My Boyfriend’s Back
Bazaar Arabia’s watch columnist Elizabeth Doerr looks at the modern boyfriend watch
It’s no secret that ‘boyfriend watches’ have been at least as popular as ‘boyfriend jeans,’ a style born from the simple act of borrowing a man’s oversized item of clothing. Or his watch. In fact, this trendy move was the origin of Chanel’s 2015 Boy. Friend, which docks into the style (or, perhaps more accurately, the idea of the style) that forced the sizes of female-oriented watches to spiral ever further upward in a trend that made little actual sense.
What does make sense is having the style be comfortable for all wrist sizes (like the Boy.Friend). With watch dimensions finally coming back to a manageable place that is enjoyable on smaller wrists too, we now see some archetypal men’s styles getting a makeover that is excellent for the sporty casual female spirit and wrist. These timepieces have retained prominent features of the original watches, clinging to some of the visible masculinity that made them popular in the first place, but have more appropriate sizing and some decorative elements that make them perhaps more charming.
Omega’s sporty Constellation Co-Axial Master Chronometer usually comes in a 41mm case. With its roomy dial, this is a perfect ‘boyfriend watch.’ The newest variation on the Constellation’s theme comes with a rare meteorite dial, whose pattern makes each face unique. This newest addition to the Constellation family also comes in a total of four different sizes: 41, 29, 28, and 25mm. And each of these comes in five colourways for a full selection of 20 different variations. The 29, 28, and 25mm sizes are very well suited for the female wrist, and they all come in a choice of stainless steel, yellow gold, Omega’s own Sedna red gold, and a two-tone stainless steel and 18-karat Sedna red gold or yellow gold case and bracelet with sparkling bezels set with brilliant-cut diamonds. The meteorite dials on each of these models have been enhanced by a galvanic PVD colour treatment, delivering astonishing radiance that is complemented by diamond hour markers. The colours on offer are comprehensive: purple, rhodium grey, Moonshine gold, Sedna gold, green, lavender, blue, linen, lilac, and silvery rose. The 29mm Co-Axial Master Chronometer is powered by automatic Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8700, visible through a transparent case back, while the 28 and 25mm sizes are quartz driven. The latter have closed case backs decorated with an observatory engraving signifying the precise chronometer status of these watches.
“Boyfriend watches have been at least as popular as ‘ boyfriend jeans,’ a style born from the simple act of borrowing a man’s oversized item of clothing”
For those who like their sporty looks sprinkled with plenty of ‘ice,’ Girard-Perregaux has made a fully diamond-set Laureato in a 34mm size as a high jewellery version. Setting this watch with 1,791 brilliant-cut, various-sized diamonds is a meticulous and time-consuming process; completing the quality of this work stands as a testament to the artisan’s exceptional skill. Indeed, the dazzling watch needed 86 hours to set, with each stone cut and each process done by hand. This 34mm high-jewellery piece is a refined expression of the Laureato – the perfect boyfriend watch with its chunky, yet intricately crafted case and bracelet – which was originally introduced in 1975. Back then, it launched with a quartz movement made by Girard-Perregaux that would go on to set the bar for quartz movements: by 1975 Girard-Perregaux’s team had refined the brand’s in-house quartz movement so that it was elegantly thin and more efficient than its early predecessors. It was also certified to be especially precise as a chronometer. But perhaps most importantly, its frequency of 32,768 Hz has remained the universal gold standard for all quartz movements ever since. This model can be obtained through the Girard-Perregaux boutique in Geneva.
Then there is the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang, which was just released in three variations fully set with more than 400 gemstones each in stainless steel, white gold, and King Gold, Hublot’s own very red gold alloy, in a rather wearable 32mm size. This writer’s favourite of them is the Spirit of Big Bang Jewellery Rainbow, upon which 493 gemstones (including 58 rectangular baguette-cut gemstones set around the bezel) make for a resplendent prism. This bright colour palette comprising rubies, pink sapphires, amethysts, blue sapphires, blue topazes, tsavorites, and yellow and orange sapphires also extends along the straps, which come from Hublot’s One-Click system, meaning that they can be exchanged by the owner in a snap. Chanel founder Gabrielle Chanel was fascinated by male embellishment and often incorporated elements of it into her own clothing and style (hence the Boy.Friend’s use of tweed). Her idea has staying power: the modern ‘boyfriend watch’ doesn’t need to belong to anyone but us.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s April 2024 issue