White vs Black Dial. Date vs No Date

[The Moose]

I'm treating my (not so) long suffering wife to a new watch for her birthday soon. I thought I had the make/model/spec nailed and very nearly placed the order. Since, I having thought about it more and I'm now not so sure...

I am pretty sure I know what style I'm after, however the 2 questions I am struggling with are date vs no date and white vs black dial. There are other color dials available however I suspect these are more restricting.

I know she would like a watch for every day wear that can be a little dressier when away on business or similar and not wanting to take more with her. What I am trying to achieve is the horological equivalent of a great set of diamond stud earrings!

Any opinions?!

[GaryG182]

Not sure of your budget or choice of brand but this is what mine has chosen;



I think in general terms white dials can look quite stark and cold, black somewhat masculine and sporty. The date/no date option is interesting because personally owning several watches myself I find it a minor inconvenience to ensure the correct date if switching between pieces. However, if she wears it all the time then there’s no issue. Also, if going rolex, does she like the date bubble? Mine does.

[Lorne]

Not just the dial that you need to think about, but also the size. Traditionally a ladies watch was quite small at about 30 mm diameter, but recently they've become quite big at anything up to 40+ mm. The Rolex above at 36 mm is probably an ideal size, but it would pay to check with the boss (wife) first.

For watch choice I've always liked the Cartier tank, and it comes in a range of sizes.

This puts you into the 'how do I find out what she'd really like without actually asking her and giving the game away' situation.

If you figure out how to do it then there's about a million chaps on here who would love to know the method.

[ellroy]

If it’s a smaller ladies watch I’d personally ditch the date, just adds clutter in my opinion.

White or black? No reason for this, but I’d suspect white, or rather lighter colours generally, would better suit women’s fashions?

[The Moose]

It'll be a Rolex. I know she's fancied one for a while.

The 36 is too big really (she's quite petite). Looking at the 31. These are what I'm looking at:


I like this dial, but not sure she would.








I like this dial too, but it doesn't really fit the bill of a watch that can go with anything (or so I'm told!).

There isn't a black dial with the Oyster Perpetual 31 that doesn't have the ticks on the dial - I know she prefers the roman numerals.

I'm fortunate in that if I really drop a clanger, the store will take it back and swap it for something else...but I'd like to nail it first time.

[OMITN]

I posted a thread recently about getting another watch for Professor OMITN.

She’s v petite - looked ridiculous when she draped one of my 40mm watches on her wrist. She wears a 28mm Lady Date, which she bought herself c15 years ago.

Long way of saying that 31mm is a great choice. I would go light dial - my pref would be silver.

As for date/no date - how organised is she? Will she forget to set the date when it’s been off her wrist for a few days? Or is that just the absent minded Prof....?

[The Moose]

OMITN said:

I posted a thread recently about getting another watch for Professor OMITN.

She’s v petite - looked ridiculous when she draped one of my 40mm watches on her wrist. She wears a 28mm Lady Date, which she bought herself c15 years ago.

Long way of saying that 31mm is a great choice.

I thought the 28 looked a little small in the store, even for her little wrists! I did like the 31.

OMITN said:

I would go light dial - my pref would be silver.

I did wonder about silver, but wasn't a fan when I saw it in the flesh.

OMITN said:

As for date/no date - how organised is she? Will she forget to set the date when it’s been off her wrist for a few days? Or is that just the absent minded Prof....?

She is very organized...but she'll still likely forget to update the date when required.

[Graemsay]

If it was up to me, I'd go for the Rolex Lady-Datejust 28 in steel with the silver dial and baton markers.

From a watch nerd point of view, it's got the Rolex 2236 calibre, which has a silicon hairspring. That should give it benefits in terms of resisting magnetism (which I often find can be a problem), accuracy, and reliability.

The design is pretty simple, which should make it easy to pair. A silver dial should go with most things, whereas the pink would clash.

As for the size, your wife should adjust to it pretty quickly.

(My girlfriend just saw the thread title, and wondered if it was about dating black or white girls!)

[audidoody]

Mrs AD made me px her Lady Datejust for a midsize 31mm DJ. She much prefers the bigger size.

[andy_s]

My wife wears a white dial Explorer II most of the time. She can read the date (yes, that age) and it looks good everyday or dressed up.

[The Moose]

audidoody said:

Mrs AD made me px her Lady Datejust for a midsize 31mm DJ. She much prefers the bigger size.

I’m definitely not going smaller than 31. I do think that’s a good size for her.