While women were first to wear a watch on the wrist, in the early years of the nineteenth century and long before men followed suit for practical reasons, it would be another hundred years or so before such usage became commonplace. A consequence, in part at least, of the Industrial Revolution, the notion of watchmaking as an activity rooted in science and technology, available only to an elite, began to lose ground. With the development of interchangeable movement parts and the introduction of the first production and assembly lines in the United States, then Europe, a watch became an everyday item that more people could afford. Societal changes such as new ways of dressing and the gradual emergence of a class that valued leisure, outdoor activities and travel would dictate different ways of “wearing time”, although it would be another two to three decades before pocket watches were no longer the dominant style. What had begun in the trenches of the First World War spilled over into civilian life. The era of the wristwatch had arrived.

Women, who had nothing to envy their masculine counterparts where “pocket watches” were concerned, were already adept at ringing the changes and wore their timepieces like precious jewels, suspended from a chain, as a pendant or pinned to a gown (although their wrist remained glaringly bare). Clearly they were an appreciate audience for makers, who were quick to spot an opportunity. In which case, why change a winning formula? Given women’s undisguised appreciation of timepieces as an accessory, chosen to complement an outfit, the notion of a watch as an item of jewellery would prevail. This implied substantially smaller movements, which could only be to the detriment of precision. Still, these were the Roaring Twenties, the Art Deco era, when attitudes were changing and women were making strides towards emancipation. It was a time for boldness and certain watchmakers responded to the mood, often with watches that eschewed the traditional round case. 

Jaeger-LeCoultre was one. Named for its founders, Edmond Jaeger of France and Jacques-David LeCoultre of Switzerland, the company made some of the first ladies’ wristwatches, as early as 1908. However, the real gamechanger came in 1925 with the development of the Duoplan (LeCoultre 7 BF calibre), an ingenious movement whose parts were spread across two levels. By arranging most of the gears on the lower level, the Manufacture had the entire upper level for the escapement, including space for a large balance wheel, and was therefore able to achieve two seemingly irreconcilable objectives: an extremely small movement that was highly precise. Writing in Jaeger-LeCoultre, La Grande Maison, Franco Cologni describes the Duoplan as more than a technical invention. It was, he says, an avant-garde vision. In western society, having the precise time at one’s fingertips had remained a man’s business. Women, by the very nature of their occupations, had no concern with knowing what time it was, hence their watches were designed as decorative objects. 

In this context, Cologni continues, the invention of the Duoplan can be considered a milestone in the affirmation of women’s status and role in society, for its combination of feminine elegance and watchmaking expertise. Among the Duoplan’s countless interpretations were landmark versions equipped with the famous Calibre 101. Introduced in 1929 and still in production today, it is the smallest mechanical movement ever made, measuring 14 x 4.8 x 3.4 millimetres. “Small timepieces making great history,” Cologni writes. One particularly noteworthy creation made possible by Calibre 101 is the watch Queen Elizabeth II wore for her coronation in 1953. 

Vacheron Constantin also took the lead in accompanying women in their horological aspirations. In Vacheron Constantin, Artists of Time, we learn how a fruitful collaboration with Ferdinand Verger and his sons, watch-case manufacturers who were also Vacheron Constantin’s representatives in Paris, established the Swiss firm at the heart of the fashion capital, where it could stay abreast of changing tastes and trends. Between 1910 and 1930, the two partners collaborated on multiple creations, many of which were fitted with the “tuyau” movement: a small, rectangular calibre that Vacheron Constantin developed in 1915. Taking this innovation as its starting point, Verger Frères would make, for Vacheron Constantin, an ultra-slim baguette watch for ladies. The epitome of Modern style, it would go on to considerable success. 

In the giddy atmosphere of Parisian life, Cartier, the “king of jewellers and jeweller of kings”, was quick to grasp the advantages to be gained by diversifying its production to include watches. Almost immediately, it stood out with wristwatches that broke once and for all with the archetype of the round pocket watch. Alongside the likes of the Santos, the Baignoire and the Tortue, from its inception in 1917, the Tank was destined for greatness. In Cartier: The Tank Watch, Timeless Style we can read that a unique example of a lady’s jewellery watch appeared in the windows of the Cartier boutique in November 1919. Though not described as a Tank, it had the new watch’s attributes. In May 1920, a similar model in platinum and diamonds was recorded in the stock register as a Tank. “Interestingly, within six months, Louis Cartier had changed his mind and decided that Tank, despite its military connotations, could be the name of a woman’s watch. Since the end of the war the status of women had changed radically and the notion of their ‘eternal femininity’ was fading.” In a succession of iterations, uninterrupted to this day, the Tank has remained the elegant epitome of a new direction in watchmaking that was particularly suited to the female wrist. Another frontrunner for this space and equally challenging of conventions, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Cadenas, which debuted in 1935, was the jeweller’s first incursion into time measurement. Now a signature piece and still in production, the Cadenas watch’s perfectly avant-garde design sets a sloping dial in a padlock-shaped case, held by a double serpent-chain bracelet. 

Continuing in a jewellery vein, Bulgari, establisBulgari who was photographed on the set of Cleopatra, her Serpentierpenti is designed to weave itself around the wrist thanks to its supple Tubogas bracelet whose snake-like form is created from flexible strips which are wrapped around a core into a flexible, unsoldered curve. Bulgari is one of the few makers to master this technique. Today the Serpenti is, in Bulgari’s words, “the faithful ally of women who have affirmed the right to be independent, cultivate their talents, pursue their dreams and live a life that aligns with their desires.” Women such as Elizabeth Taylor, a lifelong fan of Bulgari who was photographed on the set of Cleopatra, her Serpenti coiled around her wrist. 

A decade later, it would be Blancpain’s turn, led by Betty Fiechter: the first woman CEO and owner of a prestigious watch manufacturer, remembered as a legendary figure in the watchmaking world. This same platinum and diamond watch would be acquired by Blancpaine world’s smallest round movement, barely 11.85mm in diameter. “The Ladybird enjoyed enormous commercial success both with watches sold under the Blancpain name and watches sold under the name of different watch brands and jewellery houses,” writes Jeffrey Kingston in Les Lettres du Brassus. “Many Ladybirds were exported as finished movements housed in an inner case. These watches were completed by outfitting them with a gold outer case and, often, adding decorative jewels. One of the heavily gem-set pieces was chosen by Marilyn Monroe.” This same platinum and diamond watch would be acquired by Blancpain at auction in New York in 2016. 

All these models offer excellent examples of watches in tune with the prevailing trends in fashion and the decorative arts. The first half of the twentieth century saw two World Wars and the Great Depression, yet despite this the eminent names in watchmaking and jewellery stood firm, supported by a clientele, many of them women, who were won over by their creative verve. These were, nonetheless, timepieces for a wealthy few, for fortunes made in business or the arts who could afford the precious metals and gemstones, and the craftsmanship they implied. Women searching for a more inexpensive alternative for everyday wear had little choice than a watch that was, more often than not, a smaller version of a model designed for men. And even then, it could be years between the two, as illustrated by Rolex and Omega, two manufacturers known for their high-volume production. 

In 1957 Rolex unveiled its Lady-Datejust, a watch that “concentrates all the attributes of the Datejust, the emblematic Rolex watch that has been a byword for style and technical performance ever since its launch in 1945,” says the brand which continues: “The women's version of this date chronometer, the Lady-Datejust carries the elegance of the Datejust in a small size perfectly suited to a slender wrist.” So, a twelve-year wait between the men’s and the lady’s versions! As for Omega, its high-precision Constellation debuted in 1952 but it would be a full 15 years later, in 1967, that the first iterations for women were added to the collection. Clearly, makers were in no rush to satisfy women watch-wearers, other than at the very high end of the spectrum. Both Chopard’s Happy Diamonds, in 1976, and the Chanel Première watch, in 1987, launched as original creations for women but in the bijou-watch category that was regaining in popularity thanks to quartz movements. It would take the return of the mechanical watch for the situation to change…