High quality in steel – Ladies only!

The time that a small diameter watch with a row of diamonds was believed to be the perfect women’s watch is long gone. A growing number of women in the market for a high end watch are seriously interested in the movement. Quartz is no longer the obvious choice, and a mechanical movement can proof to be a selling point.

However, most brands that use high grade mechanical movements still have the tendency to put them in precious metal cases and adorn them with diamonds or other gemstones. A beautiful option for a romantic dinner or a night out in the town, but for the everyday life she might want to opt for something a little more robust. Where can a woman turn to when she wants a good looking, steel watch, without gemstones but with a high-end, preferably in-house, movement that might even feature a complication? Here are 4 watches that do just that!

Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph Ladies – For women with an active life style, or simply a taste for a more sporty watch, Omega offers the Seamaster Planet Ocean chrono in a ladies size.

With its diameter of 37.5 mm it offers everything that one would expect from a serious diving chronograph. Unidirectional bezel, helium escape valve and a 600 meters /2000 feet water resistance. The true beauty of this serious piece of machinery lies in its movement. Omega uses caliber 3313 in this Planet Ocean, not to be confused with the new caliber 9300 of the new mens Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph, that is too large in diameter for a ladies watch. Caliber 3313 is an automatic chronograph movement with a column wheel, George Daniel’s Co-axial escapement and is even Chronometer-certified. Women should know that “Great watch you wear!” is not (always) a pick up line when they wear a sports watch of this statue, but an honest compliment. The price is around $ 7,000 USD.

Glashütte Original Lady Serenade Chronograph – A different take on the chronograph can be found with Glashütte Original. The Lady Serenade Chronograph has far more elegant lines then Omega’s Planet Ocean, but is surprisingly larger.

The Glashütte measures 38mm in diameter and its steel case houses the manufacture caliber 39-31. This automatic chronograph movement features a swan neck, 21 karat gold rotor insert and no less than 51 jewels. This high amount of jewels is partially due to the fact that the movement is constructed on a base movement with a chronograph module. It gracefully displays time on an elegant mother-of-pearl dial, and features nice details like an unusual styled crown, set with an Onyx cabochon. The Lady Serenade seems to offer the best of both worlds; elegant lines and details combined with a robustly sized case (not only because of its diameter but also thanks to its thickness of 12,3 mm) that protects the in-house movement. Priced at roughly $ 12,000 USD.

Blancpain Women Double Time Zone – For women who prefer a different complication then the chronograph, Blancpain offers a watch with a second time zone. For some reason Blancpain simply named the ladies collection “Women” and this particular model is called Women Double Time Zone.

As home of the Villeret, Léman and Le Brassus collections, this name is a bit bland to say the least. Fortunately the watch itself is everything but bland! Blancpain uses an ultra slim automatic movement that is only 3.25mm thick. Besides hours, minutes, date and a nice sub seconds does it also shows a second time zone at 12 o’clock with an am/pm indicator at 9. The watch has a very balanced look to it. This is very important because it is only 34mm in diameter, so the dial has also less space to display all its information. A nice touch is the guilloche on the dial, giving the watch something of a sporty look. Blancpain offers the watch on a satin strap, but your local dealer might be persuaded to swap this for an alligator strap giving the watch a totally different look and making it more wearable in the process. The price is also around $ 12,000 USD.

Saskia Maaike Bouvier 8 Moons – Dare to be different? Or do you have the desire of wearing a watch made by an Independent? The Saskia Maaike Bouvier most certainly has a unique complication for you, housed in a bold design. Her ‘8 Moons’ comes in a 45mm case that displays no less than…..8 moons!

This way you can see not only the current moon phase but also keep track of its progress during the week. Bouvier created this complication because women tend to be more sensitive to the lunar cycle then men. We beg to differ and would suggest that Bouvier quickly creates a mens version of this watch. By far the coolest part of this watch are the moons that form the outer ring of the dial and are actually filled in with Luminova! This provides for a more then spectacular look when the night falls. The inner part of the dial is partially open, showing not only parts of its inner working, but also indicating the hours with Roman numerals cut out of the dial. Apart from that the watch has nice details like pink(!) lacquered hands (grey is also available).  All together this young and innovative watchmaker introduces quite a stunning watch that will probably make some men quite envious. Sorry guys, it is still a ladies only model! Price starts a bit above $ 22,000 USD.

For more information about the watches or where to buy them, check out Saskia Maaike Bouvier’s website.