Raising the Bar: The Rise of Women Watch Collectors At Auctions
Dominated by the rich ‘boys’ club’ for the longest time, the luxury watch space is finally opening up to women, with a significant increase in women taking part in auctions — both as consignors and as bidders
As absurd as it may sound, the Covid-19 pandemic proved to be one of the biggest game changers for luxury watch auctions in recent years. It not only pushed the leading players to take a massive digital leap but also encouraged first time buyers and millennials to explore the world of pre-owned watches like never before. Somewhere between smashing world records for grail timepieces and sparking an unprecedented retail resurgence, auction houses also noticed a shift in gender dynamics over the last three years.
Dominated by the rich ‘boys’ club’ for the longest time, the luxury watch space is finally opening up to women with a fascination for mechanical timepieces. “We have seen a big increase in the number of women taking part in auctions, both as consignors and as bidders, in recent years. As we tend to attract hardcore enthusiasts, people who want to grow their collection and deepen their knowledge of watchmaking, the majority have become regular participants,” says Arthur Touchot, International Head Of Digital Strategy at Phillips. “The major demographic shift probably happened about three years ago when we began seeing stronger and more consistent female participants at our auctions,” he says.
With evolving perceptions of femininity and the growing wealth of women worldwide, it’s now obligatory for the luxury watch industry to be more inclusive. Women contribute nearly a third of Swiss watch sales annually and the figures are only to go up in the coming years. So it’s a natural progression for brands to take gender off their watch tags and address women more persuasively. “For a long time, the industry interpreted the lack of women in the watch collecting community as a lack of interest for the product, when the issue was that collectible watches were almost exclusively presented as men’s watches. That's one of the reasons why we started showing the watches offered in our auctions on both male and female wrists, without placing a gender on them. In fact, we don't segment the watch collecting community in any way. We think of it as a whole, which is made up of many collectors with varied tastes. We don’t sell men's watches or women's watches. We sell great watches and great watches are for everyone,” says Touchot.
While it’s impossible for anyone outside the auction houses to quantify gender in the pool of bidders, our inquiries suggest a demographic tilt over the last five years. Aged between 35 and 55, women watch collectors mostly prefer to bid either on phone or online and not as much at physical auctions. “On an average, we have seen about 11 percent of women buyers and bidders at live auctions and 12 percent at online auctions. There has been no seismic shift – the numbers have been fairly consistent, but numbers tell only half the story,” explains Nitin Nair, Associate Watch Specialist at Christie’s. “A lot of the women’s watches are bought through the family or husband’s account, so it may not necessarily reflect in the books as a woman bidding or buying. I have male clients who often buy women’s watches on behalf of their wives because they find it convenient to transact with one account,” he says.
According to Nair, online auctions and social media marketing have hugely helped in attracting new bidders in recent years. “It’s all about how well-curated a sale is. If an auction has enough attractive pieces that appeal to women, they will come and bid. I have female clients who buy and wear men’s watches too. They are mostly Gen-Xers interested in watches from Cartier, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Chopard, Piaget and Bulgari.
This change in demographics is evident not just within the collectors’ community but also at auction houses that are endorsing gender parity across departments. Right from heading marketing and communications to flexing gavels at prestigious events, more and more women are now leading from the front. “I think it's most important to build trust. Well established collectors, male or female, often want a good listener, who would understand their requirements and advise accordingly. At Phillips, we want to ensure our clients are comfortable talking to us, so we have auctioneers representing different personalities and gender. Having female auctioneers is definitely a bonus for any auction house these days,” says Gertrude Wong, Co-Head of Sales and Specialist at Phillips in Hong Kong.
Tiffany To, Phillips’ Head of Sales in Geneva, loves working with women clients, as she believes they are much more detail oriented and specific than men. “Dealing with women is always fast and easy. While I do see a much higher participation from women these days as compared to how it was in 2015, it’s probably not as good as one would expect it to be in 2022. However, a good deal of women with great tastes are buying watches for themselves. I still remember, one of my first clients was a lady, who came in with a Rolex Daytona John Player Special and I loved it! I would also like to add that in Asia, especially Hong Kong and Singapore, women collectors are not a new phenomenon. They know exactly what they want whether it’s high jewelry or watch complications. So in a way, it's not so fair to say that women have woken up in the past two years. I think it's just become more prevalent, more accessible through social media, but the client base has always been there,” she says.
Right from hosting preview brunches and cocktails exclusively for women to featuring more watches on female wrists in their catalogs, auction houses are making sincere efforts to be more inclusive. Then there are the cross -category sales, which are encouraging women to explore watches. “The strength of Christie’s Luxury Cluster, which includes the Handbags and Jewellery departments, has helped bring in new women clients to watch auctions. Our sales like the ‘Jewels & Watches Online: La Dolce Vita’ as well as the fabulous ‘Inside the Orange Box: A Lifetime of Collecting, Property from an Important European Collector’ featured handbags, jewelry, wristwatches, textiles among others. I have a few clients who started with handbags and gradually moved to buying watches,” says Nair.
The Leading Ladies
One of the most sophisticated watch collectors around, H.Jane Chon, knows how to hunt a good watch. Extremely focused and thorough with her research, this modest attorney from New York has curated an enviable collection of vintage watches over the last seven years. Although her first "watch friends'' were all men – “intelligent, curious and open-minded” – she was pleasantly surprised to discover like-minded women enthusiasts online during the pandemic. “I’m a Luddite, who has never felt comfortable with social media, but my friends got me on Instagram in April 2020. I believe social media has done a tremendous amount in giving a voice to female collectors. Before Watch Femme and such groups, I really thought I was one of the few female watch collectors, but now I know there's a lot. We have very different tastes, interests and obviously a different amount of knowledge and passion,” she says.
Despite her passion and deep interest in mechanical timepieces, Chon often felt completely disregarded at both watch retail and social gatherings until a few years ago. Although she’s no longer met with the universal assumption that she’s “an unknowledgeable plus one”, there are certain occasions when she can still sense a bias. “I still face this problem while interacting with unfamiliar private dealers. When I go for auction previews, particularly the private cocktail parties, I do feel treated less than many of my male peers. Not to a horrible degree, but I do feel it. But during the auction itself, everyone's treated the same and so I really like it,” says Chon, who has attended a few auctions over the last two years. “Needless to say I'm regularly outbid. I think watch auctions will remain the domain of men, as watch collecting, in my opinion, will always have more male than female enthusiasts, but that's alright.”
A regular at watch auctions, Hong Kong based financier Lung Lung Thun is a heavy hitter amongst the young and inspiring watch collectors from Asia. A scroll through her Instagram account reveals an eclectic mix of watches in precious metals—complicated Audemars Piguets, A. Lange & Söhne Datograph and Langematik Perpetual, dainty pendant watches and more. A big fan of perpetual calendars, Thun’s taste in collecting has seen a gradual transition towards vintage watches over the last few years. “After you look at vintage, it's really hard to go back to modern watches; you know you're not going to bump into someone who has the same piece as you,” says Thun, who picked up her A. Lange & Söhne watches at auctions and has been gravitating towards vintage Patek Philippes recently. “I like the fact that watch collecting is an illogical hobby, I have never looked at it from an investment point of view,” she says.
So what’s on her bucket list, we ask? “I’m looking for Patek Phillipe’s Ref.5004, 3940 and 5959. These are all classics that represent important milestones in the brand’s history,” she says. Although Thun loves the absolute excitement of attending a live auction, the lack of women in the room often makes her uncomfortable. “Whether I walk in with a bunch of guys or if I walk in quickly, alone, I have always felt this way. So more recently, I've just chosen to watch auctions online, especially in Hong Kong,” she says.
In the post pandemic world, the luxury watch landscape is being shaped by young, enthusiastic opinion-makers and collectors, who have a unique take on everything – right from vintage watches to modern marketing spiels. One such successful, funny and extremely talented social media sensation is Brynn Wallner, who has made anything and everything on watches so much more exciting and accessible for women from all walks of life. “I think that the inclusion of certain women like myself has brought a more lighthearted element to the community. Watches should be taken seriously, of course, but it's not heart surgery... it's okay to have a little fun and look at watches from the big picture, contextualizing how they fit within a modern person's lifestyle,” she says.
Over the last two years, the Dimepiece community has grown by leaps and bounds—from newbies to hardcore collectors, everyone is hooked to Wallner’s playful yet impressive short takes on horology. “The watch industry veterans have shared their knowledge; whereas the new enthusiasts have asked questions that have prompted me to dig deeper, asking how I can provide service beyond just posting fun photos. We are all learning together, and it's so cool to have an online community that tracks this. It was so cool to celebrate my first ever luxury watch with my audience... and now people send me their own wrist shots after achieving "First Dimer" status,” says Wallner, who has officially attended only one watch auction so far but a momentous one, to say the least. “It was the December 2021 Phillips auction, during which the Tiffany Nautilus was sold. Since it was such a press-worthy sale, I think the crowd was more varied than a typical auction. I personally felt very welcome and free to be myself in the crowd (I did let out several giddy yelps as the price on the Nautilus climbed higher and higher). It was almost like witnessing theater; and I can imagine that the vibe is more serious with your typical watch auction. I'm sure that online auctions make for a more inclusive space, but I would love to see how things go in the actual room now that more people are getting into watches,” she says.
Internet: The Great Equalizer
The most powerful harbinger of change during the pandemic was the Internet, which brought the collecting community together in much more meaningful ways than ever before. Zoom-ing in and out of computer screens and Clubhousing with fellow enthusiasts all through 2020, watch collectors discovered a great escape from the pandemic induced restrictions through online meets. If one had to pick the single most important milestone in the world of online communities over the last two years, it would undoubtedly be the launch of Watch Femme. Originally introduced as a platform for women to enjoy uninhibited chatter around watches, Watch Femme turned around its immense popularity into a social media movement of sorts—calling for gender-free watches, women empowerment, mentoring and more.
“We wanted to start a dialogue, but we didn't anticipate the popularity it earned over a short period of time. It really helped us build our community and now I’m seeing tonnes of new blogging platforms like ours that have cropped up over the last year,” says Laetitia Hirschy, Co–Founder of Watch Femme. “We have created a non profit association in Switzerland and women can now join Watch Femme as official members. We always keep the core mission in mind, which is promoting inclusivity in the watch world at all levels and amplifying women's voices by highlighting their contribution to the industry. We have also mentored a few women and helped them find jobs in the industry,” she says.
Wallner, who sparked an Instagram frenzy in the summer of 2020, feels the pandemic was the best time to have introduced Dimepiece. “Everyone was on their toes about inclusivity and representation in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter protests. So, when I launched Dimepiece, I don't think the haters felt empowered to speak out as they would have before social reckoning. Rather, I was embraced with open arms and continue to feel supported by men and women in the industry alike—with the exception of a few dudes in the comments correcting me on reference numbers,” she says.
According to Tiffany To, the auction scene today is not just about a few old men sitting in a corner with dusty paper catalogs, writing down prices. “It’s much more dynamic. A lot of this has to do with popular culture, which has widened the collector base and also piqued the interest of younger people. For example, when Kim Kardashian bought Jackie Onassis’ Cartier Tank, it was a wow moment. The news reached a wider audience, thanks to Kardashian, who is a cultural icon and that in a way helped the Tank’s popularity among youngsters,” she says.
What Women Want
Historically, it was always safe to assume that a typical woman's watch should have a dainty dial, some diamonds and an elegant strap. However, over the last decade, women's wardrobes have been expanding and so has their need for a variety of timepieces. Most importantly, they do not need a man to buy them a watch anymore. “Like men, no two women are the same and their interest in watches can’t be generalized. Some build their collection around a brand, others around an aesthetic, and, of course, we have clients that have a broader interest in watches. One of my clients has a very large collection that ranges from petite, yellow gold Cartier watches to oversized, ceramic Royal Oak Offshores. She also had a few stainless steel icons such as the Daytona Ref. 16520, the Nautilus Ref. 5711, and more niche collector’s pieces such as the Omega Speedmaster Apollo XIII “Snoopy”,” explains Touchot.
For most women, watch collecting is an extremely passionate hobby and also a reflection of their lives – their moods, achievements and learnings. The idea is not to hoard but to hone their skills in collecting – one watch at a time. “What's most important to me in purchasing today is still one original tenant – that I go after the best example of something I want, whether it be a movement, complication, design, manufacture, etc., but now the second most important aspect is how it fits into my collection – I don't have the means to have duplicates or pairs, however wonderful that would be,” says Chon, who loves manually-wound chronographs and worldtimers.
While some gender gaps within the industry are shrinking, there’s a lot that the brands could do in terms of product offerings. Most women today don’t care for labels—whether a watch is masculine or feminine or unisex—it just has to be well made. According to Zoe Abelson, the young and dynamic watch dealer from New York, one of the main factors that determines how a woman may buy watches versus a man, is the size. “There are so many watches that I would love to have in my personal collection, but they just don't fit my six inch wrist. The largest watch that I own is a 40mm Daytona, so that cuts out so many amazing options,” she says. “Audemars Piguet does a really really good job of this, it offers watches in 37mm and 33 mm as well, but you'll never hear them say that it's a ladies watch because men wear them too. I think Patek Philippe could do a better job of making 36 and 38 mm watches that have the same DNA as their men's pieces and that would open up a lot of options for women. But again, there’s no need for gender categorization there,” says Zoe, who started out on her own after 10 years in the industry, founding her company, Graal Limited, which specializes in sourcing rare watches from indies like MB&F and F.P. Journe.
The democratization of the watch industry should be viewed not just in terms of product offerings but also as the inclusion of women in leading roles, says Hirschy. “We would love to see more female CEOs, like role models, who can inspire others to achieve the same. Unfortunately, in our industry, there's only so much space for women, so they often feel threatened by each other. This needs to change. Watch Femme’s goal is to make everyone feel included,” she says.
