What (Watches) Women Want

Raiding the man's watch box
A crisp white shirt, the boyfriend jean, a tuxedo blazer — women have a knack for adopting male-centric style items and making them their own. It's no different for watches. Whether it's the aesthetics, size, or superior movements within, plenty of women have chosen to sport watches originally crafted for the male clientele because, well, ladies' watches are sometimes just too feminine.
We're not always looking for diamonds, mother-of-pearl, flowers, and dainty butterflies. Sometimes, we just want robust, masculine lines or technical dials that scream: “Here's an awesome watch!” A quick scan of Instagram will show you plenty of cool chicks out there rocking a traditionally “male” Rolex and proudly posting their pics to prove it.

An interesting option is to take a man's Rolex and change up the strap to tailor it to one's style and wardrobe. Take for example the Daytona 16518 customized with a hot pink leather strap. Or the President Day-Date 1811 accessorized with a distressed turquoise leather strap. They deliver a beautiful marriage of his and hers. But again, originally made for him and cleverly converted into hers.

Daytona & Day-Date outfitted with customized straps

Yes, Rolex has delved a little into offering women slightly larger watches (Pearlmaster 36) and more sporty watches (Yacht-Master midsize), but we want more. What about a Submariner, GMT, or even a Daytona crafted especially for ladies? I know plenty of women who dive, travel, and race cars, and even those who don't, still want a really cool watch to wear. There are also those ladies who switch from wearing the Datejusts they've owned for decades to mens' ones because they can't read the tiny faces on theirs anymore!

Yacht-Master 69623

My husband's stainless steel and black dial Submariner matches my black with silver chain Chanel flap bag to a T, but unfortunately the bracelet is just too long for my wrist and he won't let me have it shortened (go figure). So I gave up on trying to wear it because, much like dressing in clothes that don't flatter, fussing about with a watch that doesn't fit correctly is definitely not fashionable. Thankfully, he does however have some fab pieces with leather straps that offer me a better fit.
Perhaps an impossible fantasy, but wouldn't it be great if Rolex offered the ladies some timepieces that were a little less sweet and bit more swagger? Until then, I guess I'll just have to be content with digging through his watch box to find the perfect wrist candy or buying a man's watch and tinkering with it until it fits me just right.