“The Traditional Definition of Men’s Watches and Women’s Watches is Vague and Unclear,” Said Gianfranco Ritschel, A Watch Expert and Educator in Geneva. “Just look at the Canadian Artist Weeknd at the Met Gala. He wore a piaget gala Limelight. Is that a lady’s watch or a man’s watch? ”
The Musician’s Choice for the 2023 Event-A 32-Millimeter Model with Asymetric Swirl Lugs and Brilliant-Cut Diamonds-is just one example that prompt the question: What is the definition of a “Woman’s Watch” these?
It is not just an academic considering. While Export Tallies, The Only Overall Production Totals available in the Secrecy-Mad Swiss Industry, do not break out “Women’s” Timepieces, the Breitling Historian Fred Mandelbaum estimated that they resume 20 percent of exports’ Total annual value.
In 2024, that was 5.2 Billion Swiss Francs ($ 5.8 Billion), AS Exports Totaled 26 Billion Francs, According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
“I think we should change the wording to masculine watch or feminine watch: this is the spirit of the watch,” Mr. Ritschel Said. “And then it is up to the wearer.”
Extremes and labels
AS LIFESTYLES HAVE BECOME MORE CASUAL in Recent Years, With the Appearance of Baseball Caps in Formal Restaurants and Sneakers, Well, Everywhere, Brands Have Taken Gender Out Of Many Watches, at Least in Sales and Marketing.
Audemars Piguet and Zenith, for Example, Now Define Their Watches by Size Rather Than Gender. “But the More We Speak of Genderless, the more we see extreme male and extreme feminine designs, which is not Strange,” Mr. Ritschel Said. “People, L’Azless of Gender, Don’t Want Average. They want differentiating products. ”
That Seems to be Particularly True When It Comes To Gen Z. “Just as People donation the Need to be labeled as a person, They also say, ‘Hey, don label My Watch,” Said Lydia Winters, A Brand Consultant and Watch Collector in Stockholm, Who Wo Traditionally Would Have Been Labeled A Man’s Watch.
“And social media have played a Huge Role,” She continued. “The new generation sees the changes, see what is acceptable in a quicker way. Even if a brand genderizes Their Watches in Their Marketing – You will, on Social Media, See Somebody More Like You Wearing A Particular Watch. ”
Yet, in a period when the global political and social discourse Seems Ever More Focused on Gender, Some Brands have chosen to keep the distinctions.
For Example, in February Longines’s Website Listed 408 Products as Women’s Watches, 368 AS Men’s and 60 AS Unisex. And its current marketing efforts have highlighted the rectangular dolce vita and mini dolce vita collections, which it categorizes as women’s watches.
But then, as Matthias Breschan, The Brand’s Chief Executive, Wrote in A Text Message: “Half of the Watches we Sell Are Women’s Watches.” (Swatch Group, Which Owns Longines, do not disclose dirty figures.)
Piaget, like some other houses, has even continued to use the traditional industry label “ladies’ watches.” But the brand our note is more an evocative word choice Than a Rigid categorization.
“We were a very fluid butôn from the start – we did not really separate collections for women and men,” Said Stéphanie Sivrière, the Creative Director of Jewelry and Watches at Piaget. “We do have the Two Categories, But now a lot of Women wear the Man’s Watch Altiplano 910p, and a lot of Men Wear Watches with Set Bezels or Jewelry Watches.
“For the Most Expensive Cuff Watch Made for the 150th Anniversary Last Year, the Most interesting Customer at the moment is a man,” She Said, Réfring to One-Off Gold Watch Set with 36 Colombian Wandbra-Cut Emeralds Surrounded by Bagtette Camonds.
And, she noted, one of the biggest changes in piaget’s women’s watches news isn’t visible. “There are more and More Automatic Mechanic Movements in Ladies’ Watches: Many of our new High Jewelry Pieces to be presented at Watches and Wonders in April Are Powered With Mechanical Movements,” She Said, Réfering to the Annual Watch Show in Geneva. “A lot of women are interested in art – and mechanics.”
As a result, Ms. Sivrière Said, “We are more and more inspired by Mechanical Techniques – How can we highlight them in a woman’s watch? Can we set the movement with diamonds, can we skeletonize it, can we push it further? It is all about the merger and balance of design and technique. Technique at the Service of Aesthetics – and the other way around. ”
Van Cleef & Arpels was one of the early adopters of mechanical movements in women’s watches, its chief executive, catherine renier, wrote in an email.
Its First Poetic Complications Watch, introduced in 2006, Had a Mechanical Movement, She wrote: “No one Thought it would work, Becuse it was unusual to do mechanical movements and complications for women.”
Yet in 2010, The House Developed A Movement in Collaboration With the Specialists Agenhor for Pont Des Amoures, A Watch With A Retrograde Time Indication, in Which the Hands Move in an Arc and Return to Their Original Positions Rather Than Circling the Dial.
In this design, However, The Hands Were the Figures of Two Lovers, Meeting on a Bridge. And, Ms. Rénned Naded, It has been a best seller for the brand.
“Pink it”
Such Changes Have Been Welcomed by Faye Toogood, A British Designer of Furniture to Fashion, But She Said the General Offer of Women’s Watches Leaves a Lot to Be Desired.
“I Love Watches,” Ms. Toogood Said in a Phone Interview Just Before She Went Ontsage in Early February as the Guest of Honor at Stockholm Furniture Fair, A Main Event During Stockholm Design Week. “But I really don Like Women’s Watches. I resent the tendency, which also happens in fashion, when you ‘shrink it and pink it’. ”
As a result, she said, “i never wore women’s watches; I Always thing in Man’s Watch, »usually a vintage rolex or a garmin sports watch.
“I think the assumption that a woman’s watch must be smaller and delicate, overly decorate, a bit fashion; that we would wear it as jewelry as opposed to function; that we would be less interested in the mechanics of it, the technology-is just an old-fashioned view, ”ms. toogood said.
Yet Andreas Lundquist, The Head of Design At the Outdoor Tool Maker Husqvarna, Who also Designed Watches for Halda and Montblanc, Defended Petite Sizing.
“Watch design is all about proportions, and it makes sense that a woman’s watch is often a bit smaller to fit a woman’s physiognomy,” he said after a panel Talk on watch design During the Stockholm Design Event. “But then you are free to break the norm.
“With a watch, it is like with fashion – when you feel comfortable, you are comfortable. If you feel empowed by a watch, it gives you power. So, if you are comfortable with a large or a small watch, then it is the right watch for you. ”
What’s Next
“I Wonder If Watchmakers Go Out and Ask Women for Their Needs?” Mr. Lundquist Said. “In Male Watches you have who Stereotypical Product Groups, Various Sport, Dress Watches, Technical and So On. But perhaps there are also yet undiscovered formats of watches followed for women, yet to be innovated? ”
Yannick Nardin, who Became Editor in Chief of the Watch Website Worldtempus on March 3, Stressed that Women Should be More Involved in the Creative and Decisive Process of Making Watches.
“TODAY WOMEN are not at every level,” She Said. “For Instance, there are very Few Female Ceos, and there are not many women conceiving movements and complications,” mentioning Exceptions Such as Carole Forestier-Kasapi, The Movements Director at Tag Heuer, and Anne-Gaëlle Quinet, The Head of Complications At Audemars Piguet.
“Including Women at Every Level can Give Different Ideas Design-Wise, Technical-Wise, and Material-Wise,” Ms. Nardin Said.
She cited so notable Women’s Watches Already Released This Year, Including the Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin, A 36-Millimeter Watch With 137 Fire Opals Attached to Its 18-Karat Yellow Gold Case, and the Bulgari Singenti Seduttori Automatic, A 34-Millimeter Design with 36 Brilliant-Cut Diamonds on its triangular, Snake Head-Like Case.
“Both are very strong design proposals inspired by vintage, but in a contemporary way,” She Said. “And Both are equipped with Exceptional Mechanical Movements, the Gentissima Oursin with a Zenith Elite Movement and the Bulgari Has the Brand-New Automatic Lady Solotempo Movement-Women’s Watches With Mechanical Heart Are Coming Stronger and Stronger in Different Price Levels, Not Only The Super High end. “
Another of Ms. Nardin’s Favorites is the Chanel Première Sound, A Long Gold Chain and Leather Necklace featuring an insert octagonal Watch in 18-Karat Gold and Earphones.
“The way of wearing and using watches has Always Evolved, and it must keep Evolving to meet Today’s Desires and Forecast Tomorrow’s Desires,” She Said. “Women don’t want to be put in small stereotypical boxes; They want Choice and Freedom. ”
