TRIGGER WARNING: Cameron Diaz wears the two-tone Aquarcacer... with diamonds!
The 21st century is a confused and confusing place...
Believe it or not, in the old days, TAG Heuer never used to make models that were designed 'specifically' for women. Indeed, I believe the first watch they actually made that fit that bill was the Alter Ego series (which had no male counterpart), and this was also the first production TAG Heuer that ever had diamonds on it, or at least the first one with a diamond bezel.
Prior to the Alter Ego what TAG Heuer used to do was to make watches that looked pretty much the same, but in a range of sizes (generally 37mm to 25mm in three or four steps). This can be seen throughout the history of TAG Heuer with watches such as the S/EL, the Kirium, the 2000, 3000 and 6000 - all essentially the same, albeit perhaps the smaller sizes would have more colourful dials and/or straps.
Ladies TAG Heuer 6000 Series in solid gold with a green strap.
But over the last 20 years the watches within the range have clearly been designated as being for men or for women. This has been apparent not only through sizing, but also styling, the use of mother of pearl dials and diamonds, quilted straps, and just generally more 'feminine' designs such as the 'wave' effect found on various 'ladies' Aquaracer dials. At one point TAG Heuer even made a female specific version of the Link called the Link Lady! Of course, nowadays we're not allowed to 'gender' anything and this has put watch companies into a bit of a pickle, especially with the fashion for ladies to wear larger watches these days.
I assume it's still okay to refer to 30mm Aquaracers with diamond bezels as 'ladies' watches, because anything else would be ridiculous... but of course 36mm watches are a different matter. Now I myself have owned 36mm watches in the past, and while a tad small for me now, when they were released they were considered 'appropriate' for men to wear. But the 36mm watches that TAG Heuer are releasing of late, and wishing to be called 'unisex' are pretty clearly 'ladies' watches... that men are 'allowed' to wear too.
See the dial of the 36mm Aquaracer, the wave pattern has only ever previously been used on ladies watches. See the new 36mm Carreras available in fuschia and a pale green/gold and a silver dial with a diamond bezel, all of which scream 'ladies' watches. Yes of course some men might want a pink dial Carrera. and if they can pull it off then good luck to them, but realistically, for 99% of men it's a non starter (maybe in a larger size, but not at 36mm - hey, I might buy one if it was 42mm!).
New for 2023, the pink dial 36mm WBN2313.BA0001
If TAG Heuer were truly trying to embrace gender fluidity and offering smaller watches for men (rather than just larger sizes for women), then wouldn't the best thing be to go back to how it used to be, with one watch available in a range of sizes? No, clearly not because it is not only sizing which determines what is a man's watch and what is a ladies watch in 2023.
Sure, some women like to wear 'men's' watches. It seems the Daytona is a particular favourite with the ladies, perhaps because it as actually only 38mm despite being classified as being 40mm (check out Watch Gringa's video where she measures it). But we do not describe the Daytona as a unisex watch, do we? Why not?
Is it because men would not like it? I think so. I remember a few years ago TAG Heuer Bicester Village had a ceramic Formula 1 chronograph (41mm). This was considered by TAG Heuer a 'unisex' piece, though it was a bit of a strange one as it clearly looked like an oversized version of what was then clearly a 'ladies' watch.
I remember the then manager telling me how it was so hard to sell it because whenever a man tried the watch on they would ask if it was definitely a man's watch (since it looked like an oversize ladies model) and how inevitably every time they told the customer it was considered a 'unisex' piece the watch was back in the cabinet before you could say 'Jean Claude Biver really likes cheese'.
41mm Formula 1 'Unisex' Chronograph - also available with a diamond bezel
Look, clearly this isn't about 'gender fluidity' that's just a buzzword that TAG Heuer are latching onto. The gender fluid watch market is probably pretty niche, so I imagine what this is really about is offering ladies larger sized watches and (to a lesser extent I suspect) smaller sized watches for men (and trying not to fall foul of any 21st century nonsense in the process).
But why should it be assumed that men with smaller wrists should want watches that look 'feminine' or at best 'androgenous'? I can see why a lady with a larger wrist (or who just likes to wear a large watch) would still want it to look feminine, and this it seems is where the idea breaks down.
3000 Series watches from the 1988/1989 catalogue
In the old days the watches were neither particularly masculine or feminine, so they could be made in a huge range of sizes and the size itself denoted 'male' or 'female', but things are different these days... on the other hand I'm often told by members of the COCO council that their wives do not like 'ladies' watches with diamonds on them and mother of pearl dials.
I'm not sure whether they still want 'feminine' looking watches or just smaller versions of 'men's' watches, but I do know that my wife (who does like diamonds, but not white mother of pearl as it happens) wanted a Heuer 01 skeleton she could wear on her twiglet-like wrists so badly that she ended up buying an Oris Atelier Skeleton (which is actually a very cool watch to be fair) out of sheer frustration that TAG Heuer didn't make anything suitable.
Oris Atelier Skeleton
Perhaps that's a bit much to expect, but if we are now trying to be 'all things to all people' then why shouldn't say a lady, or a smaller wristed gentleman be offered the opportunity to buy a 36mm Superdiver or something similarly masculine. I'm afraid to me all this 'unisex' thing smacks of pandering to the 'current thing' and actually is just covering up one way traffic.
I actually asked someone who works in a TAG Heuer boutique if they had ever actually sold a 36mm watch to a man, they said in ten years it had only happened once. I was not surprised, though I was surprised when they told me that they had sold a couple of 43mm Formula 1s to ladies!
A perfect fit for sure!
But anyway, TAG Heuer have decided to go down this 'gender fluid' path, and currently the TAG Heuer website still allows you to search for 'Women's' and 'Men's' watches, but for how much longer? Watchfinder have already taken away this option and replaced it with sizes, which actually isn't a bad idea (my wife actually likes it because she can't wear anything bigger than 32mm anyway), albeit maybe the option to search for either or both would be even better.
It's unfortunate that what this is likely to lead to is a lot of very 'inoffensive' 36mm watches, with plain silver or blue dials that can be considered genderless or feminine looking dials that are obviously aimed at women (because you still have to aim watches at your target market whatever you call them). But wouldn't it be much cooler to see TAG Heuer make available watches like the orange Formula 1 in a 36mm case that men or women could wear?
35.5mm Formula 1 Quartz from the 00s
It's not that long ago you could buy an orange dial Formula 1 in a 36mm case, probably fifteen years. Wouldn't it be great to go back to having one watch in a range of sizes that everyone could wear. But obviously TAG Heuer would still have to make diamond ones with mother of pearl dials, because contrary to current 'fashionable' beliefs, a lot of women do actually like that.
EDIT: I just noticed that TAG Heuer have added a 'Unisex' search button to their website. Strangely, the only two watches it actually brings up are the new 39mm Carreras and not the 36mm Carreras. On the positive side it seems they've stopped listing the Solargraphs as ladies watches...
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