A Spotlight on the Shift to <40mm Watches

In the watch industry, things have a tendency to move slowly. Product development cycles are long. New offerings are planned years in advance. For this reason, a trend may only appear years and years after the initial shift begins behind the scenes. Most concretely, we observe this phenomenon with case size in the watch industry. All of a sudden, brands and watchmakers, large and small, have a much larger offering of timepieces with <40mm cases.

Today, we’re going to place a spotlight on timepieces that represent the best of the shift toward smaller watches. Important here is that this isn’t simply a matter of case size. As we’ll see, many of these timepieces are novel updates to historical timepieces, as is the case with De Bethune’s DB28xs Steel Wheels or Moritz Grossmann’s 37 Arabic Vintage.  

Kudoke – ahead of the curve 

Stefan and Ev Kudoke have been ahead of the shift toward smaller watches. Since the launch of their HANDwerk collection in 2019, the beloved K1, K2, and K3 all feature 39mm cases in stainless steel with some models in precious metal options. 

Our special edition collaboration for the 5th anniversary of Esperluxe, the K3 Grüner Wald (Green Forrest) “Sonderedition”

With a single case across all three timepieces, Kudoke has leaned into creating novelty through the differing designs on the K1, K2, and K3. A huge fan of, we’ve collaborated with Kudoke twice, the first time on a limited-edition K2 Grüner Wald (Green Forrest) “Sonderedition” and the second time on a K3 Grüner Wald “Sonderedition” for the celebration of our 5th anniversary in business at Esperluxe. All these timepieces offer phenomenal value for their price, and supremely easy wearability. 

To go deeper into the Kudoke and its latest timepiece, the K3, check out our closer look here.

Moritz Grossmann’s 37 Arabic Vintage 

We shed a light on Moritz Grossmann’s spectacularly innovative Caliber 106.0, found in the brand’s HAMATIC timepiece. Across the board, Moritz Grossmann leans into the technically sophisticated and novel. It’s not enough to recreate the glory days of German watchmaking; the brand assists in pushing Glashütte well into the 21st century with its timepieces.

The stunning dial on the 37 Arabic Vintage

With the 37 Arabic Vintage, Moritz Grossmann offers its most streamlined case at 37mm with all of the brand’s hallmarks – well-crafted dials and movements. Here, the timepiece incorporates the in-house caliber 102.1, featuring the classic structure of a 3/5 plate with  sleek 26mm in diameter and 4mm in height dimensions. It works with an uneven escapement specially developed for this mechanism size as well as a modified regulation. 

The star of the show on this classically-sized timepiece is the dial. Anthracite colored, it’s made from untreated German silver: the matte, velvety hue shimmers in a variety of shades of gray. This effect is created by the deep engraving on the dial. This involves the surface being thermally treated, giving the untreated German silver an almost grainy structure and a dark hue that dampens the reflection of light. This results in an effect similar to that seen on velvet fabric, whose fibers disperse reflections and can look lighter or darker from different angles. 

Angelus’ Instrument de Vitesse

Flying a bit under the radar, Angelus’ Instrument de Vitesse is a great addition to the brand’s La Fabrique collection dedicated to the revival of Angelus’ most iconic vintage timepieces. Taken from the brand’s illustrious past, the Instrument de Vitesse is an unusual chronograph, measuring in at 39mm diameter and 9.2mm thick. 

Both versions of the classy Instrument de Vitesse

At a quick glance, the Instrument de Vitesse appears to be a vintage-inspired time-only timepiece. Looks can be deceiving though. Dedicated to timing short intervals, the Instrument de Vitesse is a monopusher chronograph designed to take average speed readings over a maximum of 60 seconds. With inspiration from the timekeeping devices embedded in the dashboard of vintage GT cars, the Instrument de Vitesse is an exceptionally well-crafted watch for those with a taste for automotive history. 

Released in ivory white and ebony black variations, this timepiece is great value as well in the “under 20k” price tier. To dive deeper into pricing tiers in independent watchmaking, check out our breakdown here. 

De Bethune’s 28xs Steel Wheels

True to De Bethune's pioneering spirit, the DB28xs Steel Wheels embodies the brand’s ongoing quest to push the boundaries of modern watchmaking. By reducing the polished grade 5 titanium case diameter to 39mm, De Bethune didn’t simply miniaturize the original DB28 Steel Wheels; the Manufacture created a new watch that preserves all the architectural and technical richness of its predecessor, while adapting it to a more intimate size. Behind the scenes, Flageollet is continuously revisiting and rethinking his work, finding ways to improve and modernize timepieces that may be more than a decade old.

Sleek in profile, gorgeous in the metal – the DB28xs Steel Wheels

When a watch is miniaturized, it often comes with sacrifice. A thinner, smaller movement is usually not a movement that has a larger power reserve. In the case of caliber DB2115V13 in the DB28xs Steel Wheels, things have been meticulously refined to deliver exceptional chronometric performance. The movement boasts a 20% increase in power reserve, now lasting a full six days. Alongside the titanium balance wheel, equipped with gray gold weights, ensures perfect inertia and regulation while the De Bethune balance spring, with its unique flat terminal curve, guarantees unparalleled precision. The movement is a testament to the craftsmanship and technical capabilities of De Bethune.

Armin Strom’s Tribute 1 Fumé

From the Orbit to the Mirror Force Resonance, Biel-based Armin Strom has created some of the industry’s most technically interesting and innovative timepieces. With the addition of new dials to the brand’s first timepiece, the Tribute 1, Armin Storm offers an ultra-comfy, beautifully crafted 38mm timepiece. 

The Tribute 1 Fumé is Armin Strom’s modern, Bauhaus-inspired interpretation of a classical dress watch

The Tribute 1 Fumé from Armin Strom subscribes to the classical dress watch size and simplicity of time-only, but with the brand’s distinct, modern design sensibilities. Pulling from their Swiss-German origins, the balance between the understated blue dial and the exposed barrel and barrel bridge lead this timepiece toward a more industrially-designed aesthetic. This edition takes on a more dramatic look with fumé dials in four striking hues (ocean, slate, sky, and burgundy) with guilloché dial plates by celebrated independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen’s dial atelier.

Turning the watch over, the Tribute 1 Fumé features caliber AMW21 – a manual-wind, 100 hour power reserve movement. Well finished, meeting the standards we expect from Armin Strom, each of this timepiece’s four colorways (Ocean, Slate, Sky, and Burgundy) are limited to 10 pieces.

One thing to note here, there’s more behind the scenes in the shift to smaller case sizes than the change in taste from collectors. Especially for small workshops, the indies, it’s relatively easier with modern machining technology to work with smaller and smaller components. Larger case sizes and movements always means that manufacturing tolerances can be slightly larger – there’s a bigger margin for error.

Something we observe with this trend is that there will probably be more ultra-complicated watches with smaller (~40-42mm) cases with the latest advances to manufacturing technology. De Bethune already offers an example of this with its DB Kind of Grande Complication – eight complications, 751 components in total, integrated into a 43mm case. The DB28xs Steel Wheels, covered above, offers another great example of miniaturization without any sacrifices to the watchmaking. As is the case in this hyper-technical discipline, technological advancements drive new possibilities and open new trends.