Watch marketing campaigns leave us in no doubt that a watch is an indicator of style and social status. It is an eminently personal object, worn next to the skin: a private vector of emotion. And yet some models are designed to be unisex. Is this genuine intimacy or more like shared custody? Can a watch reflect two different personalities, depending on who’s wearing it? Can watches even have bipolar disorder?
The sex of watches: size matters
But let’s leave the amateur psychology for the time being. In practical terms, a unisex watch can be defined as a watch with a diameter of between 37 mm and 40 mm, generally free of precious stones – not because men aren’t allowed jewels, but because they are still perceived as a symbol of femininity. How long that state of affairs will last is a question for another time.
Nevertheless, “unisex watch” does not have to mean “compromise watch” or, even worse, “all-purpose watch”. Erasing gender differences doesn’t have to mean erasing personality. Quite the opposite. In the L.U.C XPS 1860, master jeweller Chopard offers a 40 mm watch full of character that brings together a number of objective qualities that have value to both sexes: balance, harmony, legibility, even serenity. Patek Philippe is on the same track with the 39 mm Calatrava 5227. And Jaquet Droz also clearly understood the advantages of reducing the diameter of its Grande Seconde from 43 mm to 39 mm. 
Mixed sports
Where sports watches are concerned, however, unisex is perhaps more difficult to achieve, given how closely mechanical sports watches are associated with the masculine universe of chronographs and high performance. Difficult, yes, but not impossible, particularly if we take the opposite route, and start with a women’s sports watch, then size it up for men. This is what Chanel did with the J12, which is available in a 38 mm diameter that looks fine on a man’s wrist.
Richard Mille employed the opposite tactic. The watchmaker known for his ultra-sporty, technical and rather macho pieces is courting women without compromising his DNA by making the most of his ultra-thin curved case. To women, the RM 67-01 looks soft, discreet and sensual; whereas what appeals to men is its slender profile, skeletonised dial, restrained weight and the intriguing possibility of being able to wear it under their shirt cuff.
It’s complicated
Over time, watchmaking tradition has given certain complications a “default” gender setting. Moon phases are suitable for women, for example, while chronographs are for men. Thankfully, some complications are exempt from this arbitrary pigeonholing and, if they are well designed, can work well on a unisex timepiece. Blancpain, for example, has the 40 mm Villeret with Big Date complication, which lends itself perfectly to both men’s and women’s wrists. Czapek’s Quai des Bergues No. 33 measures 38.5 mm, and is available in both gold and steel, with grand feu enamel dial and two fine in-house complications: power reserve and days of the week. 
Unisex colour
And then there’s the colour. Some colours are regarded as inviolably feminine in the collective unconscious, without any real basis other than social convention. Pink is the obvious example. But there are plenty of other colours that men and women can share quite amicably. Piaget proved it at the last SIHH, with an Altiplano collection in green, brown and purple. Hublot pulled off the same feat with its Classic Fusion Blue, and Longines followed suit with the new Master Collection in grey. Unisex but multicoloured!
