Rolex Submariner 124060 VS 114060 Sizing

There has been much debate about the new Rolex Submariner 124060 sizing compared to the now discontinued 114060. Being the owner of an 114060 and someone with small wrists, I have also been quite interested in this. I was wondering if I made the right decision going with the 114060, is it the smaller of the two?

We already know that all of the classic Submariners measure in at 40mm, and the now recently released new model is the first ever 41mm case size. Some other changes were also made, such as the shape and width of the lugs.

Lets take a look at the details and see which model is now considered the “smaller wearing” Sub.

Lugs and Bracelet

Starting off with the lugs and bracelet, which is where you will see the most obvious changes. The 114060 is considered to have “fat lugs”, compared to the previous references of Submariners. This has now changed as the 124060 now has the more classic slimmed down lugs, but only by a tiny fraction.

What also happened during this process is the widening of the lugs distance to each other to accommodate a new wider bracelet. So in the end what you have is a slimmer appearing lug but with an almost larger appearance compared to the 114060. The new bracelet has been widened by 1mm which is quite significant when the watch is on wrist. The added 1mm leads all the way down to the clasp, making for a very large clasp considering the classic size was already quite large.

Bezel Insert

The ceramic bezel insert on the 124060 has also been widened, certainly not by an entire millimetre, but it is perceivable. One thing I really liked about the older 114060 was the slim bezel, it was just a more accurate representation of the aluminium bezel references. The larger bezel does indeed give off a larger presence on wrist, but one that I would say is more balanced and proportional and in sync to the rest of the size increases.

Roomier Dial

The dial is where the 1mm increase is more obvious, as it now feels roomier , just like what happened when the Explorer I went from 36mm to 39mm. The dial feels unnecessarily large, whereas it was perfectly balanced and functional before.

This is one of the main reasons why I prefer the 114060 over the 124060 (which you can read about in my review here), I just cant stand large dials that don’t serve any added purpose such as an extra functionality.

Indices

According to some sources the maxi dial has also been toned down, with smaller markers on the new 124060. This is quite difficult to confirm and could just be an illusion due to the larger roomier dial.

Conclusion

The Submariner 114060 and 124060 are still incredibly similar in size, and are almost impossible to tell apart from a few feet away. It’s when you get up close and personal with both watches that the changes are apparent. The 124060 was a jump back to a more streamlined case profile but with an added increase in size, while the 114060 is smaller with a more chunkier appearance due to the shape of the lugs.

The 114060 is probably the safer bet for someone with smaller wrists, although both models need to be tried on to verify, as slight variations in the shape of your wrist (round or flat) can make a big difference.