pieces. This set also includes some replacement pieces.
How to remove a link from a watch band:
- Inspect the inside of your watch band. You should notice some up or down arrows imprinted into the metal. These arrows signal which way to insert the link remover tool.
- Choose how many links to remove. How many links you need to remove will show you where to pop out the pins on the band.
- Insert the link remover and gently tap it with the ball peen hammer. The link should easily slip out, resulting in the link being nearly freed. You will need to pull the small metal pin from the other side.
- Repeat the process on the other side of the link. You must remove the small metal pins on both sides to free your links. Be careful not to lose the pins as they are pretty small.
- Close the remaining links’ loop and add one of the metal pins. You must use your hammer to tap the pin and secure the links carefully.
Once you have reattached the links to your watch, it’s all ready to be worn! Just be sure you get the pin in securely so that your watch doesn’t fall apart on you later. Additionally, put your tools somewhere you can easily find them again if your watch needs adjusting.
If you’re a visual learner, I recommend watching AlanKuAudio’s video on how to easily remove a watch link. He does a great job of quickly showing which tools to use. Plus, how to quickly get each link in and out of your watch band.
Conclusion
Your watch needs to be worn relatively snuggly. However, it should never be too tight as this can be bad for the watch and yourself. You should always be able to slip a finger under the band, but the watch should never slide up and down your wrist easily. Your watch should generally rest just above the wrist bone.
