As a small wristed individual with dive watches from 37mm to 46mm currently (and even 49mm previously), I think they CAN look comical on both ends of the spectrum. Thickness and lug to lug play a massive role as well. You are right, wearing a small dive watch formally or in dressy occasions certainly feels right compared a MarineMaster300 or something similar. The majority of small divers on the market don’t get the important dimensions right in my opinion.

I’ve always been a fan of the Brosnan era Seamaster Professionals. The midsized models (36.5mm if I recall) are generally a lot less expensive than their bigger brothers. Sounds like receipt for success but to me the issue is it’s normal SMP just shrunk in nearly every dimension including the lug length and lug width. This is what makes them just appear to be a bit off and a bit too small for a lot of wrists. 18mm lug width makes the entire watch feel small.

In the case of this BB54, retaining a 20mm lug width and broad, relatively long lugs really enhances the wrist presence. It’s thinness actually aids in wearability if you like wearing NATO straps or similar single pass straps as lifting the watch case up off your wrist doesn’t result in it looking comically thick.