Corsets were history, pockets were rare and society frowned upon women wearing timepieces openly.
The solution to this was hiding the watch in plain sight. The cocktail watch, a revolution disguised as jewellery, changed the way women saw timekeeping forever.
The cocktail watch came about around 1910-1920, but it wasn’t until the Roaring Twenties that this piece was essential. Post-WWI women were claiming their independence, replacing men in factories during the war and they’d just won the right to vote. They began cutting their hair, shortening their skirts and eventually, even demanded the right to track their own time.
Unfortunately, social conventions hadn’t caught up. Wearing a wristwatch out in the open signalled that you had somewhere important to be. Work, perhaps? After all, ladies of leisure weren’t concerning themselves with something as fruitless as schedules?
Watchmakers found the perfect way to work around this. They started making timepieces so jewel-like, you’d mistake them for jewellery at first glance. Timekeeping became secondary, or at the very least, discrete.
Early cocktail watches featured cases smaller than 18mm. The watch face itself was almost incidental to the diamond-encrusted platinum bracelet.
The 1920s and 1930s represent the cocktail watch at its most extraordinary. Art Deco swept through designs like wildfire, especially after the excavation of King Tut’s tomb in 1922. Suddenly, everything was flooded with Egyptian motifs, bold linear designs and geometric patterns.
Swiss luxury houses, such as Cartier, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, and Jaeger-LeCoultre, all competed to create the most spectacular designs. In fact, a Cartier cocktail watch from 1920 featuring perfectly matched diamonds and natural pearls sold for £20,000 in 2013!
This might come as a surprise, but Rolex cocktail watches exist. A vintage Rolex cocktail watch from this era represents a fascinating paradox. These watches typically featured either 14k or 18k gold cases, factory-set diamonds, Rolex calibre 1400 movements and integrated bracelets in matching gold.
Original Rolex cocktail watches from the 1940s often came with two sets of hands. The original “alpha” hands in white gold, plus period-correct “baton” hands. This was handy as owners could customise the aesthetic to their pleasing.
A diamond cocktail watch features gem hour markers, diamond bezels, diamond lugs and diamond-set bracelets that catch the light and dance with every movement. Talk about being a girl’s best friend!
The best diamond cocktail watches used old European cut diamonds (pre-1930s), transitional cuts (1930s-1940s), early brilliant cuts (1950s onward), and baguette diamonds for Art Deco designs.
Since we’re discussing cocktail watches today, it’s hard to leave Tiffany & Co. behind, especially since the American jeweller practically invented the category.
A Tiffany cocktail watch from the 1920s-1930s is the Art Deco era at its finest. We’re talking cushion-shaped platinum cases, deeply engraved geometric patterns and perfectly matched diamonds in symmetrical arrangements.
Tiffany’s 1939 World’s Fair exhibit, “House of Jewels”, showcased extraordinary cocktail watches that sparked demand continuing today.
If you haven’t already caught on, collectors obsess over the watches like nothing else. There’s a number of factors that play behind this.
First is rarity. These weren’t mass-produced and were even often custom-made. Scarcity drives value. If everyone could have one, where is the fun?
Then there’s the craftsmanship, of course. Pre-WWII cocktail watches represent peak hand-finishing. Every bracelet link was polished individually. Every diamond was set by hand. That’s the sort of quality that’s hard to come by. Additionally, the materials used to make vintage cocktail watches were top-notch and contained solid gold or platinum, not plated brass.
Fashion has always told stories, and the cocktail watches ladies originally wore tell fascinating stories.
In the 1920s and 1930s, women chose ultra-feminine pieces with tiny cases and maximum sparkle. However, post-WWII in the 1940s and 1950s, the cocktail watches ladies preferred became slightly larger and more refined.
Nearly a decade later, ladies cocktail watches began getting more experimental. The cases grew larger, the bracelets became chunkier and the choices were bold. In the 1980s and 2000s, interest gradually declined, with the influx of quartz technology.
In 2020 we saw a revival. Modern cocktail watches were being rediscovered, combining vintage aesthetics with contemporary styling, and we’re here for it!
The cocktail watch is everything we absolutely love about vintage luxury. It’s where quality materials, impeccable craftsmanship and historical significance all come together in one place.
Suddenly, we’re forced to question consumption, seek meaning beyond mere branding and value true craftsmanship. Vintage cocktail watches represent overlooked opportunities. They’re understated. Unlike Rolex models that go for sky-rocketing prices, ranging from £10,000-100,000 and above, cocktail watches remain surprisingly accessible.
Whether you choose a Rolex cocktail watch, a Tiffany cocktail watch, or a lesser-known maker, you’re wearing history. And that’s something to relish over. Your wrist deserves something extraordinary. Perhaps it’s time to discover your perfect cocktail watch?
If you’re still not convinced about whether a cocktail watch is really up your alley, you could always browse our collection of pre-loved and brand new luxury watches at Love Luxury. We’ve curated a splendid collection that any collector would drool over.
Happy shopping!
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