Despite increased attention from brands, numerous questions relating to the female watch consumer have still to find a satisfactory answer. For example, why are women significantly less visible in the watch market, compared with men, when they make up the majority of luxury consumers? Why are luxury watches still widely considered a masculine preserve? Why are the most prestigious examples of watchmaking virtuosity almost exclusively reserved for the male wrist? In an attempt to answer these questions, Deloitte surveyed* 6,000 consumers in collaboration with Watch Femme. This Geneva-based community, dedicated to promoting women’s voices within the watch world, added insight with its survey of 107 (mostly female) watch consumers and industry professionals. 

First, an observation: despite composing 43% of the Swiss watchmaking workforce, women are significantly under-represented in leadership roles and positions of authority. They also earn substantially less than their male counterparts. Figures published by Unia, Switzerland’s largest trade union, show that women in the Swiss watch industry are paid on average 25% less than men: a wider pay gap than in other sectors of the economy. An illustration of how the watch world views women? 

Watchmakers wrongly persist in formulating a one-size-fits-all category of female watch consumer. “There is no one single approach that will allow watch brands to access female watch consumers in general,” notes Deloitte, “just as there is no one single approach that allows watch brands to access male watch consumers in general.” Men want options, many options, and one can reasonably assume that women do, too. In which case, it makes sense to ask what do watches represent for women and how do they buy them? Is it true, as is often claimed, that women see a fine watch as just another luxury purchase? 

The answer to this question lies to a large extent in consumer behaviour. When it comes to luxury products, studies show that women demonstrate greater brand loyalty, are more inclined to impulse-buy and that the pleasure they derive from the purchase is often a stronger motivation than the value of the product itself. As Julien Tornare, Hublot’s Chief Executive, observes, men consider watches more as a vector of status whereas women are more likely to purchase a watch because they like that particular design, how it feels on the wrist or for its elegance. 

 But are women even interested in traditional watches? According to Deloitte, the percentage of women who only wear smartwatches has almost doubled in four years, rising to 33% in 2024. In contrast, over the same 2020-2024 period, the number of women who said they only ever wore a traditional (mechanical or quartz) watch fell from 40% to 22%. Is this an irreversible trend? Brands remain convinced that smartwatches can be a springboard to wearing a traditional watch, particularly as 21% of respondents said they didn’t wear a watch at all and smartwatches are increasingly viewed as health and fitness accessories. Influencers and celebrities have a role to play in showcasing watch-wearing: the likes of singer Lana Del Rey, or Lily-Rose Depp advertising Chanel. While it may be true, as Aurélie Streit, Vice President of Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, notes, that women are often introduced to fine watchmaking by a man (their father, for example), a growing number are purchasing watches for themselves and are increasingly willing to spend more, particularly in China. 

So, what to choose? While a significant proportion of women (44%) stated a preference for female-specific designs, a growing percentage (26%) choose genderless models. This is something brands appear to have taken on board, as shown by the success of collections such as the Nomos Tangente 38 and the Tissot PRX. Design is as important as price when choosing a timepiece - not forgetting brand. According to the specialist consultant and journalist Shining Shu, for Chinese female watch buyers, brand remains by far the most important criterion. This requires brands to make significant investment, some of which must be in brick-and-mortar stores where women still prefer to make their purchases - even if younger generations are more likely to shop at online platforms. 

 Watch Femme fleshes out these insights with its own findings. As its survey confirms, there is a disconnect between the watches that are targeted towards women and the watches that women choose to buy and wear, suggesting that “watch brands are not giving female consumers what they want.” Put simply, women watch buyers are underserved in terms of product creation and underinformed on the range of products available. As for the still divisive question of gender, Julien Tornare remarks that “in all my years of speaking with end clients, not once have I heard anyone say that it really mattered to them to know if a watch was for a man or for a woman.” One thing is for sure: a large majority of respondents (79%) stated that women do not have the same customer experience as men, saying they often felt “unseen or dismissed” in physical boutiques. 

 The paper concludes that the female watch market is “fascinating, unexplored and promising.” Even as the shift towards genderless watches continues, the female watch buyer is complex and diverse, and cannot be reduced to a single type. Her needs must be understood in the broader context of the overall luxury space. For the female watch consumer, a timepiece is part of a more holistic approach to accessories whose importance can vary depending on the occasion. Women must be more visible, not just through a reimagined in-store experience but within the industry as a whole.