KEEPING AN EYE ON THE LADIES

As we reported in Calibre  – our official magazine – last summer, ladies’ watches are in metamorphosis. Not long ago, it was assumed there wasn’t a market for ladies’ mechanical watches. Brands made ladies’ watches that were smaller versions of men’s watches, decorating them in precious stones, filling them with work-a-day quartz movements.

But the global market for ladies’ watches has evolved. Brands now recognise there’s a horologically savvy female clientele out there demanding watches that are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside – which means mechanical, and often complicated, too.

Last year was, some observed, the tipping point for this trend. Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Zenith were all in on the act. Audemars Piguet announced at SIHH 2013 that come 2015 it would have upped the percentage of its collection devoted to ladies’ watches from 25 to 35 per cent. Vacheron Constantin devoted its entire SIHH collection to women. It was quite something.

We therefore made our way to SIHH in January keeping our eyes peeled for ladies’ watches. Here’s what we found.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Night and Day

Arguably the biggest story in ladies’ mechanicals over the last couple of years has been Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Rendez-Vous, a collection of round-cased watches designed for ladies only. There have been lots of complicated versions, including a perpetual calendar, two tourbillons and a model with a celestial display.

One of the most coquettish was the Night and Day, which featured a disc at 6 o’clock that made a full rotation every 24 hours, showing a moon at night and a sun during the day. It was pretty, elegant and feminine, but a proper mechanical watch, too.

This year, there are two new versions of the 29mm Night and Day, one in stainless steel and one in pink gold. Jaeger has simplified the look, removing the diamond-set bezel, and adding diamond hour markers above the large, playful Arabic numerals that dominate the mother-of-pearl dial. The movement is still the automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 967A, which has a power reserve of 42 hours.

 Cartier Ballon Blanc de Cartier

Last week we introduced you to the Cartier Calibre de Cartier Diver Watch, which was one of 102 new watches shown by Cartier at SIHH this year. Another of the big stories was the Cartier Ballon Blanc, an all-new collection of watches designed exclusively for women.

First thing to say is that these aren’t mechanical watches. Cartier has deliberately created a jewellery watch – and what an incredible job it’s done. The Ballon Blanc de Cartier is a work of art. It gets its name from the sizeable, 0.20-carat white diamond set onto the crown at 4 o’clock (spun round from 3 o’clock on its parent watch, the Ballon Bleu de Cartier).

There are two versions, one at 24mm and one at 30mm. Both have Cartier’s intricate beaded bracelet and a bezel set with diamonds totalling 0.70 carats.

A. Lange & Söhne Saxon

Lange’s much-praised collection hasn’t offered a lot for ladies of late, but what there is perfectly illustrates the change in ladies’ watches. The latest example is the new 35mm Saxonia. It might be a smaller, jewelled version of a larger watch aimed at gents, but it is also a mechanical beauty, powered by Lange’s manually wound L941.2 calibre.

That calibre gives it a small seconds at 6 o’clock with a stop seconds function for accurate setting, and a 45-hour power reserve. The watch is available in white or pink gold and the case back is sapphire crystal, offering a wide-open view of the movement’s deliciously decorated German silver three-quarter baseplate.

The two new models have bezels set with 60 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling approximately 0.95 carats. One has a white mother-of-pearl dial and a crocodile strap, the other the same but in brown.