It’s about time: prestige watch houses are finally realizing that women are serious about their watches and are looking for more than adornment in an investment timepiece.

Watch collecting , one of the last bastions of masculine-occupied territory, is attracting a growing number of female connoisseurs who are buying them for more than just telling time: a sporty- chic watch for weekend wear, an august statement  piece for the board room, a more formal mechanical watch for a touch of evening glamour.

Women can have it all. Over the decades , the wristwatch for women has evolved from a design object to a jewelry object and, of late to an artistic mechanical blend of both.

Granted, the first venture into the women’s luxury-watch world in the past decade were high-fashion and fine – jewelry companies, like Chanel, Dior and VanClef & Arpels . These brands found a way to blend dazzling design with mechanical panache to create watches with serious heft.