@TFoote
@MikePearson55

I need some help and am hoping someone who owns both watches can answer the question.

I am in the 50+ club and need reading glasses. I have noticed that all date windows on watches are getting smaller to me and the move from the 3 o'clock position to 6 o'clock has actually made the numbers smaller and/or thinner. This is not just CWL because other brands are doing the same (i.e. Tag Heur) for purposes of "dial symmetry".

Does anyone who owns both a 42mm Trident Pro 300 (not sure if the date window/wheel is the same on all sizes) and a C65 Aquitane (Diver or GMT) able to compare the date window/wheel sizes? Specifically, is the font used on on of the date wheels larger than the other? I would really appreciate a real world example and or picture of the two next to each other.

I know the easy choice is to have a no-date dial watch like the Dartmouth v2 but I have had a date on my watch for more than 30+ years and am not yet ready or willing to give it up.

Looking at both. The aquitane has a marginally bigger/ more legible date window.

See some old pics of both

chif123 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:27 am Looking at both. The aquitane has a marginally bigger/ more legible date window.

Thank you.

It appears the window is bigger on the Aquitaine but the actual date wheel appears to be the same size so I am not sure if it makes a difference. I wish that when brands move the date window to 6, they would make it bigger because in real life the numbers on the date wheel are actually smaller.

The Oris Aquis date window and wheel got larger but that is because the smaller one is the version with the Selita movement and the one with the larger date window and wheel is their in-house caliber 400 movement...so probably not planned but helpful (to me).

Isn’t the size of the date wheel determined by the distance from the centre and the size the dial?

For two watches which are the same size, with the date wheel the same distance from the centre, then the date window should have the same amount of physical space to print a number on the date disk, irrespective of its position on the dial at 3 or 6.

This is going to be 1/31 of the date wheel to allow all dates to be available.

For a date wheel at 3, then the size is limited by height so as not to show the next date in the date window, two digit dates can be printed as big as a one digit date as long as the window is wide enough. However the maximum height is still only 1/31 of the date wheel.

For a date at 6, then the size is limited by width, not height. Therefore dates with two digits, especially those in the 20’s and 30’s have to be made smaller to fit.

Could this explain why date windows at 6 tend to have smaller numerals than date windows at 3?

Bigger watches or watches with the date window further out will always allow a bigger date to be shown. This is the case with the Oris above as the date window looks to be further from the centre.

^^^ Exactly right, Iain.

The only additional point I'd make is that the distance from the centre to the date window is defined by the movement.

iain wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 3:04 pm For a date at 6, then the size is limited by width, not height. Therefore dates with two digits, especially those in the 20’s and 30’s have to be made smaller to fit.

I would argue, though, that this is by choice not really by design. Although there is a limit to how close together you can make adjacent numbers defined by the arc of the circle. This is true at 3 as well only with the height. I am just not sure that everything needs to be smaller to make the width fit. I think designers make the window narrow to look more like an indice.

nycWATCHnerd wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 2:16 pm
It appears the window is bigger on the Aquitaine but the actual date wheel appears to be the same size so I am not sure if it makes a difference.

I think you got the nail on the head here. The 2 watches have the exact same movement, so the date will be the same size regardless of the size or shape of the cutout.

Date window too small?

Just pick a watch with a larger date window…

The GO SeaQ panorama date has your back

The brand that does the best execution of a big date and has done for years.

Neil

iain wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 3:04 pm For a date wheel at 3, then the size is limited by height so as not to show the next date in the date window, two digit dates can be printed as big as a one digit date as long as the window is wide enough. However the maximum height is still only 1/31 of the date wheel.

For a date at 6, then the size is limited by width, not height. Therefore dates with two digits, especially those in the 20’s and 30’s have to be made smaller to fit.

Could this explain why date windows at 6 tend to have smaller numerals than date windows at 3?

Bigger watches or watches with the date window further out will always allow a bigger date to be shown. This is the case with the Oris above as the date window looks to be further from the centre.

Yes, when the date gets moved to 6 the numbers need to be squeezed in and thus are smaller and less legible.

Yes, when the date window and numbers on the date wheel are moved further out the numbers can be made larger because there is more room for them. I focused on the different movements in the Oris (SW200 versus Oris Cal400) but the point stands true, the Cal 400 movement is larger and puts the date window farther out so the numbers on the date wheel can be bigger.

Another great example is comparing different sized watches in the CWL catalog. The Trident Pro 300 uses the same SW200 movement in all sizes (38mm, 40mm, and 42mm) so if you look at the date wheel it is in the same fixed position. Notice how the markers are elongated on the larger size watches but the date window does not move.

rkovars wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 4:10 pm I would argue, though, that this is by choice not really by design. Although there is a limit to how close together you can make adjacent numbers defined by the arc of the circle. This is true at 3 as well only with the height. I am just not sure that everything needs to be smaller to make the width fit. I think designers make the window narrow to look more like an indice.

It is the same math 1/31 whether horizontal date (3) or vertical date (6) so the amount of space for numbers is fixed. Designers can make it smaller, but they cannot make it bigger.

ajax87 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:16 pm

nycWATCHnerd wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 2:16 pm
It appears the window is bigger on the Aquitaine but the actual date wheel appears to be the same size so I am not sure if it makes a difference.

I think you got the nail on the head here. The 2 watches have the exact same movement, so the date will be the same size regardless of the size or shape of the cutout.

I worry I already knew the answer to my question but was hoping for something else. As long as brands, CWL included, continue to use the SW200 they will be limited to the size of the numbers on the date wheel because the date wheel size is fixed.

I did some digging and apparently the only way to change it is to modify the baseplate on the SW200 (or any movement) and make it larger so it can support a larger date wheel.

nbg wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:20 pm Date window too small? Just pick a watch with a larger date window…

I have in the past. I own a Oris Pro Pilot Big Date Big Crown (yes, that is the official name). I just wish other brands would do bigger date wheels so I am not stuck with no date dials, date magnifiers, or expensive watches with big date windows like the one you suggested or a Lange 1.

The SH21 movement has (when used) a date wheel further from the centre than the SW200 models, hence with a larger date window, which seems to be ideal in size to me.

nycWATCHnerd wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:27 pm . . . . . .

I need some help and am hoping someone who owns both watches can answer the question.

I am in the 50+ club and need reading glasses.

. . . . . . .

I believe you have missed one answer in all the discussion. You need your eyes testing!

Perhaps you're at that time in life where, especially with all the close up work we do these days i.e. looking at computer and phone screens for significant periods of the day, where you need to evolve from reading glasses to varifocals; I know I was.

One should have one's eyes tested every two years, the professionals tell us.

I know when I need mine checking; when the date on a given watch, that was fine 6 - 12 months ago, becomes hard to read.

Simples.

Guy

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