From the desk
The oversized run had its moment, but the 40mm dive watch is where the resale demand actually pools.
Walk the counter long enough and a pattern shows up. The 44mm and 45mm divers that sold hot a decade ago sit longer now. The 40mm case moves. Not because it's fashionable — because it fits the wrist most buyers actually have, and a watch that fits gets worn, kept, and resold without a story attached.
That's the plain version of liquidity. A 40mm diver clears across a wide buyer pool: 6.5-inch wrists and 8-inch wrists both live with it. The 45mm asks for a specific wrist, so you're fishing in a smaller pond every time you list one. Fewer buyers means longer hold times and softer offers, whatever the spec sheet says.
Condition is where the money actually moves on these. On a common 40mm sports diver, sharp lugs, an unpolished case, and a clean bezel insert can separate two otherwise identical watches by real money. Collectors pay up for originality here more than for the last service receipt. A tired example with mushy lugs is a project; a crisp one is a keeper, and keepers get the strong bids.
What's driving it now is the wider taste swing back toward wearable sizing. The market caught up to the idea that a watch you can slip under a cuff outlives the one that photographs big. When demand narrows toward a size, the pieces in that size firm up first and give ground last.
None of this is a promise about where prices go. Sizes cycle, and a hot reference can cool. But if you're buying a diver to wear and want the easier exit later, the 40mm is the safer read on both counts.
Every piece we sell is authenticated in-house, serviced by our watchmakers when it needs it, and backed by our own store warranty. Come try a 40mm on the wrist before you decide the trend for yourself.
