It’s a sunny Saturday in March in New York City, and Vogue editor Lilah Ramzi is milling around the Vogue Vintage Market in SoHo’s Roll & Hill showroom, greeting giddy shoppers and regaling them with anecdotes of the archival pieces on display in the sunlit space. On her wrist is a gleaming cocktail watch: a petite Cartier Baignoire with a thin black satin strap and white gold diamond dial. It isn’t even 11 a.m.

Later that afternoon, uptown at the Merci C’est Vintage pop-up at The Fifth Avenue Hotel, Silvia Dusci of Le Sundial is sporting a similar Cartier Baignoire—hers with a more understated gold dial (an homage to the 1912 original), styled with an artful white poplin top, black trousers, and Roger Vivier pumps.

It could hardly be a coincidence that both Ramzi and Dusci were wearing cocktail watches in the middle of the day. Brynn Wallner, founder of Dimepiece, a platform dedicated to all things women and watches, tells Vogue these “more feminine, cocktail-style watches are really having a moment.” Wallner says the way women are approaching watches now is as versatile investment pieces that can be worn as easily and interchangeable as jewelry—a conscious shift that speaks both to how expensive watches can be, and the fact that there isn’t always a functional need for one. “For most women, wearing a huge watch isn’t practical,” Wallner adds. “You want something more dainty and jewelry-forward because it’s [more likely] to be stacked and goes with almost any outfit.”

A Cartier Tank stacked next to a tennis bracelet.

Photo: Courtesy of Carina Nicklas

Peeking out from under: a diamond dial Baignoire worn alongside a thin bracelet.

This spirit of elegant, everyday adornment stands in sharp contrast to the Y2K era of crop tops and low-rise jeans, Wallner says, when people actually needed something to tell the time, and therefore gravitated towards eye-popping, in-your-face, men’s styles. (Who can forget the rose gold Rolex Daytona taking up serious wrist real estate on the likes of Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley?) The turning point for Wallner was 2023, when Cartier’s Baignoire on a bangle debuted—the brand took note of the style’s growing popularity (and its passe-partout nature, akin to its Love and Just un Clou bracelets) and issued a timepiece that offered the best of both worlds. “It’s one of the hottest watches right now,” Wallner says, adding that it’s the first time in recent memory that a ladies’ watch is getting the waitlist treatment normally reserved for limited edition or highly coveted men’s watches.

Tariro Makoni, of the popular Substack Trademarked, tells Vogue she’s been “aware of EIHGs wearing the Baignoire since late 2022, early 2023, worn during daytime and evening.” The EIHG—or “elusive international hot girl”—Makoni has coined, refers to her observation of a cultural archetype she’s come across both out in the world and on social media: a woman who is “sharply intelligent, enigmatic, and always has the best stuff.” A telltale signifier, she adds: “100% of Baignoire owners in my life are textbook EIHG.”

Former fashion editor Noah Lehava, who runs a curated vintage fine jewelry and watch shop with NoahNoahNoah, has witnessed this increase in demand for delicate women’s watches firsthand. “My affinity with watches evolved from my love of collecting jewelry,” she says. “It was a natural progression; I’ve always been drawn to watches that wore more like bracelets and jewelry than they were pure utilitarian.” As she delved deeper into the world of traditional vintage ladies styles a few years ago, uncovering everything from diamond-encrusted Piaget Polos to itty-bitty Audemars Piguet tennis bracelets and sculptural tiger’s eye dial Chopards, she realized how untapped the market was. “I think everyone may have a different idea of what a cocktail watch is to them. Some want something bold and eccentric, while others may want something more delicate and fine.”

Julia Rabinowitsch, founder of The Millennial Decorator, a destination for curated vintage drops across fashion and accessories, also tells that Vogue that over the last five years, she’s “seen a rapid—and massive—growth in interest around watches, especially among women,” noting a shift from “maximalist, hardware-type watches to daintier and smaller watches.” Her most popular sourcing requests to date are mainly for Cartier models, which she posts in elegant vignettes on her Instagram feed and stories. Comments and DMs flood in for the Cartier Tiny Tank Louis & Allongée, as well as the newer Cartier Baignoire Bangle.

A Cartier Baignoire stacked alongside the new Mini Tank.

Photo: Courtesy of Carina Nicklas

Two’s a pair.

Photo: Courtesy of Julia Rabinowitsch

In addition to the surging interest in women’s watches on social media, demand is growing on secondhand platforms. According to Noelle Sciacca, The RealReal’s associate director of fashion & strategic partnerships, customer searches for cocktail style watches have increased more than 29% in the last year—specifically for the Bvlgari Serpenti (up by 34%), the Cartier Panthère (up by 30%), and the Cartier Baignoire (up by 25%). Consignments and sales are also up, with “demand for smaller, more delicate watches 20mm and below” having grown overall. Sciacca cites the Chanel Premiere and Hermès Kelly watches as among the most popular models in the category.