From the desk
Over-polishing doesn't just soften a case — it changes how a watch sits, and smaller wrists feel that difference first.
Pick up two of the same model, same size on paper, and they can wear like different watches. The reason is usually the lugs.
A watch that's been polished hard over the years loses its edges. The flat top of the lug rounds over, the crisp line where brushed meets polished blurs, and the lug tips get short and stubby. On a big wrist you might not notice. On a 6.5-inch wrist you feel it right away, because rounded lugs curl the case up off the skin instead of reaching down and hugging it. The watch perches. It looks bigger and sits worse than the spec sheet promises.
Sharp, original lugs do the opposite. They carry the case down and pull the visual weight in, so a 39mm reads closer to 37 on the wrist. That's the whole game on a smaller wrist — you want the case to sit low and the lugs to do the wrapping, not the strap.
So when you're reading condition, look past the dial. Turn the case sideways under a light. You want to see a defined edge on the lug, a flat that's still flat, and a bevel that hasn't melted into a curve. Feel the lug tip with a fingernail — it should catch, not glide.
This is also why service history matters beyond the movement. A watch that's been opened and pressure-tested by a competent hand tends to have been treated with more care at the case, too.
Everything we sell is authenticated in-house and gone through by our watchmakers, and we'll tell you plainly whether a case is sharp and unpolished or has seen a wheel or two. It's backed by our store warranty either way. If you've got a smaller wrist, ask us — the lugs are the first thing we'll check.
