Thirty-four millimetres of good sense
By Priya Nair, Singapore ยท
8.8 mm. That's the number I'd lead with if a client asked why the 34 mm Royal Oak is the better buy for most wrists, mine included.
It slips under a silk cuff without the awkward catch you get from thicker integrated watches, and the 18 mm lug width lets the bracelet taper into something properly fine. The grey dial is my favourite of the colours: less shouty than the blue, and it takes on whatever you're wearing, cool next to white gold earrings, warm next to rose. Calibre 5800 gives 50 hours, so leave it off from Friday evening and it will probably have stopped by Monday breakfast.
My reservation is the price. At around 29,000 to 31,000 dollars it lists at essentially what the 41 costs, for a smaller watch with a shorter reserve. AP would tell you the finishing takes just as long on less real estate. I'd tell you that's a clever sentence. Still, the 34 has quietly been harder to get than people assume, and smaller Royal Oaks have held value well in Asia, where plenty of men wear them too.
If your wrist is under 16 cm, stop reading reviews of the 41.