Why women are more interested in luxury watches these days?

Brynn was working as an editor at Sotheby’s in 2019. At global art auction house, she was asked to create content for the watches department. The source reports that she was 31 years old and a Manhattan resident when she said, “Listen, I’m willing to help, but my knowledge of watches is limited.”

The watch team wanted her editorial eye and not her knowledge of watches. She recalls that they told her, “We just need to make it cool.” She tried it out and became intimately familiar with the material. She sourced photos, edited fact-checks, and researched what is undoubtedly the most expensive accessory in fashion. Wallner says, “In the process creating watch content I became really compelled to them.” “I was drawn to them intuitively and kept wondering how I didn’t know this before,” Wallner says.

Wallner learned more than she realized from her experience. Wallner was also surprised at how few women have been involved over the long history of the watch industry. Wallner says, “It’s great to see old movie stars like Paul Newman making a Rolex Daytona popular.” “But at the exact same time, it was amazing watch. Do women wear it? What style do women prefer? What is it like on a woman’s wrist?”

Wallner: “Who were the women who made [watches] popular? ” Elle MacPherson and Princess Diana wore luxury watches from Vacheron Constantins to Rolexes. But their stories are not the main point of the story.

Wallner felt called by God to repair this missing link after having discovered it. Wallner, who had previously left Sotheby’s, launched Dimepiece, an online magazine that rounded out the story. This website is for fashionable women who have never been to a watch shop. Profiles, essays and watch 101 features (e.g. A diagrammed anatomy of the watch and its components — what is a bezel anyway?) The site also provides an explanation on how to buy vintage timepieces. Dimepiece, which launched six months ago, has not only laid the foundation for a women-led industry but also demonstrated that women love watches, even though the watch industry never considered them.

Designers are realizing the value of luxury timepieces and the increasing interest among women in them. Mordor Intelligence, a research firm, estimates that the market will be worth $23.6 billion by 2020. There is a lot of potential in the women’s watch market, but only a few style-conscious individuals have the money and desire to get into it.

Giulia Torelli (33 years old closet organizer and radio host, Milan, Italy) says that although she already owns a watch as a family heirloom, she wanted to purchase something with her own money. “After a very stressful year at work I decided to gift myself with a Cartier that’s always been my dream,” Torelli said. She purchased a Cartier Tank from a certified Cartier reseller as the style she desired, steel-cased with an engraved crocodile bracelet, was no longer available. It is a constant reminder of her progress. She says, “It makes my feel like a real grown-up.”

Torelli and many others see luxury watches as a way to show that they have made it. It’s similar to buying a handbag or putting down a down payment for a house or car. According to Statista, the average Rolex watch cost was over $12,000 in 2018. It’s not something that most people would ever dream of being able to spend this much money on one, non-essential item. It is possible to feel a great sense of accomplishment for those who have the financial means to make such an expense.

Wallner says that it took six months for her to choose the right watch, and then to save enough money to purchase one. Wallner didn’t have a luxury watch until the spring, despite having a watch publication with over 13,000 followers and an engagement rate 4.29% (the median engagement rate for fashion brand on Instagram is 0.51% according to RivalIQ). She bought her first Cartier, a small Tank Francaise at the Cartier Mansion in Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. She says, “I was never used to spending that much on anything”. “So, it was quite a mental feat to be able to spend that much money.”

Wallner and Torelli have not regretted their timepiece purchases. Wallner bought her second watch, a used 26mm Rolex Datejust in two-tones. Wallner believes that luxury watches are a way to show her hard work and that she knows that she can pass them on to her children. She says, “I bought this watch in the hope that one day I’ll have a child and they will wear it before giving it to the next generation.” Torelli also believes that a watch has the potential to become a future heirloom, more so than any other fashion item.

Kate Spencer, a Refinery29 shopping editor who lives in Brooklyn at the age of 31, is fortunate enough to have been part of the heirloom chain. Her mother gave her a Rolex to commemorate her 25th Birthday. The watch has its own story: Spencer’s ex-husband traded in her Cartier Panthere for the Rolex. Spencer claims that her mother wore the Panthere every day, but she started looking for alternatives after she divorced.

She decided that it was time for her daughter to get the watch. Spencer says that her mother said she didn’t need any more watches — she’s not a watch collector. She would prefer me to have the Rolex because it would fit my style. Her mother, who was already a Cartier Tank owner, saw it as a win-win because it would be in her family if she ever wanted it to be worn again.

Ann Wang, a New York City-based fashion journalist, chose her Cartier Santos-Dumont for her 30th birthday gift from her husband. She recalls, “He had been researching watches. He showed me videos that interested him.” She admits that she never really thought about watches but she found herself fascinated by the mechanical aspects of every timepiece after watching the videos. She says, “It struck me how rare and special a beautiful watch can be.”

Wang comments on the trials and tribulations of shopping for accessories. She was proud of her successes in both her professional and personal life. She says, “It makes me feel loved.”

The beginning of a new type of relationship can be signalled by a luxury watch. Alexa Katz, 26, a New York publicist, uses her Cartier Panthere in two-tones to remind her to treasure her relationship with herself and not with her partner. “I split up with my boyfriend and he was so bitter that he took back his Rolex for me. Naturally, because I deserve it and this relationship will work out, I went out to buy myself a Cartier watch.”