The male celebrities wearing women’s watches: Lionel Messi and Bad Bunny sport Patek Philippe, Timothée Chalamet rocks a tiny Cartier Panthère, and The Weeknd wore Piaget high jewellery to Cannes
When choosing a watch, women have long sported designs made for men. Hollywood royal Salma Hayek, for example, regularly favours a 44mm PAM 104 from Florentine watchmaker Panerai, a heritage brand known for its chunky, bold, purpose-built designs. Meanwhile, global style icon Victoria Beckham has been photographed on many occasions wearing traditionally masculine timepieces, like an all-gold Patek Philippe Nautilus or Rolex Presidential geared with a champagne dial.
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Today, however, the opposite is just as true, thanks to a new wave of celebrities like Austin Butler, Damson Idris and Tyler, The Creator, who are daring to break with convention and dial down the dimensions of their go-to timepieces.
“People are looking for subtler ways to flex that don’t involve flashy logos, and specifically in watch wearing, the ‘bigger is better’ trend has run its course,” says Brynn Wallner, founder of Dimepiece, an online platform for all things women and watches.
“Watch brands move at a slower pace than fashion and often can’t keep up with what’s trending. New watch releases tend to be oversized, standing in sharp contrast to what was manufactured even as recently as the 90s, when 40mm was considered jumbo-sized. So, if a man is looking for a watch that stands in line with their current fashion sensibilities, erring on the subtler, minimalistic side, they’ll opt for a ladies’ watch.”
Ever the trendsetter, actor Timothée Chalamet recently championed it with a teeny tiny version of Cartier’s Panthère watch. First introduced in 1983, the Panthère has become a flagship model of the maison, garnering A-list fans from Gwyneth Paltrow to Dua Lipa and Madonna. Typically considered a ladies’ style for its elegant, feminine silhouette, Chalamet’s version is one of the smallest in production, measuring a mere 25mm by 19mm and with a thickness of just 6mm, proving that the watch looks just as great on the wrists of men as it does on women.
“Androgyny is in,” Wallner points out. “Gen Z is comfortable wearing jewellery and nail polish, so it would only make sense that this comfort would extend into watch wearing, and that the trend would extend beyond the youth. Gender labels have become all but irrelevant for many watch enthusiasts, with both women and men opting for pieces they personally like instead of adhering to any dated guidelines about who should wear them.”
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It’s not just the androgynous appeal of a ladies’ watch that has men shunning gendered categorisation – it’s also the extraordinary gem-setting that comes with these daintier styles. Take The Weeknd, one of the best-dressed musicians in the game right now, who, for his Cannes debut, wore a stunning bejewelled Piaget high jewellery watch with over 700 diamonds and sapphires on its 32mm dial. While technically designed for women, the watch was a dazzling display to accompany the star’s custom Loewe tux.
“More people are getting into watches and are wearing them how they choose, disregarding any preconceived notions about what’s cool or customary,” says Wallner. “As more people get into this world and voice their opinions, brands feel challenged to be more creative with their product design, opening their eyes to innovation that is possible when not speaking to the same demographic they’ve historically catered to.”
The question remains, though. Will the appeal of ladies’ watches continue to blossom among men, or will it soon dwindle like many a fad before it?
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“This trend is deeply rooted in history and therefore has staying power,” says Wallner. Indeed, in the 1950s, it was 35mm watches that were considered oversized and the spectrum has only widened since then, Wallner points out.
“We now see people scaling down, nodding to the vintage sensibilities that are at the foundation of this industry,” she says. “Everything is cyclical, of course, but the watch world benefits from a steadiness and adherence to quality that grounds it more than the average fashion brand. Trends are less rapid and rampant in the watch industry. The glacial pace the watch brands move at may contribute to the staying power of this trend.”
- While Salma Hayek and Victoria Beckham have long rocked chunky men’s models, today male stars like Austin Butler, Damson Idris and Tyler, The Creator are wearing ‘women’s’ timepieces
- Chalamet’s tiny Panthère is a favourite of stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Dua Lipa and Madonna – Dimepiece founder Brynn Wallner says ‘bigger is better’ is finished as Gen Z turns to sleeker, more individual pieces
