Every watch is a unisex watch by Extropian
Once upon a time, there were men’s watches and women’s watches with all sorts of rules and regulations about who should wear what - dainty designs for the women, bolder, chunkier designs for the men. But the old rules simply don’t count any more! Women have been favoring masculine styles for some time now, but there are plenty of men out there who like supposedly feminine styles too! Nowadays, every watch is a unisex watch!
What is a woman’s watch anyway?
There was a time when a woman’s watch meant something feminine with a delicate strap. And it still can - we’re not ones to lay down any silly rules here at Extropian. But many women have long favored more typically ‘masculine’ styles. If a woman wears it, is it really still a man’s watch?!
Women wearing ‘men’s’ watches
Women have chosen to wear men’s clothing and accessories for decades - think of Greta Garbo looking super cool in masculine tailoring back in the 1930s! And that preference for masculine aesthetics has long extended to watches too. A larger case and a thicker strap looks awesome when contrasted with more traditionally feminine attire, and it looks amazing as a part of an overall ‘masculine’ look too! Go channel that inner Garbo! It might have been an unusual choice back when she was doing it, but these days women take it for granted they can play with proportion. Those old gender rules are as outdated as floppy discs. The rugged good looks of the Lorier Falcon II or the Mitch Mason Chronicle are just the type of thing to appeal to today’s women, likewise the cool retro aesthetics of the Vario Trench.
❤️ The rugged elegance of the Lorier Falcon II is going to look awesome on anyone’s wrist!
❤️ We love Mitch Mason’s contemporary take on the classic field watch
❤️ This super cool homage to the trench watch has Extropian hooked!
The boyfriend watch
The boyfriend watch is a slightly different creature. It can be seen as part of that whole boyfriend sweater / boyfriend jean thing, where items of clothing that women are in the habit of borrowing from their partners are re-styled specially for them. It merges ‘masculine’ elements, notably size, with ‘feminine’ elements, notably subtle color and embellishments.
Nixon’s boyfriend watches which combine a wide oyster style strap with pastel colored dials do exactly that!
Men can wear elegant watches if they want to too!
When we talk about ‘unisex’ fashion’ we tend to think primarily of women adapting traditional men’s styles. But that’s incredibly unfair - plenty of men like to work more feminine watch styles too - and have done for longer than you might think! In fact, in the beginning all wrist watches were feminine - men wore pocket watches. When Cartier designed a wrist watch for the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont back in 1904 it was a huge novelty! And it has to be said, quite ‘feminine’ in appearance. Which didn’t stop it being a huge hit with the guys when it was first marketed to the public in 1911.
Elegant styles for men
Contemporary style icons Harry Styles and Billy Porter are challenging conventional gender norms in fashion and looking damn fine as they do it! And it stands to reason that men’s watches are going to be part of that shift. There are plenty of men out there who prefer a more elegant watch, maybe because they have smaller wrists, maybe because it simply suits their aesthetic. Kanye West has been seen wearing a 22 millimeter Cartier Crash while Jay Z has been spotted with a 27mm Jaeger le Coultre Reverso Duo gracing his super stylish wrist.
Thankfully, brands are catching on to this shift and there’s now a whole range of men’s watches out there in color combinations that would once have been considered feminine. The Oris Diver 65 Cotton Candy comes with a dial in a range of pastel hues while Formex have transformed the functional field watch by producing it in a poppy shade of violet.
❤️ The gorgeous pastel hues of the Oris Diver 65 Cotton Candy have us yearning for summer!
❤️ Functional and funky. Extropian wants one now!
Can men really wear ‘women’s’ watches?
The answer of course is yes! We at Extropian are firmly of the belief that you should wear whatever you please, and fortunately there are plenty of people out there who agree with us. Men will often buy small and diamond set watches. And Roger Dubois took the decision to remove ‘Lady’ from the name of its Excalibur 36mm watch because it was putting off the men who wanted to buy it.
The rise of the unisex watch
Although most watches are still marketed as men’s watches or women’s watches, things are slowly starting to change. Many brands, aware of the growing shift towards gender neutral fashion, are creating watches that are specifically gender neutral and changing the way they sell their products. And about time too, huh? Gender binaries are soooo 20th century!
❤️ At Extropian we just love the combination of pastel dial and chunky oyster style strap on Venezianico’s Neireide 39
❤️ Oh the cuteness of that baby pink dial! Extropian is smitten.
Anordain - Model 2 in 36 & 39,5mm
❤️ We love the cool minimalism of this model at Extropian - it’s just gonna look awesome on anyone!
❤️ Oh that gorgeous vintage dial. Who wouldn't want this on their wrist?!
Unisex watches
Brands that are marketing their watches as unisex include Timex, who highlight their Fairfield Chronograph as ideally suited to either sex, and Nordgreen whose cool, Scandinavian aesthetic, seen on everything from the Native to the Pioneer is going to look good on anyone’s wrist.
❤️ The jewel toned dials combined with chunky straps on the Tsao Baltimore are just the kind of thing to send our hearts racing at Extropian.
How brands are changing the way they sell
Marketing watches as unisex is one way to break down gender stereotypes. But some brands are going even further! Zenith has removed all gender based search functions from its website. Customers can now look for watches based purely on size. Watchfinder & Company, a London based pre owned watch specialists, is taking a similarly inclusive approach, listing all its watches by size rather than gender.
Conclusion
Some brands may continue to market their watches as men’s watches or women’s watches, while others are going the unisex route. But choosing a watch based on the style or size that captures your eye is what makes sense to us here at Extropian! Once it is strapped around your wrist and, we sincerely hope, making you feel totally and utterly fabulous, the thing to remember is that it’s not a man’s watch, it’s not a woman’s watch, it’s your watch!
What to keep in mind:
- Gender binaries in the way we wear watches are gradually disappearing.
- Women have been wearing men’s watches for decades. Today, there are a whole host of brands whose masculine styles appear to women.
- But men like wearing elegant styles too! There are plenty of guys out there who like pastel colors or diamond embellishments on their watches.
- Brands are increasingly marketing their watches as unisex.
- However, some are going further and removing all reference to gender, instead listing watches by size so customers can simply go for the style they like!
- Ultimately, it’s not a man’s watch or a woman’s watch. If you’re wearing it, it’s your watch!
Created the 2023-01-03
Modified the 2023-12-01