Your complete guide to buying a watch for the woman in your life.

This is going to be long, detailed beyond reason and by the end of it you will either feel like the god of watch-gifting, or you’ll be thinking… “Sod it… I’ll buy her another necklace.”

Now, I say ‘her’ because that’s the question I see asked most “Which watch should I buy my wife/girlfriend/daughter?”, but there is no reason that this advice can’t just as easily apply to she/he/they.

It’s just basic principles.

The difficulty when you go on a watch forum and ask “What is a good women’s watch I can buy as a gift?” is it’s the equivalent of asking “What type of food will I enjoying eating?”.

All anyone can do is give you their own opinion, but we don’t know your other half like you do. We don’t know if she prefers to spend her evenings in the bath with a glass or wine, down the pub with friends or wrestling bears in the woods.

We don’t know if she’s more likely to be wearing a hoodie and jeans, a blue suit or skin tight rubber.

All of this makes a difference in choosing a watch, so I thought it would be more useful if I gave you a guide to making the choice yourself rather than giving you a ‘Top 10 watches for women’.

I know that ‘Top 10 ladies watches’ was probably the article you wanted, but trust me, doing the extra work will be worth it so you don’t present your bear-wrestling, rubber-wearing, axe-throwing girlfriend a dainty vintage Omega.

BUT… If you are desperate, lost and slightly afraid about the whole watch-gifting business I do have some specific watch suggestions at the end.

First, let’s get the preliminaries out of the way:

Why are you buying her a watch?

Be totally honest with yourself here.

Is this watch secretly a gift for you or a ploy to try and lure her into the hobby? I’m not here to judge, but do bear in mind that she WILL see your true motives. If you think she doesn’t really want a watch… don’t give her one.

Does she already have watches?

This is probably THE most useful question you can ask yourself.

Answer A: Yes, she has watches but never wears them.

Perhaps this is a sign that watches are simply not her thing. Consider buying her something else.

Answer B: Yes, she has watches and enjoys wearing them.

Excellent! A watch could be an awesome gift!

Answer C: No, she has no watches.

Tread carefully. Does she have no watches because she is simply not interested, or because she’s never considered them?

If this watch is for a special occasion, has she asked you for something specific she wants?

If she has asked very directly for a specific watch, JUST BUY IT. Don’t make the mistake of thinking “No woman of mine is wearing a Micheal Kors. I’m going to find her something better.” No. Just buy her the watch she wants. I don’t care how much it burns you. That’s what love is.

If she has asked for something completely unrelated to watches, JUST BUY IT. If she’s said she wants a handbag, a necklace or a new throwing axe, DON’T buy her a watch instead. Especially if she asked for a new throwing axe.

Does the watch have to be a surprise?

We all love surprises, but seriously consider gifting her the whole ‘trying on’ experience.

If you are a watch person yourself you know how personal a choice it can be and how much fun the whole AD visit and trying on session is, and this includes affordable watches too. H.Samuals (for my UK readers) has a great selection of watches which you can request them to order into the store for her to try on. You could make a day of it and it could be a lovely experience which ends with her definitely getting the watch she wants.

Ok, so for you brave folks who are still keen to buy a suprise watch gift, let’s get into the details…

Gather your intel:

This question again: Does she already have watches?

If she does, and she wears them, then consider buying something in a similar style.

If looking in her watchbox runs the risk of blinding by sparkles, consider going down the blingy watch route.

If she has a bangin’ collection of digital Casios, then this gives you a good idea of her taste and the style you should be looking at.

Colourful dials?

All gold?

Bare it in mind when you’re making your choice.

Now, there may be part of you that thinks “Well she’s already got 15 G-Shocks. Maybe I should be getting her something a bit dressier instead to fill that hole in her collection… something classy….20mm dial… with a few diamonds perhaps?

Before you go down that route, let me ask you… If you had a watchbox full of vintage Omegas would you want your other half to think “Hmmm… I think what he’s missing is a rainbow coloured 60mm Invicta.”…?

Unless she has specifically told you she wants something different, sticking to what you know she likes is by far the safest option.

If she doesn’t have any other watches yet then consider keeping it simple (though I will give you more guidance later). Don’t go too extreme on design, cost or size. Keep it fairly vanilla and classic.

Do you know her wrist size?

I don’t actually think this is that important, as women can happily go tiny or oversized with watches. It’s your ladies style that matters more.

So… what IS her style/lifestyle?

Just think about the kind of stuff you see her in on the day to day and when she goes out. The jewellery she wears can also give you some great clues.

Relaxed: Jeans and t-shirt, trainers, minimal jewelry or none at all.

Brands to consider: Casio (Baby-G), Timex, Seiko.

Bold: Vivid colours, bright patterns, chunky necklaces, bracelets or rings.

Brands to consider: Mr. Jones, Farer, Timex.

Outdoor: Tech wear, gym clothes, hiking style, jewellery may be leather bands etc or none at all.

Brands to consider: Baby – G, Norqain, Rolex.

Minimal: Neutral colours, low key patterns, jewelry is simple chains or pendants

Brands to consider: Omega, Junghans.

Professional: Smart, suits, jewelry understated.

Brands to consider: Longines, Omega, Rolex, Vintage.

Figure out her general vibe and you will have a great starting point to find the perfect style of watch.

BUT very few women are just one style.

Your lady may be all business in her blue suit during the day, turn into Rambo, running through the woods at the weekend and then transform into a Bond girl for your meals out. If this is the case you can either try and find a GADA (go anywhere do anything watch) that can hand it all, or pick one of her personas and buy purely with that in mind.

A small side note: Her taste in jewellery can give you major clues!

If everything she wears if quite delicate and low-key, then consider going that direction with her watch. If she loves bold and colourful bracelets and necklaces, that you can look at something bright and exciting. If all she wears is silver, then think about going for a steel watch. Likewise, if all her jewelry is gold… get you check book out.

Is it going to be an everyday or special occasion watch?

As I mentioned above, you need to decide what you want this watch to be. Do you want to buy her sometime she can wear most of the time? Or is it going to be a dressier watch just for special occasions?

Now, time to make some decisions:

Pick your budget

Not much to say on this really. Make a decision on the price range you are wanting to stick to to start off your search.

Pick a size range

Based on what you have learned aboved about her style, pick a size range. Dainty or statement making. If you still aren’t sure then the easiest option is to go for 28-36mm. I think these sizes will appeal to the vast majority of ladies and are comfortable to wear, but if you think your lady may have a bigger than average wrist, stick around 36mm, equally, if you think she is likely to have smaller wrists than average keep around 28mm.

THESE ARE GUIDELINES, NOT RULES.

If your tiny lady frequently steals your Submariner to wear, then you can happily look at 40mm watches.

Are any complications going to be particularly useful for her?

This could earn you proper brownie points. Consider if a certain complication or type of watch would be particularly useful for her.

A chronograph to time her coffee brew.

A dive watch if she loves swimming.

A moon phase if she’s a werewolf. (I dunno! What the hell ARE moonsphase’s good for??).

Points to consider:

Think about quick release straps.

The right strap can really change up the look of a watch. Now, there is no reason you couldn’t buy your lady a spring bar tool so she can do her own strap changes, but if she’s not a watch person consider going with quick release straps just to make life easier. I’m a watch person, and I like quick release straps.

Don’t get too hung up on quartz or mechanical.

A lot of people will say to go for quartz for the non-watch enthusiast, but I honestly don’t think it matters at the end of the day, unless you know for a fact that your other half won’t have time or be bothered with setting a mechanical.

Pop culture

One watch buying route to go down is picking one from TV or films. If she’s a James Bond, Alien or Indiana Jones fan, there are options out there she may love.

“Sooooo…… what are the top 10 watch gifts for ladies then?”

Fine.

I’ll give you some ideas.

For these lists I have tried to gather a range of styles, functions, price points and sizes, but have tried to stick around 36mm (except for a couple) to make them the safest bet for most ladies. For the GADAs I have aimed for 100m water resistance.

Great ladies GADA watches:

1. Casio Baby G: Loads of different choices, colours and styles. Not ‘dressy’ but tough as hell

2. Farer Lander GMT 36mm: A beautiful 36mm GMT

3. Hamilton Khaki Field Murph 38mm: The watch community rave over these, and it even has a cool movie tie in.

4. Certina DS PH200M 39mm: A dressy diver that can go from the beach to the restaurant without batting an eye.

5. Seiko 5 28mm: A smaller, tough, affordable option.

6. Lorier Falcon 36mm: Cool microbrand with a retro feel.

7. Norqain Adventure Sport 37mm: Norqain have a few ladies options which go a little bigger than this. Cool brand for the active woman.

8. Tudor Black Bay 36mm: A luxury choice which isn’t too feminine.

9. Omega Aqua Terra Shades 34mm: Lots of different colours, versatile look.

10. Rolex Explorer 1 36mm: A classic understated luxury GADA. For someone who wouldn’t want something too flashy.

Great ladies ‘dressier’ watches:

1. Timex Waterbury 34mm: An affordable, fun watch with a variety of dials.

2. Casio Tiffany analogue 38mm: The ‘it’ affordable watch if you can get hold of one!

3. Seiko presage 34mm: The Cocktail Time watches have a range of sizes and dials.

4. Mr. Jones – Any! Around 37mm: A great variety of exciting and very cool designs.

5. Junghans Max Bill 33mm: Classy, minimalist, Bauhaus design.

6. Hamilton Boulton 37mm: Hamilton are currently everywhere with the Boulton range, thanks to Indiana Jones. This is just one of the options.

7. Cartier – pretty much any!: A name most people have heard of. They have a range of models and styles and I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. The Tank is a classic.