7 luxury women’s watches that look like wearable pieces of art

I don’t think women’s watches get nearly enough of the attention they deserve. Due to many female-focused watches having overly elaborate designs and bright colours, many people view them as ‘style over substance’ rather than expertly manufactured timepieces.

While the best watches for women tend to be more sparkly and intricate than men’s watches, they’re still manufactured with the latest timekeeping features and functionalities, including stunning casebacks, flying tourbillons and clever chronographs.

For T3’s Luxury Watches Month, I’m putting the beauty and intricacy of women’s watches at the forefront with these seven luxury watches that celebrate watch manufacturing while looking like wearable pieces of art.

Cartier La Panthère de Carier

A list of luxury women’s watches wouldn’t be complete without Cartier. Part of Cartier’s Panthère Jewellery Watches collection, the Cartier La Panthère de Carier keeps the watch dial simple and flanks it with two yellow gold panther heads. Measuring 22.2mm, the Cartier La Panthère de Carier features a quartz movement and sapphire crystal, with a gold dial and blue sword-shaped hands. The real stars of the show are the 128 brilliant-cut diamonds that encircle the dial and the yellow gold panther heads with tsavorite eyes and black lacquer accents.

Chopard Imperiale Flying Tourbillon

The Chopard Imperiale Flying Tourbillon strikes the perfect balance between art and expert watchmaking. The dial is made from blue aventurine and features an engraved mother-of pearl flower at the centre. Diamonds also wrap around the flower and complete the bezel and strap buckle. Within the flower is the flying tourbillon complication which draws the eye, and the watch itself is driven by a self-winding mechanical movement.

Dior Gem Dior

Dior’s Gem Dior collection is colourful and playful with its combination of gemstones and geometric shapes. There are many different models to choose from within the Gem Dior line, featuring yellow gold, diamonds and other stones like malachite, lapis lazuli, tiger’s eye, onyx, turquoise and more. Depending on the style you pick, the Gem Dior can be laid back and understated or bold and dramatic.

Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux Jour

Part of the Love Stories Poetry of Time collection, the Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux Jour is a whimsical and delicate watch. On the watch dial, two characters walk across a bridge and reunite in the centre. Watch numbers arch around them, with the hours on the left and the seconds on the right, making it a fun and unique way to tell the time. The watch is complete with rose gold accents, diamonds and two interchangeable straps.

Piaget Treasures White Gold Diamond Watch

The Piaget Treasures White Gold Diamond Watch is a pretty combination of simplicity and intricacy. The mother-of-pearl dial is pared back and features a Piaget logo and hand and minute hands. The stain straps blend into the background as the watch bezel and case is made of white gold and brilliant-cut diamonds that increase in size and wrap around the watch face. The asymmetric design is elegant and resembles a floral centrepiece.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual 31

Rolex is one of the best watch brands to invest in right now, and the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 31 is one of my favourite watches for its colour and playfulness. Among Rolex’s many novelty releases at Watches and Wonders 2023, the Oyster Perpetual has a lacquered turquoise dial complete with pink, yellow, red, blue and green bubbles that resemble the five dial colours added to Rolex in 2020. It has a cartoon quality that’s fun to look at, but it's also a celebration of manufacturing with its 2232 Manufacture Calibre and bidirectional self-winding Perpetual movement.

Chanel J12 Cybernetic

One of my favourite watches announced during last year’s Watches and Wonders event is the Chanel J12 Cybernetic. Quirky and pixelated, the 38mm watch is shaped like a staircase on one side and perfectly smooth on the other. Made in two parts, the smooth side is made of black ceramic and the edgy side is white ceramic, both of which are grinded to come together in one watch.