Women and watches: everything’s changing

The just-concluded Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva underlined what we’ve been noticing in the industry — more women buying and discussing watches and brand narratives that are less gender focussed

“What is a woman’s watch? It is a watch owned by a woman.” Watch writer and co-founder of Watch Femme, Suzanne Wong’s observation sums up today’s reality, where individuals are choosing designs regardless of gender labels.

This may not seem groundbreaking to an outsider, but it is a revolutionary idea within the luxury watch world, which moves at a glacial pace compared to other industries. Clear distinctions of size, complications and gemstones that once demarcated men’s and women’s watches are now blurring. In fact, in the past year, I’ve noticed watch brands increasingly ditching labels when marketing their products — inviting everyone to wear their ‘serious’ designs, rather than nudging women towards pieces that have undergone the ‘pink it and shrink it’ treatment.

I saw more of this last week, at Watches and Wonders (W&W) in Geneva. The first post-Covid watch fair attracted over 22,000 visitors in Palexpo, and the mood was euphoric, with unapologetic hugs, smiles everywhere, and frequent echoes of ‘I am so happy to finally see you’. The latest edition was also all about women congregating after conversing about horology digitally over the past two years. There were more collectors, as well as writers and watch influencers such as Wong and Laetitia Hirschy of Watch Femme, a virtual community founded in February 2021 to ‘promote and strengthen women’s voices within the watch world’, and Brynn Wallner, founder of Dimepiece, a two-year-old female-focussed website and Instagram page, among others.

And the buzz continued online, with names like Jessica Wang (@jessicawang), a luxury influencer from China, and Karishma Karer (@kari_watch), co-founder of Mumbai-based platform The Hour Markers, keeping their followers apprised of the happenings. ‘Watch Girls Off Duty’, a WhatsApp group of 182 women from around the globe (created by watch collector and dealer Zoe Ableston aka @watchgirloffduty) that I am a part of, was equally busy as members shared photos and videos, and made plans to meet up.

The fashion week for watches, as I’d like to call W&W (formerly Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie or SIHH), had several things going for it, but two stood out. The first was the erasing of gender when it came to wearing the designs (him, her, they or anyone else). Brands like IWC and Zenith have removed all gender bifurcations, including on their website, while Hublot’s Big Bang series saw bright tints in their Integral line that can lend itself to any wrist. And the second was sustainability, but more on that later.

“As women become more successful and have more disposable income, they’re purchasing for themselves, and what better piece to buy than a watch, which is going to last a lifetime?” says Laetitia Hirschy, co-founder of Watch Femme (@watch_femme). “It wasn’t that long ago when men were the biggest demographic, but follow the numbers: women are starting to take up that space.” For example, Julien Tornare, chief executive of Zenith, told The New York Times recently, “Our clientele is now 26% women. Our data shows that women frequently buy large models and men buy small or diamond-set watches.”

Conversations about complications and tourbillons abound in Geneva, with women cheering how iconic models like the Chopard Happy Diamonds, Chanel Boy.Friend, and Bulgari Serpenti (with its Piccolissimo movement) have got a mechanical redoux. Which brings to mind when Antoine Pin, head of the watch division at Bulgari, told The Hindu Weekend in January, “How can we be more generous in our approach than by developing the culture of mechanical movements for men and ladies’ calibres? Isn’t that the true nature of this question of gender fluidity?” The bold watches on slim wrists with complications to match — Karer’s Hautlence Avant-Garde definitely caught my eye — are proof the brands are getting it right.