Lest you think that electronic devices have somehow usurped fashionable timepieces as a method of telling time, think again. For women this season, the favored look is a wristwatch with a strap of an eye-catching hue, in anything from a pretty pastel to a sassy bright color to a rich classic in brown or black.
The September 2010 issue of More magazine called these watches in shades of baby blue “high on the most-wanted list.” The watches pictured are from Montblanc, Swarovski, Bulgar, Van Cleef & Arpels and D&G.
The watches featured in More have cases in a variety of shapes. As you will see, however, the preponderance of watches featured in the fashion press this season have round cases and light faces, against which it is easy to read the time. These watches are not only fashionable, they are also eminently functional.
The October 2010 issue of Better Homes & Gardens calls its selection of wristwatches “Indispensible Arm Candy” and suggests: “Maybe you can’t do anything about the days getting shorter. But you can look good enough to stop a clock. Strap on a timepiece with spot-on color.” The watches pictured are in rich autumnal hues from Pedre, Timex and TKO.
The October 2010 issue of Allure magazine showcases wristwatches with straps in a rainbow of hues from Lacoste, Louis Vuitton, Dior Timepieces, DKNY, Fendi, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.
Three watches of identical style but different color straps are worn together on one wrist in an ad from Lacoste featured in the October 2010 issue of Elle magazine.
The concept of wearing three wristwatches together is endorsed in the September 2010 issue of Glamour magazine, which playfully urges readers: “Wear one of these bright timekeepers—or wear three (really, it’s a thing)—but please be on time.” The watches pictured are from Pedre, DKNY, Movado, Bulova, Timex, Seiko and Cartier.
Anyone who loves a riot of color may salivate over this wristwatch with Australian black opal face and diamond bezel from Dior Fine Jewelry highlighted in the November 2010 issue of Town & Country.
“Sophisticated, no-nonsense timepieces” with straps of more subdued hues are featured in the August 2010 issue of Marie Claire magazine. The watches pictured are from Piaget, Bulova, Vacheron Constantin, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Longines and IWC. Incidentally, the photo of Princess Diana (to the right, second from the top) shows her wearing a pair of wristwatches on the same wrist.
The October 2010 25th Anniversary issue of Elle magazine honors two classic timepieces, the Cartier tank watch (“synonymous with understated elegance, gracing the wrists of such women as Catherine Deneuve and the late Princess Diana”) and the Rolex Day-Date (“A girl’s favorite thing to steal from her boyfriend. . . the masculine touch of choice for women”).
Elle’s 25th Anniversary issue also singles out the magazine’s “most iconic looks from the past 25 years.” Among those looks so honored is this 2001 photograph taken of Carla Bruni by renowned photographer Gilles Bensimon, who is quoted regarding the circumstances of the photo. He told Bruni at her family house in the south of France, “Today, we are not working, we are just taking pictures” and relates: “And this great moment came of that. I love how your eye is drawn to her Audemars Piguet watch. It was her father’s and very special to her.”
Are wristwatches chic? I rest my case.
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