The watch: quite a story
If today the fact of owning a watch seems as common as having a handbag, the creation of the wrist watch was a small technical revolution in which great figures of History participated. Indeed, the first model was worn by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571. In France, Empress Josephine offered this type of watchmaking to her future daughter-in-law. Today, there are many watches that combine finesse, elegance and discretion to emphasize the delicacy of a feminine wrist.
The timeless women’s watch
The evolution of the style of women’s watches is intimately linked to the history of fashion. Thus, the Roaring Twenties spawned the success of Art Deco -style watches . Jaeger-LeCoultre created the famous “caliber 101” in 1929, a tiny caliber of 0.2 cm3 and 3.4 mm thick. The taste for small watches therefore appeared at this time. In the 1940s and early 1950s, this fashion reappeared with the proprieties of the day advising a lady not to inquire about the time. The watch thus acquired the status of jewellery. As the emancipation of women progressed, between the 1950s and 1970s, the cases widened and rounded with dials that took on color. The 1990s marked the peak of quartz and digital display. Women’s watches became quite discreet there again until the early 2000s, which marked the advent of the wearing of men’s watches. Large calibers are becoming very popular as if to challenge these gentlemen in their virile postures. The current return of small women’s watches is indicative of a fundamental trend reminiscent of the era of jewelry watches. The time being displayed everywhere, the reading of the time becomes secondary effect.
The connected watch
In the radius of contemporary trends, the connected watch is becoming more and more essential. This jewel of technology not only gives the time, but it counts the steps, alerts upon receipt of an email or informs about the weather of the day. The models are always more numerous and look more and more like “classic” watches, enough to marry them easily with any look.
The light and sporty watch
For everyday life, there are “casual” watches that are both resistant, waterproof and trendy. They will safely accompany women in all their activities. These pop and colorful watches are often equipped with a rubber strap and some are “color block”. The dial and the bracelet are of one and the same color, for example a flashy pink, a luminous white or a deep black. These women’s watches are perfect for enhancing any look, summer or winter.
Marilyn’s watch, a museum piece
The famous Swiss watch company Blancpain had launched in 1930 the “Rolls”, the first automatic wristwatch for ladies. In 1956, when the “Ladybird” model was unveiled, it was the smallest round watch of the time. Recently, a Blancpain watch produced in the 1930s and having belonged to the most legendary of Hollywood stars, was bought by the brand at an auction. In November 2019, this Art Deco piece was one of the featured pieces in the “Timeless Elegance” exhibition, held in New York at the Blancpain boutique on 5th Avenue. The general public was thus able to contemplate for the first time the watch which would have been offered to Marilyn Monroe by the writer Arthur Miller. Crafted in platinum, its rectangular case is set with 71 round diamonds and two marquise-cut diamonds. Two small blue hands roam the white dial punctuated by yellow indexes. With the craze for small, even tiny watches, which have been making a comeback for some time now, Blancpain has chosen to play the vintage card by reissuing the 1956 Ladybird.
