The Best Watch Straps for Large Wrists

Every person is unique. From their hair colour to their foot size, from their height to the shape of their nose. And while this is what makes life so interesting, it does make purchasing products that are designed to fit comfortably a little more challenging. How do you know that a watch strap will fit you comfortably? Or even fit you at all?

It’s a question we get asked all the time and so I thought it a good idea to produce a guide on the best straps for large wrists. Now, many of our ‘standard’ two-piece straps will fit wrists up to 210mm or 8.27 inches (assuming your watch has a lug-to-lug of around 50mm which I will use as a guide for the two-piece straps in this list), but there are many people out there that are more well-endowed in the wrist department than this. So, here are some of our recommendations for straps that will be perfect for large wrists.

For context I have a wrist that measures 170mm (6.7 inches) which is pretty much slap bang in the middle of the average wrist size for men. But many of the straps I’m including in this list will be 200mm (7.9 inches) and upwards!

I’m also working on a strap guide for smaller wrists, so make sure to check back on the magazine for more advice on finding the perfect strap!

This first choice is an obvious one. These straps were designed by the Ministry of Defence to not only fit on soldier’s wrists but to also fit over flight suits and diving equipment. We kept our nylon strap design faithful to the original meaning that with the holes the strap comes with it can fit on wrists as big as 250mm (9.85 inches). And, if that’s still not quite enough then it’s super easy to punch a couple more holes through the nylon using the last section of straps. If you did that then you could in theory fit your watch to a wrist of 285mm (11.22 inches), but I think anyone with a wrist that large is likely to be one of the entrants of the World’s Strongest Man competition! This makes the military nylon strap the perfect choice for anyone with a larger wrist.

If you’re looking for something with a little more refinement but like the military nylon strap aesthetic, then the OCTOPOD is your answer. When fully adjusted to a point where the strap and buckle are still extremely secure, this strap would comfortably fit wrists of 260mm (10.23 inches). With several different strap types available for the OCTOPOD there is a style to match your needs. In theory, if you go for the elasticated nylon, which is super stretchy, you could potentially get the OCTOPOD to fit wrists over 300mm (11.8 inches)! But it would be tight and for the sake of maintaining good blood flow to your hands we don’t recommend testing this theory.

During my research for this article, I noticed that our beloved Highley two-piece leather strap is slightly longer than many of our other leather strap designs. With our average sized watch sitting in between the two pieces, I measured this strap at 220mm (8.66 inches) making it 10mm longer than a selection of our other leather straps I measured. Why is this strap slightly longer? I don’t know, it’s most likely a coincidence but it’s good news for anyone with a 220mm wrist that wants a two-piece leather strap!

If you love the look and feel of leather straps but most do not fit you then there is only one option. The Cambridge is a leather military style strap that is very similar in design to our nylon military straps. That means it will fit wrists of up to 250mm (9.84 inches) in its current form. But if you need to go even bigger, take it to a local cobbler or punch a hole in it yourself and this strap would be able to fit a wrist of 285mm (11.22 inches).

If you’re a fan of metal bracelets but can’t be bothered to add extra links or remove ones on super long bracelets, then I have the perfect solution for you. The Merriot Mesh Bracelet has a sliding clasp mechanism that makes it infinitely adjustable up to 240mm (9.45 inches) assuming you have your 50mm lug-to-lug watch on. Even at this level of extension the clasp still has ample strength making it ideal for diving, swimming or other high intensity activities.

This two-piece rubber strap has an aesthetic design feature that actually helps it to become one of the most adjustable two-piece straps we make. All those small holes, despite being designed for looks, are actually able to have a buckle pin put through them. This means that you could fit your buckle to a hole much further down the strap than many of our more ‘standard’ designs. I tested this and measured this strap at 245mm (9.65 inches) with my average 50mm lug-to-lug watch on.

These cut-to-size (CTS) rubber straps are brilliant for anyone with larger or smaller wrists because, as the name suggestions, they can be cut to the right size to fit your wrist. I measured a couple of our CTS straps to see just how long they could go and if, once again, we assume your watch is 50mm lug-to-lug then our Sedona reached 225mm (8.85 inches) with micro adjustment, and our Mosaic was a touch longer at 250mm (9.84 inches) but lacks the breadth of adjustment offered by the Sedona clasp.

I hope this guide has been useful in your search for your perfect watch strap. It can be time consuming and expensive to find straps that are above the proportions of the majority of people often needing custom-made options. But hopefully now you can find a readily available strap that is built to last you and your watch as well as being brilliantly comfortable.