Second Opinions All Watches Should Be Unisex – And Here's Why

It's crazy to me that the watch industry continues to make this distinction at a time where more and more brands – and more and more humans – are ignoring traditional gender boundaries. The category of "women's watches"' seems especially pointless. Before I get into why, I want to clarify that I'm not referring to jewelry watches (i.e. the Bulgari Serpentis, the Piaget cuffs, and the Van Cleef & Arpels Cadenas of the world). I'm referring to the category of so-called men's watches that are simply shrunken, bedazzled, and quartzified for the ladies. I also want to be clear that I have nothing against women's watches as objects. In fact, I love a lot of them, as I have written many times on this very site. This isn't about the watches; this is about the approach to selling them and how outdated it is.

With that out of the way, what was I saying? Oh right, watches should be unisex. Here is why. 

As a consumer, I don’t want to be told what I should and should not buy. I want to decide on my own. I do not need a salesperson to condescendingly guide me to a poorly lit case to show me what they think I would like in the ladies' section. Call me crazy, but sometimes what I'm looking for is actually the latest steel sport watch that measures at least 36mm. Maybe it's a chronograph – I don't know! When I find what I'm looking for, I will know it when I see it. And it won't be in that case. 

Almost every watch I own is at least 36mm and automatic or made for men. Not a single one – not the AP Royal Oak 15450, not the Rolex Day-Date Ref. 1803 – strikes me as overtly masculine. Some have gemstones. Most have a bracelet. Definitely all are classic designs, are super well-made, and with few exceptions could be with me for the rest of my life, if not beyond. 

Y'all, it's 2021. Gendered watches feel soooo Victorian. A few companies (like Zenith) are getting with the program; I've seen them either use men's watches on women in campaigns or make concerted advertising efforts focusing on strong independent women. Now it's time for everyone else to follow. If the brands were to approach watches differently, as an entire group, just think about all they would gain. 

First, they would be catering to 100 percent of their customers. Not 45 percent or 55 percent, but all of us. This would allow them to use their marketing dollars in joint campaigns showing both men and women wearing their products. Fashion scions like Gucci are already launching un-gendered apparel collections, which is harder because clothes fit different bodies differently. Meanwhile, a watch – even a big honkin' Hublot – is just a strap change or bracelet adjustment away from fitting any sized wrist. Ultimately, if you make watches unisex, then you will sell more watches to more people because everyone will be able to envision themselves with one on the wrist. 

Second, unisex watches would allow for better product design. Take the Patek Philippe 7118 Nautilus. It's a 35mm sport watch in steel, rose gold, and yellow gold, with or without diamonds. The only differences between the 7118 and the 5711 are the size, the date placement, and the wavy lined dial versus the straight-lined dial. I'm convinced that if Patek released the 7118 with the same dial as the 5711, it would be equally popular with men and women. Audemars Piguet has started to do this with the Royal Oak, and they now have 34mm, 37mm, 39mm, and 41mm versions available for any wrist size, male or female. They look fantastic on a woman. I know because I wear one!

Finally, gender-free timepieces would make women feel more included in what has typically been a dude-driven industry and hobby. Readers ask me all the time: Why aren't more women working in or wearing watches? Well, probably because watch companies market potentially unisex pieces with male race car drivers and fighter pilots. I would love to see the new Speedmaster on a woman in the next Omega billboard campaign. And I am certain that if a woman saw that watch on another woman (a chic, independent, hard-working woman), she would want to buy it. 

It's time – past time – for the watch world to open a dialogue with the half of the population that's often either left out or scorned. And here the burden goes beyond the brands and into the community, which can be unreasonably hostile to any sort of newcomers, and particularly to women. Consider the Talking Watches video HODINKEE produced with Bethenny Frankel. Our readers begged for a female TW guest, so we found a successful, funny, wickedly smart, and accomplished woman who truly loves watches. And what did a bunch of the commenters do? They mocked her and her collection because she received some of them as gifts, and refused to sell one back to an ex-boyfriend. The hostility is enough to make any woman hesitate to post a photo or video. 

Gentlemen, can you imagine posting a wrist shot in your Instagram feed and then receiving multiple comments or DMs about what you're wearing (and I don't mean in a nice way)? Do you know how humiliating it is to have your male colleagues have to read through and delete perverse YouTube comments that you received when all you were doing was talking about a new watch? It sucks. And it makes you not want to do it anymore. And I know I'm not the only one who's experienced this; women in the watch media world (and media world in general) deal with it all the time. And the worst part is, when you call people out, you're accused of being a bitch. 

I did a thought experiment the other day. I posted on my Instagram asking the women who followed me to reach out so I could ask them questions about watches. I received hundreds of messages showing interest. Cool, right? The sad part was, I had no idea so many women wanted to talk about watches because usually they remain quiet. And an overarching theme was they weren't sure if they "qualified" to speak up because they only owned one watch or weren't quite an expert. Too many women still don't feel like they belong at the table. And that needs to change. Too few female watch execs are in positions of power to do anything about it. And too many men think what women really want is a watch made for Barbie. 

Watches should be for everyone – whether you're just getting into them, or have been collecting for years. Removing dated gender labels from watches is not only a good first step to making the community more inclusive, it's also almost literally the least we can do. 

Cara Barrett has been working at HODINKEE since 2015 and has since contributed editorially and commercially. When she's not managing partnerships and special projects, she is covering anything and everything from gem-set watches to solving vintage watch capers, such as the story of the Senza Luna. Prior to HODINKEE, Cara spent three years in the Sotheby's Watch department and worked on a number of record-breaking sales, including the Patek Philippe Titanium Collection and the Henry Graves Jr. Supercomplication. Cara is based in New York City.

Art by Marylou Faure