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Who’s Afraid of Women’s Watches?
Following celebrity tastemakers like Timothée Chalamet, collectors are increasingly gravitating toward smaller precious-metal and gem-set watches that were traditionally marketed to women.
T he Oscars red carpet often acts as a harbinger of emerging fashion trends – it’s where guests and award hopefuls can try out something daring. While best actor nominee Timothée Chalamet ultimately didn’t end up winning for his role in A Complete Unknown at the 2025 ceremony, he did turn heads on the Academy Awards carpet by pairing his canary-yellow Givenchy suit with a small Cartier Baignoire, a vintage offering dating back to 1960. Beyond its modest size, Chalamet’s yellow-gold timepiece was especially notable for the unique band encircling his wrist – pocked with gemstones including sapphires, rubies and diamonds – and its intricate guilloché dial.
Chalamet’s choice to don this Baignoire, a piece that’s historically been marketed as a women’s watch, is reflective of various timely shifts within the zeitgeist happening simultaneously. Over the last few years, the interest in oversized watches (with some stretching into 50mm territory, as they did in the early 2000s) has waned, with buyers instead preferring diminutive and modestly-sized watches, as The New York Times reports. But it’s also indicative of a larger cultural change: the gradual disintegration of the gendered categories that have long dominated the world of fashion.
“Everything is unisex. You just go to what your preference is and what draws you in.”
- Christina Bohn, Associate Specialist of Watches, Sotheby’s
It’s tough to pinpoint what has led to this change, although it’s likely a combination of shifting tastes and societal norms, the cyclical whims of fashion and the fact that there are more women interested in watches and the watch industry – and prospective customers would prefer to shop for watches without them being labeled by gender. Other pop culture figures, including Victoria Beckham and Georgina Rodríguez, are donning historically larger watches, too. As Alison Loehnis, the president of Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter has said in interviews in the past: “More women are shopping in men’s than men shopping in women’s, but increasingly, our customers aren’t perceiving a gender divide in watches.” Recent studies have also shown that younger people, estimated to make up a majority percentage of the global luxury market, also feel more comfortable with more gender-neutral terms.
Luxury brands are taking a cue from these shifts, particularly when it comes to watches. Manufactures like Zenith no longer label their watches by specific gender, and Sotheby’s is following suit by not distinguishing watches as being strictly for men or women on auction lots. These days, anything goes for sartorialists and collectors alike. “Everything is just unisex,” says Christina Bohn, Associate Specialist of Watches at the auction house. “You just go to what your preference is and what draws you in.”
The vogue for smaller, unisex timepieces is reflected in Sotheby’s auctions and online marketplace. Patek Philippe’s Nautilus reference 3700, manufactured during the era when the first Nautilus models came to market, is increasingly accompanied by the smaller reference 4700 varietal, for example. Likewise, diamond-set Patek Philippe Ellipses and diminutive time-only watches are increasingly popular.
Watchmakers have typically defined women’s watches as those ranging smaller in size, Bohn says. In the past, anything 34-31mm and smaller would most likely be labeled as a women’s watch (although this varied by brand and model). Additionally, women’s watches of yesteryear were distinguished as such because they often featured specific material flourishes, such as a mother-of-pearl dial or a bezel set with diamonds and precious stones. But these days it’s not uncommon to see larger watches – historically deemed as men’s watches – embedded with these types of aesthetic details as well.
Over time, those more rigid distinctions gave way to consumers wanting something new when it comes to watches, Bohn says. That idea is applicable to both the shifting styles and sizes of watches: In a story about the recent uptick in unisex watches versus their gendered counterparts, The New York Times reports that brands have been noticeably “experimenting with the size spectrum to expand their appeal,” and are moving instead to offer an increased variety of millimeter options to meet consumer interest. “When people saw that Nautiluses were selling for so much money, they flooded the market with them,” Bohn says. “And that’s what's happening with Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks right now. If you see it so often, it no longer becomes special.”
Right now, singular watches are increasingly moving the needle. A Sotheby’s New York auction this spring features two Piaget Polo bracelet watches from 1981, forged from white and yellow gold and offered in two distinct sizes. These are rare pieces that ooze personality, and are both offered in impeccable condition. But rather than their size or condition, it’s the fact that they’re unique that most drives interest nowadays, explains Bohn. “It’s all very interchangeable.”
