20 Unisex Watches, From Entry-Level to Luxury

While the definition of what constitutes a unisex watch in 2023 can vary widely, it's fairly undeniable that watchmakers are putting a great deal of effort into designing and producing watches that will appeal simultaneously to prospective male and female customers alike. Decision-makers at the brands, it turns out, are becoming more and more attuned to the truism that not all men are looking for wrist-dominating titans and not all women are enticed by lilliputians encrusted in dazzling stones. Acknowledging up front that watch enthusiasts' tastes are as infinite as the styles available to them — in short, any watch can be a men's or a ladies' watch, even if it's marketed otherwise — we take a crack here at assembling a list of unisex watches based on a handful of loose criteria, including size (most under 38mm), genre elements (neither too tool-oriented or overtly jewelry-focused), and color choices (more daring hues than sober ones). As per tradition, we cover a wide range of choices in many price segments, in ascending order from under $200 to over $50,000.

Timex Marlin Hand Wound 34mm

Price: $139, Case Size: 34 mm, Thickness: 10 mm, Lug To Lug: 41 mm, Strap Width: 18 mm, Crystal: Acrylic, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Mechanical Hand-wind

The vintage-look Timex Marlin was the first mechanical watch the company had made in over 30 years when it was rolled out in 2017. It’s based on a 1960s model and Timex’s designers were obviously not shy about sticking to the original model’s modest dimensions, just 34 mm in diameter. Under a domed acrylic crystal, the hour numerals on the glossy silver dial are charmingly retro in their curvilinear font. With its thin bezel, hand-wound movement (you can get the automatic version for slightly over $200), and retro size, the Marlin could easily pass for one of those actual mid-century vintage models that are all the rage these days. 

Tissot PRX 35mm

Price: $395, Case Size: 35mm, Thickness: 9.8mm, Lug-to-Lug: 39mm, Water Resistance: 100m, Crystal: Sapphire, Movement: Quartz ETA F06.115

Tissot added to the growing roster of sport-luxury watches on integrated steel bracelets in 2021 with the re-release of the PRX, a watch that first hit the market in 1978. The “P” and “R” in the name stand for “precise” and “robust,” and the “X” is actually a Roman numeral “10” depicting the model’s 10 atmospheres (aka 100 meters) of water resistance. Available in a variety of sizes and colorways with either quartz or self-winding Powermatic mechanical calibers, the PRX finds its most unisex appeal in the 35mm models with vibrant sunray dials. The quartz ETA F06.115 inside the 35mm cases is a reliable movement made to fairly high standards, with a minimum five-year battery life and an end-of-life indicator that will make the seconds hand jump in four-second increments to notify the watch’s owner that it’s time to replace the battery.

Mido Commander Shade Silver

Price: $870, Case Size: 37mm, Thickness: 10.45mm, Water Resistance: 50m, Crystal: Acrylic, Movement: Automatic ETA 2836-2

Mido introduced the Commander model in 1959 and has produced it continuously ever since, a rarity in today’s rapidly shifting watch world. The Shade Silver edition adds an avant-garde, airbrushed-look fumé dial to the vintage-inspired elements, including the modest 37-mm round monocoque case, black varnished polished indexes and dots for the hours, a framed day and date window with text in both English and German, and the Mido logo stamped on the acrylic crystal. Also decidedly retro is the steel mesh Milanese bracelet that can be adjusted to fit any wrist size. Beasting inside is the Élabore version of the ETA 2836-2 (movement-maker ETA is Mido’s sister brand within the Swatch Group), albeit hidden behind a solid steel caseback. 

Junghans Max Bill Handwound

Price: $800 - $1,400, Case Size: 34mm, Thickness: 9mm, Lug Width: 18mm, Lug to Lug: 37mm, Crystal: Plexiglas (sapphire optional), Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Hand-wound Caliber J805.1 (ETA 2801-2 base)

The Junghans Max Bill series is one of the undisputed trailblazers of the minimalistic, Bauhaus style of watch aesthetics, tracing its origins all the way back to the original model in 1961, designed by Max Bill himself, one of the Bauhaus movement’s leading legends. The modern Max Bill collection offers a plethora of options in sizes, styles and movement types; for the traditionalists still enamored with the ritual of winding their watch daily, Junghans offers the Handaufzug (Handwound) editions of the Max Bill, outfitted with the ETA-based Caliber J805.1, whose power reserve is a fairly robust 42 hours. The 34mm Handaufzug models are also available in both numerical and all-index dials — all sans date display — covered by a domed crystal made of convex hardened plexiglas with scratch-resistant coating, which can be retrofitted on request with a sturdier sapphire glass.

Accutron Legacy Automatic RR-O Limited Edition

Price: $1,290, Case Size: 34mm, Thickness: 12.5mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Automatic Sellita SW200

Once the flagship collection of Bulova, Accutron established itself as its own watch company in 2020 with a new electrostatic-movement version of the famous and futuristic (for the ‘60s, at least) Accutron Spaceview leading the way. The Legacy collection that followed up that flagship model revived an array of less renowned but cult-classic Accutron designs from its Bulova days. One of the most well received has been the RR-0, a modern version of a piece made to the specifications of the Canadian Railroad in the 1970s. Sized at a very period-appropriate 34mm, its quirky dial design uses a “0” numeral in place of the “12” on the main hour scale and an unconventional winding crown at 4 o’clock. The black hands, orange seconds hand, and black date window aperture (on a white dial) also make it distinctive among its vintage-inspired siblings in the Legacy family.

Nomos Club Campus

Price: $1,500, Case Size: 38mm, Thickness: 8.2mm, Lug-to-Lug: 47.2mm, Water Resistance: 100m, Crystal: Sapphire, Movement: Nomos Alpha Manual

Germany’s Nomos makes an array of modestly sized, understated yet stylish watches with a proven unisex appeal. Spinning off from the brand’s Club collection of timepieces in 2017, the Nomos Club Campus is noteworthy for its streamlined, no-nonsense aesthetic and its use of a “California” dial, i.e., one that uses a combo of Arabic numerals, Roman numerals, and plain indexes for its hour markers. An orange seconds hand in the subdial at 6 o’clock adds a splash of color. The earliest Campus models offered two sizes (36mm and 38mm) and utilized manually wound calibers; the second generation introduced additional case options at 37.5mm and 39mm and were the first models within the overall Club family to contain automatic movements.

Longines Legend Diver 36

Price: $2,500, Case Size: 36mm, Thickness: 11.9mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 300m, Movement: Automatic ETA 595/592

The Longines Legend Diver is a modern re-issue of a compressor-style dive watch that the Swiss brand produced in 1960, with a 300-meter water resistant steel case that replicates the shape and design of the original’s, including the vintage model’s two crowns — one for winding the watch, the other for operating the internal rotating divers’ bezel. The inner rotating bezel can be locked into place via its dedicated crown, helping to ensure a diver wearing the watch how long he or she has been underwater. The watch featured here sports a period-appropriate 36mm steel case and a supple Milanese steel-mesh bracelet. The black lacquered dial has silver-polished hands and blocky, luminous-coated Arabic numerals at 12, 6, and 9 o’clock, plus a date display at 3 o’clock. Beating inside, behind a solid caseback with an engraving of a diver, is an automatic movement from ETA, with a 45-hour power reserve.

Rado Captain Cook 37mm

Price: $2,000, Case Size: 37mm, Thickness: 11mm, Lug to Lug: 43mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 200m, Movement: Automatic ETA C07.611

Rado’s Captain Cook models are based on a heretofore obscure 1960s diving watch and eschew the modernist aesthetic that chiefly defines Rado’s collection in favor of a sporty, vintage look. Like many popular watch families, Captain Cooks are now available in a variety of sizes, from the original, somewhat stately 44mm models to the more midrange 42mm ones to the understated (and most historically accurate) 37mm sizes. The unidirectional bezel has a dive-scale insert made of high-tech ceramic, an emblematic material for the Swiss brand. The case has a solid caseback stamped with three seahorses, an aquatic motif that references historical Rado dive watches. The dial hosts a wide arrow hour hand, broad geometrical indexes, and a date window at 3 o’clock. Another vintage touch is the Rado rotating anchor symbol at 12 o’clock with its ’60s-inspired ruby-colored background. The watch featured here comes on Rado’s retro-styled beads-of-rice bracelet.

Baume & Mercier Riviera 36mm

Price: $2,750, Case size: 36mm, Thickness: 9.57mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 100 meters, Movement: Automatic Sellita SW 200

Baume & Mercier relaunched its 1973 classic, the Riviera, in 2021, joining the now-crowded bandwagon of watchmakers offering a luxury sport watch on an integrated bracelet. The modern versions stand apart from the more classical elegance evident in Baume’s other collections, with 12-sided bezels with four visible (and functional) screws at the corners; the dials, meanwhile, evoke a sense of historical luxury with their applied Roman numeral hour indexes, partially openworked Dauphine hands and eye-catching textured motifs, like the nautical-influenced wave pattern that enhances the blue dial on the very unisex, 36mm model featured here. Inside the satin-brushed steel case, Baume & Mercier has installed the dependable Sellita SW 200 self-winding movement, which is visible, along with its decorated rotor, behind a sapphire exhibition caseback.

Oris Divers Sixty-Five “Cotton Candy”

Price: $2,750, Case Size: 38mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 100 meters, Movement: Automatic Oris 733 (Sellita SW 200-1 base)

The vintage-inspired Divers Sixty-Five, based on Oris’ first divers’ watch from the eponymous year of 1965, made a name for itself with its retro tool-watch design, but Oris has since boldly branched out into new, more soft-edged territory with the model in its recently introduced “cotton candy” editions — defined by bronze cases and pastel-colored dials in “sky blue,” “wild green,” and “lipstick pink.” Sized at a 38mm in diameter, dimensions that Oris has described as “intentionally unisex,”, the watches are mounted on matching bronze three-link bracelets, with relief dive-scale bezels and domed sapphire crystals over the dials; each offers the 100-meter water resistance characteristic of the mainline Divers Sixty-Five series. Beating inside each model is the Sellita-based automatic Caliber 733, which is hidden behind a steel caseback.

Cartier Tank Must Solarbeat

Price: $2,790, ​​Case Size: 33mm x 25.5mm and 29.5mm x 22mm, Thickness: 6.6mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30m, Movement: Cartier SolarBeat

Louis Cartier created the Tank watch in 1917, deriving its rectangular, curvilinear case shape as well as its name from a French military vehicle used during the First World War. Perhaps fittingly, the recipient of the first Cartier Tank watch was U.S. General John “Black Jack” Pershing, a commander of the Allied forces.The Tank has been a coveted style object ever since, designed to appeal to men and ladies alike, and the model equipped with Cartier’s exclusive SolarBeat movement brings the iconic timepiece firmly into the 21st Century as well as into an entry-level price segment. The solar-powered quartz movement inside the famous curvilinear rectangular case, behind the famed dial with blue sword hands and radiating Roman numerals, boasts a 16-year battery life and is the first such caliber ever used by the watch-and-jewelry giant.

Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Four

Price: $3,625 - $3,850, Case Size: 37mm, Thickness: 11.24mm, Lug Width; 20mm, Lug-to-Lug: 46mm, Water Resistance: 200m, Crystal: Sapphire, Movement: Automatic Tudor Caliber MT5400

Tudor has resurrected the original 37mm sizing of its fondly remembered Oyster Prince model from 1954 (Ref. 7922) — a dive watch supplied to the French Navy that inspired the modern Black Bay collection — in a new watch called the Black Bay Fifty-Four. At just 11.24mm thick in stainless steel, and topped with a unidirectional bezel sans hash marks — a nod to the early days of SCUBA diving and early watches for divers — Tudor calls it “the purest modern expression of the brand’s first-ever dive watch.” Inside the 200-meter water resistant case beats the automatic Tudor Caliber MT5400, with a COSC chronometer certification and a 70-hour power reserve. Both versions of the watch — on either a riveted bracelet or a rubber strap, feature Tudor’s exclusive “T-Fit” adjustment mechanism.

Breitling Supercoean 36

Price: $4,600, Case Size: 36mm, Thickness: 12.21mm, Lug to Lug: 42.41mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 300 meters, Movement: Automatic Oris 733 (Sellita SW 200-1 base)

Breitling revamped its Superocean dive watch collection in 2022 by channeling the aesthetic spirit of a chronograph model that it made in the 1960s and ‘70s, nicknamed by enthusiasts the “Slow Motion” edition. Like that historical predecessor, the new Superoceans feature a distinctive square-paddle-shaped hand for the minutes, plus new high-contrast minute rings around the dial and  thinner ceramic inlays for the dive-scale bezel. The models in the versatile 36mm size speak to both men and ladies with their “beach to boardroom” style, with 300-meter water resistance and a bright array of colorways. The steel cases of the unisex watches contain the Sellita-based Breitling Caliber 17, with a COSC chronometer certification and a 38-hour power reserve, and are mounted on either a sporty, color-coordinated rubber strap or a steel link bracelet.

Panerai Luminor Due 38mm

Price: $6,200, Case Size: 38mm, Case Thickness: 11.2mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Automatic OP Caliber XXXIV

Most of Panerai’s Luminor models (most all of Panerai’s collection, actually) speaks to an avid audience enamored of the brand’s large dimensions and robust, military-inspired designs. In 2016, however, Panerai reached out to the smaller-wrist brigade with the launch of the Luminor Due models, whose cases were 40 percent thinner than those of the bulkier Luminors. The Luminor Due – 38 MM (PAM00926) is the model with the most modest diameter as well, slipping easily under a shirt cuff and settling lightly onto the wrist thanks to a titanium case. Inside is Panerai’s automatic Valfleurier-based Caliber XXXIV. Despite its understated character, however, the Luminor Due is easily recognizable as a Panerai, with the patented locking crown proctor, sandwich dial, raised bezel, and cushion-shaped case.

Zenith Defy Revival

Price: $6,900 - $7,000, Case Size: 37mm, Thickness: 11.9mm, Water Resistance: 300m, Crystal: Sapphire, Movement: Automatic Elite Caliber 670

Zenith unveiled the Defy Revival A3642 as a limited edition with a gradient gray dial in 2022. The watch, now available with a bright red dial as part of the brand’s permanent collection, reproduces the primary elements of its ancestor in impressively meticulous detail thanks to Zenith watchmakers using the original production plans from 1969. The dial sports the same applied square hour markers with horizontal grooves, wide sword-shaped hands (filled with a tritium-colored Super-LumiNova to evoke the vintage model), and paddle-shaped central seconds hand. Based on a predecessor from 1971, with the same modest 37mm dimensions, the non-limited red-dial edition sports a similar gradient "vignette" effect as its predecessor and contains the same Elite 670 automatic caliber as the Defy Classic.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe 38mm

Price: $9,500 - $11,900, Case Size: 38mm, Thickness: 10.8mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 200 meters, Movement: Automatic Caliber 1150

Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe debuted in 2013, the 60th anniversary year for the original, groundbreaking Fifty Fathoms model. It took its design inspiration from models of the later 1950s, hosting the same distinctive handset, 4:30 date window, simple geometric hour markers, and luminous dot on the bezel for orientation, a detail requested by the original models’ military clients. The 38mm Bathyscaphe, which debuted alongside a larger 43mm model, was clearly targeted at ladies with its all-white colorway, but subsequent models, like the 2017 model with a steel case and black or ocean-inspired “Abyss Blue” dial, are decidedly more unisex to reflect changing tastes among watch consumers. The automatic movement inside the smaller Bathyscaphe is Blancpain’s in-house automatic Caliber 1150, which offers an impressive 100-hour power reserve in its twin barrels.

Rolex Day-Date 36

Price: $33,500, Case: 36mm, Thickness: 12mm, Crystal: Sapphire with Cyclops, Water-Resistance: 100m, Movement: Automatic Caliber 3255

The Rolex Day-Date, introduced in 1956 with Ref. 6510 and 6511, was the first wristwatch that displayed both the date (in the now-familiar 3 o’clock position under the Cyclops lens) and the current day of the week (in a curved window above the Rolex logo at 12 o’clock). Nicknamed the “President,” as it has graced the wrist of many a chief executive, the Day-Date is available in a variety of sizes and colorways; the most understated are the 36mm models, which all have cases milled from a solid block of gold, with fluted casebacks hermetically screwed down with special tools used exclusively by Rolex watchmakers. The screw-down crown uses Rolex’s Twinlock double-waterproofing system. The fluted bezel frames a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with a Cyclops lens — a hallmark of the Rolex Day-Date — magnifying the date in the window at 3 o’clock.

Vacheron Constantin Historiques 1921 Small Model

Price: $35,900, Case Size: 36.5mm, Case Thickness: 7.25mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Manually wound Caliber 4400 AS

Inspired by a watch designed in the Roaring Twenties, Vacheron Constantin’s Historiques American 1921 Small Model is the first in the neo-vintage Historiques American series offered in the unisex dimensions of 36.5 mm. Its cushion-shaped gold case is a throwback to the era of its historical predecessor, which was commissioned by an American client in the 1920s with a passion for cars — hence the diagonal tilt of the dial, which enabled the wearer to read the time while keeping both hands on the car’s steering wheel. The offbeat, 45-degree counterclockwise tilt of the movement necessitated the repositioning of the crown, between 1 and 2 o’clock, and the small seconds display, to an off-centered position between 4 and 5 o’clock. The finely grained, silver toned dial has black painted Arabic numerals in a period-appropriate style, along with a railroad minute track, and slender, open-tipped gold hands. The watch contains an in-house, manual-winding movement, Caliber 4400, which is just 2.8 mm thick (for a total case thickness of just 7.25 mm) and stores a power reserve of 65 hours.

Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse

Price: $36,670, Case Size: 34.5mm x 39.5mm, Thickness: 5.9mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Automatic Patek Philippe Caliber 240

The Golden Ellipse, launched in 1968, is Patek Philippe’s second oldest existing model behind the Calatrava. Its odd elliptical case, combining elements of an oval and a rectangle, took its influence from the “golden mean” of ancient Greek mathematicians and the basis of numerous artistic and architectural masterpieces throughout history. For its 50th anniversary in 2018, Patek launched two new versions of the cult-classic model, one in platinum, the other in 18k rose-gold, each with a svelte wrist profile of just 2.53 mm thick. The sunburst-finished enamel dial features hands and hour appliqués in either white gold or rose gold. Inside the 34.5mm x 39.5mm case of both timepieces is Patek’s manufacture Caliber 240, an ultra-thin automatic movement with an 18k gold microrotor and a minimum 48-hour power reserve that made its debut in a Golden Ellipse watch in 1977.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 37mm Yellow Gold with Natural Turquoise Dial

Price: $61,500, Case Size: 37mm, Case Thickness: 8.9mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Automatic AP Caliber 5900

In its more than 50 years on the market, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, famously unveiled by its designer, Gerald Genta, in 1972, has become one of the unquestioned icons of the luxury watch world, unmistakable in its aesthetics and far-reaching in its appeal and influence. The octagonal case with visible screws, tapisserie-patterned dial, and most predominantly its integrated design, with the steel case flowing organically into an instantly recognizable link bracelet, remain at the heart of what is now a far-reaching collection. Among the maison’s 50th anniversary special editions rolled out in 2022 is this 37mm model in a yellow gold case and bracelet, with a dial made from natural turquoise, a rare precious stone, that has been individually cut, ground, sandblasted and polished to its own unique finish.