Mark Cho, Co-founder of The Armoury, Co-owner of Drake's, Over-Enthusiastic Watch Enthusiast, Hong Kong
April 6, 2021
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For the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) April 2021 lecture, Mark Cho, co-founder of The Armoury and co-owner of Drake’s, examined his survey on what constitutes an ideal watch size.
A common phrase that Cho hears on a consistent basis from his customers is, “I have small wrists.” Why? So, from August 2018 to March 2021, Cho retrieved a survey sample from Instagram and mailing lists from The Armoury, Drake’s and friends from the watch industry. The factors considered in the survey are: age, gender, watch brands, modern or vintage and residence/ethnicity.
Question 1: I consider my wrist to be — small, average, large?
Question 2: What is your wrist size? (in inches)
Question 3: What is your ideal watch size? (primary watch and secondary watch)
Cho detailed the answers and analysis on how they applied to watch size preferences by using some behavioral economics i.e. heuristics and substitution.
He discovered findings on:
Wrist size perception
Measured wrist size
Perceived wrist size versus measured
What if…? scenario with +/- 1 mm from the primary watch diameter
Perceived and measured wrist size versus ideal primary watch size
Perceived and measured wrist size versus ideal secondary watch size
Analysis One: Wrist size perception
Analysis Two: The under-served 36mm audience and the problem with averages
Analysis Three: Preference is dependent on wrist size
To conclude the lecture, Cho posits where to go from here and his theory on how the ideal watch size issue came to be in the first place. He is currently working on the second version of his survey and plans to have it available within the next two months.
HSNY thanks Mark Cho for his fascinating lecture!
Submitted by Melody Benloss, Recording Secretary