Big men wearing small watches can be a truly manly style statement in business – and a quiet status symbol. This was underlined for me recently when meeting some formidable businessmen who have made a serious impact on their industries. Apart from savvy, taste and calm confidence, there’s something distinguished about their style: small, understated wristwatches.Watch size got completely out of proportion to business attire in line with the economic boom. Post-recession, however, massive watches suddenly looked as incongruous and as brash as 4x4s trekking across the slow traffic plains of the Brompton Cross/ Sloane Square delta. I’m not suggesting we all eBay our Panerais – it’s just a question of a time and a place. And business is where it’s perhaps best to exhibit a certain mutedness.....
