Aside from her wedding ring and earrings, Victoria Meek generally wears only one other type of jewelry.
“I have always worn big watches,” says the 34-year-old Hixson resident. “I own more than one big watch. My Rolex is a large-faced women’s watch.
“I think it’s a fashion statement, but I don’t feel like it’s going to be a trend that’s going to go away.”
According to local jewelers, she’s right.
Until the last decade, big-faced watches were seen as rugged and masculine. Today, however, women are shelving their dainty, feminine timepieces for ones that are big and bulky, often an 1 1/2 inches wide or bigger.
Louis Brody, 47, who grew up in the jewelry business – Brody Jewelers was founded by his grandfather in 1937 – says most women who come into his store are purchasing big watches.
“I’ve been selling watches all my life and, until about five years ago, women rarely bought a big watch,” he says. “Today, they’re rarely buying the smaller ones.
“The big watch for women is more than a trend,” he adds. “It’s here to stay.”
The trend is Hollywood-inspired, Brody says, noting that celebrities such as Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss and Jennifer Aniston have been spotted wearing the men’s-sized watches. And they’re being bought by women of all ages, he says.
Bob Mason, 66, owner of Rone Regency Jewelers in East Brainerd, says Rolex started gearing its 1.4-inch-wide watch to women a couple years ago; until then, that size – which in the watch industry is called a 36-millimeter timepiece – was strictly for men.
“Rolex recognized that men wanted bigger watches so they started making a 40-millimeter (1.5 inch) model,” and the 36-millimeter version is now geared to women, says Mason, who has worked at Rone Regency since he was 20.
Women want more than just a fashion statement when it comes to watches, he says.
“So many professional and successful women today want a watch that is beautiful and dependable, whether in the boardroom or suitable for their active lifestyle,” he says.
He notes that most watch-making companies now make big watches for women.
“The Shinola brand, for example, makes a double-wrap band for their watches,” he says. “Women love it and it’s definitely fashionable.”
The bigger designer watches, ranging in size from 36-41 millimeter at Rone Regency, sell from around $250 to more than $50,000, says his wife, Sherry, who also works at the jewelry store.
Brody says that, at his store, Bulova Accutron ceramic watches are popular with his female customers, and they’re cheaper than other brands, another selling point.
“Eighty percent of women who buy this watch buy two – one for summer and one for winter,” he says. “While men are buying the Rolex, women tend to be more economical because they want more than one watch.
“The Accutron offers a woman’s watch in black, white or pink that are hugely popular We are constantly selling out and reordering.”
For baby boomers – who are between the ages of 52 and 70 – the bigger watch is easier to read with their deteriorating eyes, says Carol Collier of Chattanooga.
“I needed something I can see,” says the 61-year-old Collier, who recently made the switch from wearing a smaller feminine watch to a big, bold one.
“I had a very feminine little watch until not long ago when my husband and I decided to get each other watches for our 40th anniversary,” she says. “I wanted something big with jewels so that it would be good when dressing up or wearing jeans. I wanted it to have the bling factor. I also wear thin bracelets with it. I like it so much better than a little watch.
“I know some people use their phones to see the time, but I don’t want to have to reach into my purse to get it. I love having the time right on my wrist.”
Brody says that, with the onset of smartphones, sales in watches dipped slightly for a short period of time. But the convenience of wearing a watch outweighed the inconvenience of reaching for one’s phone to tell the time, he says.
Rone Regency’s Mason says he’s “noticed in recent years that a lot of men and women right out of college are buying watches.”
“If you’re sitting in a meeting and you pick up a cellphone to look at the time, it’s kind of a slap to the face of people there,” he explains. “If you have on a watch, you can discreetly glance at your wrist. To me, if you look at the phone, you are showing disinterest in the meeting. I think young professionals recognize that.”
Sherry Mason adds that young professionals also see the wristwatch as a fashion accessory and, in some cases, a symbol of success.
“Our No. 1 selling watch is Rolex because of what it symbolizes and the excellent quality of the brand,” she says. “It is multi-generational. We had a customer come in our store last month whose father had gifted three of his Rolex watches to his two sons and daughter.”
She wears a man’s Rolex herself, she says. “I love the size and weight and I can see the numbers.”
Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.