Women watch collectors are having a moment.
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Watchesarent like other accessories.
While wonderful, a handbag or a pair ofshoesdoesnt have a beat.
But a watchbeing the mini machine it is, tick-ticking to its own little rhythmdoes.
Theyre not quite alive, but almost.
You merely look after it for the next generation.
Timepieces are fascinating, complex gadgets with a centuries-old history.
On the design front, women consumers are rarely given the same well-rounded consideration as their male counterparts.
But times are changing.
Women watch connoisseurs are increasingly gaining visibility and making their passions, preferences, and buying power known.
Theyre finally being recognized, proving that the days of a watch being a boys-only toy are no more.
Which is why we spoke to some of the coolest collectors in the space.
I think of them as icebreakers.
Last year, at a restaurant in Paris, I noticed a man wearing an atypical Audemars Piguet watch.
I complimented it and to my surprise, he revealed that it was a wedding gift.
Unexpectedly, a basic exchange about a watch turned into a connection between complete strangers.
Where she finds inspiration:My mother.
The watches she wore subconsciously shaped my taste, as I grew up absorbing these visual references every day.
She has been wearing her two-tone Omega Constellation for as long as I can remember.
She never takes it off; she even sleeps with it on.
On the practicality of a timepiece:Utilitarianism is at the core of watches.
I grew up with him in Beijing, while my parents were setting up a life in America.
He instilled a love of analog in me.
He made instruments; we listened to classical music on vinyl.
Then, as I later witnessed my dad collect watches, I took in his passion.
You open up the back [of a watch] and theres this whole world.
6305 with a grayish-black dial and a honeycomb Jubilee bracelet.
A grail would be a Patek Philippe Ref.
1518 Perpetual Chrono in stainless steel.
Theres something romantic to me about the simple yet complicated craft of keeping time.
Or that wristwatches started with Vacheron Constantin making them for womenthey werent for men.
And [watch houses] marketing has evolved to attach to different demographics.
You hear rappers like Jay-Z talking about A.P.s, on my bezel, big-face Rollies.
Jacob The Jeweler Arabo was mentioned in so many songs between 2000 and 2010.
Their ultra-high-net-worth spender has looked the same for a very long time.
But now you have people who make their money from social media, are tech workers or founders.
They have a ton of money but are the first in their family to do it.
They dont necessarily look like old money.
And what has worked before doesnt necessarily work anymore.
Where she sources:I shop online for most of my collection.
My friend introduced me to Bobs Watches and Chrono24.
I like to romanticize it as a gift to celebrate my sisters birth.
Where she finds watch-spo:I look mostly to the depths of my TikTok and Instagram feeds.
For glamorous evenings in those dreams, a diamond Bulgari Serpenti Secret Watch with emerald eyes couldnt hurt.
I was six when I received my first timepiece: a rubber Disney princess watch.
Her current collection:I own about 45 watches, excluding SwatchesI still collect Swatches and have dozens.
Every piece has a story behind it.
The one that got away:The Gronefeld 1941 Remontoire Constant Force.
I knew that a friend of mine was bidding on it at the auction, so I held back.
Its so much more than a watch to me.
It started as a passion with my dad.
He was a collector and I dove headfirst into it to have a bond with him.
I love my dad more than anything in the world.
Looking down at my wrist every day, its like I have him with me.
Her first watch:My father gifted me a 1969 Cartier Tank as my first watch.
It has manual wind, which means its not battery-operated and doesnt work on movement.
You have to physically wind it every single day.
I just loved it, enjoyed it, and wore it every day.
Now, I wear it very rarely, but I do take it out a few times a year.
H. Jane Chon
Currently wearing:Patek Philippe Ref.
3940G
On her fascination with timepieces:I am technologically deficient.
But mechanical watches are one of the few machines I can understand and handle.
A watch makes sense to me in a way that looking at my phone does not.
When you see a mechanical watch taken apart, it makes sense.
This piece is attached to this piece, attached to this piece.
And you might actually see the pieces workyou can see a wheel tube grip and let go.
Why she prefers vintage:I collect lots of things.
The other things I collect will not take food off the table, but a watch might.
The vast majority of watches I see today may be technologically superior, but theyre not going to last.
The quality of older materials is, frankly, better.
I have watches from the 40s in my collection that work, look good, and will outlive me.
What she considers when buying a watch:I always think about the quality of the movement first.
I have watches from the 40s in my collection that work, look good, and will outlive me.
They were barely mentionedif mentioned at all.
I thought:I know women wear watches, so why arent they at all central to the story?
And why have I never cared to own a watch?
I want Gucci shoes and clothing by The Row.
A Rolex should have been on my wishlist, but it wasnt.
I got it as a gift from my parents in the 80s when I graduated from law school.
I never wear it anymoreits gathering dust in a box under the bed.
So he gave it to me.
Its a vintage two-tone Rolex Datejust 36mm with a blue dial and is so, so beautiful.
It was handpicked by my grandmother, whos no longer with us.
It has her touch, then it was his, and now its mine.
Its this familial link all encapsulated in this little object.
Wear it, get acclimated to that feeling, and then start manifesting.
Begin by putting something on your wrist, whatever you’re able to afford.
Get acclimated to that feeling.
But would I do it again?
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