Mother’s Day Special: Challenging Stereotypes Via Evolution Of The Ladies’ Watch

In most people’s minds, a traditional ladies’ watch occurs as some sort of a jewelry watch or a scaled-down version of a men’s watch. It’s largely perceived as a product with a specific gender-favoring ornation via gem setting or dial décor. This particular POV has long been dead. By long, I’m talking at least close to a decade now.

While the said yield still exists on the market, the maxima of focus as well as intent to innovate is now reserved for the evolved executions of the genre. And as to why it still exists, can be attributed to its limited share in the revenue of brands. For most brands, their men’s collection represents the heft of their market and what remains doesn’t necessarily garner the absolute focus.

That’s the exact reason why a lot of the collections from brands have become gender-neutral and with downsizing being a trend in revival, the former is favored even more.

Now, what’s exciting as an outcome is the absolute reinterpretation of the way women’s watches are created. This has also resulted from a general rise in appetite for complications among women and the resulting yield is nothing short of impressive. So, beyond the traditional confines of a ladies’ watch, the evolved executions of the genre bridge the technical as well as artisanal lag to men’s watches and, in some ways, refine and redefine the tradition of high watchmaking.

As a Mother’s Day special, we’ll understand how the ladies’ watch, as traditionally conceived, has been a subject of philosophical, creative and technical morphosis in the era of its modern realization.

Defining the “traditional ladies’ watch”

It’s a round watch in its simplest time-only, preferably even two hand, execution with some feminine design traits. The latter could be realized via mother of pearl dials, gem setting, pastel colors and what generally defines the feminine aesthetic. Take for example the Blancpain Ladybird or the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous.

The conventional idea of a ladies’ watch is a systematic contrast to high-tech materials like carbon fiber or titanium, high performance characteristics of tool watches, and what’s a common observable, the avant-garde of hyper-watch traits, which for now are strictly reserved for men’s timepieces.

A conventionally perceived ladies' watch follows a very stereotypical aesthetic blueprint.

While the traits of feminine nature, such as diamonds, pastel colors, or conservative diameters can be found in men’s watches, and are of current interest as well, the said in amalgam on a wristwatch give it a more stereotypically feminine essence. This type of a watch is, at least for one particular gender - a niche, and a conventional superlative for the other.

What we can consider the available pool of products, for an expansive duration, for women collectors was scarce in diversity of aesthetic, innovation, or originality. A sister variant of a men’s original or a product that strictly adhered to the conventional codes of women’s watch design already enumerated was for long a default entity in the “ladies” collection of even the most institutional brands. This was consistent for most manufacturers, with the exception of only a few.

In many brands’ perception, the general thinking felt that they cannot not have a ladies’ collection but on the other hand, the time, money, and R&D dedicated to the same was limited by intention. It has never been central to a brand’s core product development and even an afterthought or an entity of diversification for some.

Favoring the sustenance of such a stereotypical product for the ladies’ market has been and still is the latitude of a specific aesthetic that can strongly be a do-it-all product. An elegant watch can be an everyday watch for a woman and as women’s dress codes aren’t as binary as men’s dress codes, so that’s genuine leverage there. So, there’s room to adapt and adjust for dressy, casual and sporty, with even a limited collection. In most cases, it ticks all the boxes.

Now, in regards to its creativity, mechanical sophistication, desirability, and differentiation, generally what forms the common discourse when considering men’s watches, it doesn’t apply to women’s watches at the same level.

Evolution of the trend

Women wearing men’s watches, or gender-neutral watches, is a strong form of protest and a staunch rejection of the concept of a stereotypical ladies’ watch, which in its very abundant realizations seems to be sort of a generic yield with many uninteresting similarities and lacking genuine differentiation on the creative as well as technical forefront.

Today, women are more hooked to the hobby, assertive in their choices, and specific in their demands, and thus we see the rise of watches that don’t necessarily follow the stereotypical codes of a conventional ladies’ watch and in doing so become products that are more interesting and desirable at a higher level. As women now find a growing interest in wearing watches that are asides to the convention, the term “ladies’ watch” isn’t so specific and valid for a very particular form of a product. Also, it’s important to iterate that the notion that women should wear a particular kind of watch, and this goes for men too, isn’t very valid now.

A women’s watch must be accurate, legible, durable, and generally comparable on specs and quality levels with a high-end men’s watch. There mustn’t be any room for shortcuts here and the product needs to be legitimately serious. When expectations from the audiences evolve, the product needs to deliver.

Also, essential to state is that a traditional women’s watch can be elevated as a product of desire via its dedication to craftsmanship, creativity and complication. One example of an exclusively feminine creation that has blurred the divides of creativity, design originality, and mechanical complexity has to be Breguet’s Reine de Naples collection. It is a dedicated ladies’ line-up that caters to the growing interest of female consumers for complicated mechanical timepieces. The Reine de Naples is a watch with genuine heritage crafted for women with high artisanal and mechanical focus.

Any poetic complication by Van Cleef & Arpels, an MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT, Bulgari’s Serpenti with the BVS100 movement, Chanel’s time-only or tourbillon J12 or the Boy·Friend Skeleton Watch, and also the Hermes Arceau Samarcande watch, all of these examples find purpose in creating a sophisticated product with a distinct feminine appeal.

High quality ladies' watches with mechanical legitimacy are becoming popular.

The case of shaped cases

Watches that are shaped watches fit a more feminine wrist, although the current men’s market affinity states otherwise. Still, watches with a non-round aesthetic, despite being available in multiples, don’t make the majority when it comes to men’s watches. In regards to preferences of women, they however make a great choice. This can be supported by the demand and desire for watches like the Cartier Baignoire or the Tortue, and the recent praise for the refreshed cushion shaped Historiques American 1921.

The Cartier Privé Crash Skeleton marked a return with a skeletonized shaped movement for its distorted profile. It exists as a strong contender in the category of gender-neutral watches with a shaped profile and an example that women collectors need to take serious note of.

Watches without gender

There’s a theme to watches that are strictly conceived for a specific gender. It’s usually a form of shrink-it-and-pink-it practice for the women and a sporty, mechanically complex, instrument execution for the men. Yet, the current state of affinity for watches follows a more blurred gender divide in creativity or complexity.

We see men go crazy for the Black Bay 54 “Lagoon Blue” and likewise, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso finds frequent wrist time on women, while conceptually being a men’s watch. So, there’re ample provisions for certain watches to fit an interchangeable theme.

With integrated sports watches and indie creations occupying the hype segments of collectability, serious women connoisseurs generally delve into the said categories to reinforce their commitment to the hobby. Also, the now active lifestyles which the general populace adhere to play into normalizing the scopes of wearability for gender-neutral or even men’s watches among women collectors.

As far as I remember, nothing was out of place when Charlize Theron was snapped wearing the heavy-duty Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea courtside at an L.A. Laker’s game. When someone looks as cool as her, who am I to argue that it’s bad taste?

The recent novelties of the year best support the notion of watches without gender divides. The A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Annual Calendar, the downsized Bulgari Octo Finissimo, or the mid-size Royal from Tudor are watches that would flawlessly be at home whether on a woman’s or a man’s wrist.

Collector habits and the impact

Nowadays, there’s nothing perfunctory in women collecting. That’s something nobody wants. Women who harbor genuine passion and commitment towards watches deserve to get on a level par with the men in their influence on the general discourse of the product’s development and evolution. If that’s practiced at scale, we would have watches as fine as the Patek Philippe ‘Ladies First’ minute repeater Ref. 7000R-001 everywhere.

Even if it's somewhere around 20 or 30% of the overall luxury watch market, ladies’ watches occupy a share that’s, well, still 20 or 30% of the market. If there aren’t watches that fulfil the expected design codes, that means sacrificing on legitimate revenue. And, very importantly, those expected codes have become very sophisticated and widely resonant.

While there’s logic in prioritizing efforts and money towards what makes more money, brands do need to and are adjusting and adapting to suffice both genders. Also, the current market preference for smaller watches in general is a competent catalyst to reinforce the brand’s commitment to ladies’ watches and if the creations aren’t outright original, still, feminine iterations of small-sized men’s watches generally expand the pool of what’s available to purchase for women.

A little curiosity never hurt anyone

While we try to play it safe, we must remember that there’s always a greater reward in risk. Curiosity, in general, enables better growth as exploration is academic. When you are at the first layer of collecting, many a times, you think that that’s it. It’s only when you dig deeper that the real wonders get unveiled and when a craft spans centuries, there’s so many amazing products to be earned. It’s the same for every hobby and in every field.

I’ve come from a place not knowing that Louis Vuitton made watches, and here I am.

So, ladies, remember, you cannot buy what you don’t know exists!