Valentine’s Day can be a brutal shopping experience and often us guys even forget about it until the last minute. If you totally forgot about Valentine’s Day or need to repair a botched attempt, we’d like to discuss a few interesting women’s watches of various prices that should help clear things up. Be warned however, women know a soulless gift once they see one. You need to be charming too!
Ariel Adams says:
Van Cleef & Arpels
There are few watch brands which have the power to absolutely impress her yet still time dispelling the ramifications associated with a argument like something from Paris-based Van Cleef & Arpels. Lovely incarnate, the high-end maker of mostly women’s watches, jewelry, and dear versions of young girls’ fantasies is the perfect option when wishing to spend a hefty sum of income on a timepiece for your lady. She will absolutely love it given our educated guess. Go with something from the Alhambra collection if it is her first piece in the brand. This is their most iconic design with the clover-style case. You’ll be lucky to get out of the store for around $20,000 – $30,000. vancleefarpels.com
Ulysse Nardin
The above picture from the Ulysse Nardin Lady’s Diver amused me since it is a professional recreation of a picture I took myself once the collection in these colors was first revealed to me in 2011 (see that article here). I did obtain a chuckle out of that. As the Lady Diver incorporates a baroque design, it is one that I like and feel that with its colors, diamonds, and mother-of-pearl dial, many ladies will like it as well. The movement is an automatic, and this is a piece you can call a “real watch.” There is also an impressive amount of texture decoration and diamonds around the piece for the price. In steel with diamonds, the Ulysse Nardin Lady’s Diver is available at under $10,000 (more in 18k rose gold obviously). ulysse-nardin.ch
James Lamdin says:
Tag Heuer
Not every woman desires a dainty wristwatch purely designed for fashionable adornment purposes. If your date leads an active lifestyle but additionally cleans up well, consider gifting her a luxury branded sports watch. However, there are a number of brands to consider in this category, a perennial favorite is the all-around classy and functional Tag Heuer Aquaracer line.
The Aquaracer offers real usability for active wearers in the form of 300m water resistance, sapphire crystal, luminous hands, unidirectional bezel, along with a date window. A high-end quartz movement ensures daily reliability (apt to be more accurate than your own mechanical piece). All of these components shout serious tool watch, while its visual appearance are derived from a petite steel case and brushed/polished bracelet which dress up nicely.
With about fifteen pieces to choose from in the current ladies' collection, my recommendation is always to skip the larger models and diamond dial/bezel variants and stick to the 27mm base version pictured here, available with either a silver or black dial along with a great price point. If your lady is much more Lara Croft than Paris Hilton, this is the watch out for her. Priced from $1,700. tagheuer.com
Jaeger-LeCoultre
If the woman in your life has an appreciation for fine and iconic design and prefers her adornment easy and elegant – consider a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. The ladies Reverso line are sized at 20.5mm x 33mm and therefore are offered in quartz and mechanical (manual winding) variants with any number of case materials, strap options, and dial designs. For the best of all worlds, the one to think about is the Duetto, featuring a steel case with two back-to-back dials both run by the manual winding Calibre 844 movement.
On one side, a silver satin/guilloche dial with black markers and blue steel hands marks the passage of time in streamlined, simple elegance. A simple flip of the case reveals another, a Deco style dial with mother of pearl inlay and two diamond bands prepare her for any night of sophisticated luxury. This is an impressive timepiece designed for an impressive lady. She will love it. Make it happen. Priced from $8,900. jaeger-lecoultre.com
Paul Hubbard says:
Chopard
If you’ve got that IPO in your pocket, I have the perfect gift for you personally – the Chopard Happy Diamonds. A legendary design from a famed jeweler, the Happy Diamonds introduced the thought of having gold-set diamonds moving freely in between two layers of sapphire crystal. In addition to of course, diamonds in the bezels. 18 carat gold, quartz movement, mother of pearl dial, available too in white gold. The play of sunshine over moving diamonds creates the ultimate display of luxury goods. Yours for any mere $14,780 or $14,520 at chopard.com here.
Bianci
For those of us on an average budget, check out Bianci. We’ve reviewed them before and been impressed using the value. This model, the H262MOP_WHT, is really a white ceramic with mother of pearl dial, Swiss ISA quartz movement and sapphire crystal, list price $499 (cheaper in reality). They have a wide variety of styles, including some with cubic zirconia jeweling for a bit of affordable bling that should last quite well.
Maximilien says:
Chanel
Chanel is renowned for super-sophisticated classy and dressy women’s work clothes as well as Haute Couture that you will frequently see on Hollywood starlets parading the red carpet. However, Chanel also offers a fantastic timepiece collection that is anchored by the iconic J12 model that looks great on both women and men.
The Chanel J12 is a stylish and serious sport watch having a unique design language that helps it stand out from an otherwise crowded diving watch market segment. First, most of the models use a high-tech ceramic case and links for that bracelet, that is practically scratch-proof. The dial is super-legible with Arabic numbers all around and simple black hands having a strip of Super-Luminova. Completing the dial is an inner black round minutes track with Chanel marked on the inner top. The rotating unidirectional bezel is also ceramic but includes a fluted steel outer edge. The markings on the bezel correspond to what you would normally see on the dive watch. Completing it’s sporting character, the J12 is 200m water-resistant with a screwed down crown that is protected by the ceramic case. The caseback is steel however the whole thing is very light, which makes it an easy daily wear.
The Chanel Watches Glasgow J12 pictured may be the classic white ceramic model (ref. H0968) with 33mm diameter case, which includes a quartz movement, and retails for $5,250. Chanel constitutes a slew of variations from the J12 in black, white, along with other colors with mechanical or quartz movements as well as diamond settings for the bezel plus some with gold instead of steel. chanel.com
Cartier
Cartier is chock-full of gifts that can easily break the bank while guaranteeing joys and smiles and forgiveness. However, certainly one of Cartier’s most recent offerings, is somewhat affordable, and can make for a versatile present for any lady: the Ballon Bleu line of timepieces. The modern design of the Ballon Bleu is already iconic and striking. Essentially a round case having a domed sapphire crystal and a solid caseback that's also domed-shaped. The whole thing gives the impression of the perfectly flatten ball, matching in france they name. The blue part of the name originates from the protected crown that includes a blue sapphire cabochon.
The crown’s location physically reduces the dial which allows the case to remain almost perfectly round. The dial also includes the classic Cartier roman numeral numbers swiped by blued steel sword-shaped hands. For that ladies, the Ballon Bleu line includes a variety of options. Some of the nicest are the mother of pearl dial layout along with a variety of possible diamond settings on the bezel. The Ballon Bleu comes in steel, steel with gold inner links, all gold, plus some on an alligator strap. The pictured steel and gold with mother of pearl dial (ref. W6920034) measures 28mm, features a quartz movement, and retails for $7,050. cartier.com
I firmly feel the world needs more tasteful dive watches. Like this one, the most recent version from Chanel’s hugely successful ceramic lineup. Previously photographed here, today we’ve had a complete review in the month around the wrist using the mention H2979 Chanel Watches Gold J12 Chromatic. Offered in 33mm quartz, and 38 and 41mm automatic, the J12 Chromatic utilizes the renowned Chanel ceramic experience to create a watch with the appearance and feel of metal.Fellow writer James Stacey and that i disagree with Ariel in our favorite size of watch. In Ariel’s on the job, his take was “I like the feel of the Chromatic in my wrist, but would love for a 43-45mm wide size.” Me? I locate 38mm to be just right, but read on and see whether you agree or otherwise.By my measurements, this can be 38mm, 41 in the broadest area of the bezel, and 46.6millimeter lug to lug. A slim 10.2mm thick in the center of the domed crystal, tapering to 9.5mm in the edge. 141 g in weight such as the bracelet, very similar to metal watches from the exact same size. Additionally, it is accessible 41mm, and also in 33mm quartz versions.The motion is, I believe, the tracteur ETA 2892, my all-time favourite. Tough, precise, simple to support, and thinner compared to 2824 to boot. You’ll discover it as the foundation for more costly watches, all sorts of brands, as well as being used for modules from Dubois Depraz. For example, the Omega 1120 and IWC 30110 are gently modified 2892s. There are a few decent pictures of it at the RGM 151P review.
The proceeding brands and pieces are by no means the only good options, these are merely a few. It is true that these are higher-end choices, but perhaps they are able to inspire your purchase direction for any post Valentine’s Day gift, or another type. Happy loving…
