From Cartier to Patek: A guide to building a women’s watch collection
Watches aren’t just accessories anymore. This guide breaks down seven key watch types for women, with attainable-to-aspirational picks that fit workdays, workouts and big nights out.
For a start, your watch collection should comprise a mix of daily-use wrist companions, icons, and jewel-encrusted lovelies for special occasions. (Art: CNA/Jasper Loh)
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While some women consider watches as part of their accessories collection, alongside their jewellery, handbags and shoes, there’s also a growing sorority of horological connoisseurs who devote considerable effort to curating a timepiece collection.
For this tribe, owning the “right” watches is a statement of ambition, accomplishment, taste and sophistication. For them, it’s really not about waiting for someone to gift a fancy wrist bauble; it’s about flexing their status with subtlety.
In this guide to building a noteworthy watch collection – inspired by those exemplary watch enthusiasts – we’re putting the focus on pieces that are as attainable as they are desirable. Remember, you don’t need to take out another mortgage just to climb the horological ladder.
Along the way, we’re mixing mechanical marvels with quartz classics, giving you options that fit your lifestyle, aesthetic, and mood.
The 7 categories of watches to consider when assembling a collection
Assembling a notable watch collection is essentially curating a wardrobe for your wrist. Ideally, it should comprise a mix of daily-use wrist companions, icons, and jewel-encrusted lovelies for special occasions. Remember: build slowly, and with intention.
Consider the following seven categories your compass.
THE NO-FRILLS, THREE-HAND WATCH
Cartier Panthere de Cartier Mini
An 80s icon that looks every bit as good as it did in its heyday, the Panthere de Cartier (all 41 models!) is a symbol of confident femininity. This Mini model (25mm) has a steel case and a quartz movement, plus a well-articulated steel bracelet that moves fluidly with your wrist. Goes with everything.
Longines Master Collection
With its bimetallic (steel and 18K pink gold) design and automatic movement that boasts a 72-hour power reserve, this 34mm Longines Master makes for an elegant workhorse. It’s a watch that says you’re cool, calm and composed, and not showing off – you’re in the business of winning quietly.
Omega Constellation
It’s not hard to see why Omega’s Constellation line is a bestseller. This 28mm beauty – one of 167 models for ladies – is a sleek, iconic style with minimum fuss. Quartz reliability means no winding is needed, and that gorgeous dial – sun-brushed burgundy with a tinted lacquer – is just icing on the (already delish) cake.
THE SPORTS WATCH FOR YOUR ACTIVE LIFESTYLE
Omega Speedmaster 38
Sports fan or not, Omega’s legendary Speedmaster should be a part of any decent timepiece collection. Brimming with ladylike elegance, this 38mm variant features a white mother-of-pearl dial, blush hands, and a light dusting of diamonds on the bezel. You’ll want to wear this everywhere from your pilates classes to your weekend brunches.
TAG Heuer Aquaracer Solargraph
As far as entry-level sports watches go, TAG Heuer’s Aquaracer comes close to perfection. The 34mm steel case and bracelet bring rugged elegance, and this model, with its solar-powered quartz movement, offers zero fuss. Two minutes of light exposure is all it takes to power the watch for a day. Plus, its 200m water resistance means you’re always ready for a spontaneous swim.
Tudor Black Bay Chrono
This is one for those who like a bit of heft on their wrists. At 41mm, Tudor’s Black Bay Chrono wears large, but its ample girth is balanced by that pink dial, which adds a feminine punch without being saccharine. Its chronograph function – powered by an in-house automatic calibre – lets you time your HIIT sessions or laps around Marina Bay.
THE FASHION-BRAND WATCH
Chanel Premiere Iconic Chain Double Row Watch
Chanel’s timeless Premiere watch feels as fresh today as it did when it debuted in 1987. More bracelet than watch, the double chain wraps elegantly around the wrist, while the faceted, black lacquered dial gives it a jewel-like quality. A perfect match for your new Chanel 25 bag, no?
Dior La D My Dior
Don’t let the beauty of this delicate quartz timepiece fool you; great care went into its making – particularly on its white mother-of-pearl dial, which features a hand-engraved and gilded Cannage motif. The Cannage design repeats on the steel Milanese bracelet. Completing the look is an 18K gold bezel and crown set alight with diamonds.
Hermes Kelly Mini Watch
Inspired by the iconic Kelly bag, this dainty watch, with its detachable padlock design, doubles as jewellery. It can be worn in two ways: on a steel bracelet or as part of a Barenia calfskin lanyard. The latter makes for discreet time-telling. Subtle, playful and unmistakably Hermes, it’s perfect for women who love detail without ostentation.
Louis Vuitton Monterey
We’re very glad that Louis Vuitton decided to release the Monterey, a watch inspired by the brand’s first wristwatches from 1988. Driven by an in-house automatic calibre, the 39mm yellow gold watch boasts a Grand Feu enamel dial and a calf leather strap.
THE BEJEWELLED DRESS WATCH
Bulgari Allegra
If Bulgari’s Allegra doesn’t put a smile on your face, we don’t know what will. There’s pure horological joy radiating from this 36mm quartz-powered stunner. The 18K rose gold case is sprinkled with diamonds and studded with candy-coloured gems: two amethysts, two blue topazes, two citrines, a peridot and a rhodolite. Even the alligator strap shimmers.
Chaumet L’Epi de Ble Secret Watch
In Western iconography, wheat (and sheaves of grain) often symbolises abundance and a bountiful harvest. If you’re the proud owner of this timepiece, you’re no doubt blessed with plenty. Part bracelet, part art, the 18K yellow gold cover – decorated with golden stalks of wheat – hinges open to reveal a black aventurine dial. Another secret is revealed on the sapphire caseback: the inner workings of the automatic movement.
Chopard Happy Sport
It has been 32 years since the first Chopard’s Happy Sport entered our lives. In this33mm automatic edition, the iconic free-floating diamonds are set off against an aventurine dial – like a night sky lit by five meteors. More diamonds on the bezel frame this scene while also enlivening the 18K white gold case and glossy blue alligator strap.
THE JEWELLERY WATCH
Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas
No roundup of jewellery watches is complete without the mention of Bulgari’s emblematic Serpenti Tubogas. More than 75 years old and still going strong, this marvel of micro-engineering – the bracelet is a perfect balance of rigidity and flexibility – comes in an endless variety of sizes and styles. This bold combo of 18K rose gold, steel, and green lacquer is a stunner.
Hermes Maillon Libre
Hermes’ popular chaine d’ancre (anchor chain) motif exists across the brand’s creations, from bracelets and rings to earrings and bags. Now it has manifested on the Maillon Libre bracelet watch, the dial neatly nestling within the pill-shaped chain design. It is available in a few variations, including 18K rose gold with diamonds and terracotta tourmalines, and 18K white gold with diamonds.
Van Cleef & Arpels Sweet Alhambra Watch
Van Cleef & Arpels’ Alhambra motif needs no introduction. In fact, we’re guessing you probably already own an Alhambra bracelet. Here, the brand has incorporated a discreet dial on a bracelet. The yellow gold and blue agate combo deliver a knockout combo, recalling regal Egyptian artefacts. Bonus: there are also matching pendant, earrings and ring if you like your jewels in a full set.
THE HIGH-COMPLICATION WATCH
Jaeger‑LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Jewellery Shooting Star
On a pink gold canvas, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s master artisans depict a hand-painted pink peony against a starry, starry night. The automatic Calibre 734, visible through the sapphire case back, powers the shooting star – or meteor – that appears at random.
Piaget Polo Perpetual Calendar Obsidian
This Polo edition is a beauty, with a green obsidian dial flaunting a perpetual calendar – date, day of the week, month, leap year – as well as moonphase indications. All this horological goodness is encircled by a ring of emeralds, and set in a rhodium-plated 18K white gold case. Green obsidian – a naturally occurring volcanic glass – is rare, and is believed to offer protection, promote deep meditation, and bring about emotional healing. Powerful stuff.
Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux Aube
It’s hard not to fall in love with Van Cleef & Arpels’ ongoing Pont des Amoureux collection, with its simple storyline of two lovers who plan to meet on a bridge in Paris, and whose attraction to each other is manifested in the retrograde hours and minutes movement that draws them together for a “kiss” at the bridge’s midpoint. You can also make them smooch on demand with a push of a button. In this edition, the lovers are meeting at dawn, as indicated by the glorious sunrise. As a final flourish to this jubilant scene, the 18K rose gold case and pink alligator strap are encrusted with diamonds and pink sapphires.
THE ICON OR GRAIL WATCH
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chrongraph
A watch connoisseur without a Royal Oak is like a fashion fiend without a little black dress. This show-stopping chronograph variant highlights the interplay of purple against rose gold. It’s giving regal yet contemporary, with the iconic Grande Tapisserie dial pattern animated by a gradient of purples that dance in the light. Baguette-cut amethysts lend further shimmer.
Patek Philippe Ladies’ Nautilus 7010/1G-013 and 7010G-013
Surely you wouldn’t expect us to leave out the Nautilus in our roundup of icons. These quartz-powered, white gold lovelies – which come either with a fabric strap or a white gold bracelet – sport an azure, blue dial, a new shade for the icon of icons. We love its breezy, coastal vibe. It’s the kind of watch you’d wear in Cannes – on a yacht, on the red carpet, or at a high-powered social event.
Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin
A new model in Vacheron Constantin’s Traditionelle line-up, this delicate beauty is one for the ages. It boasts a perpetual calendar function and moonphase indicator on an ethereal, blue-grey tinted mother-of-pearl dial, housed in a waif-like case just 8.43mm in height. You can admire its inner workings through the sapphire case back. A plus: with interchangeable alligator straps, you can play around with different colours according to your whim.
