It's one thing for Tyler, the Creator, Paul Mescal or Jacob Elordi to rock up somewhere fancy wearing a tiny watch – but when a 25mm Tissot PRX drops, that's when you know it's official – we've entered the mini watch era.
While big boys are still around (hap tip to Patek Philippe’s hefty Cubitus), a lot of brands do seem to be thinking small, shrinking their best models to suit the hype around teeny tiny watches. We’ve seen Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Mini Frosted, and now there's a baby version of the viral Tissot PRX, a bite-sized 25mm in five different models, all featuring the iconic tapered tonneau case of the PRX, but in a cute size you can actually stack (and costing from £290, we will).
In these drops, the design isn't really impacted at all, they perhaps just lose a bit of legibility on the dial, which begs the question – does that just make them ladies versions?
“When I first started getting into the watch industry, one of the first phrases I learnt was "pink it and shrink it" – used to (derogatorily) describe the design process for ladies watches on behalf of many watch brands,” says Brynn Wallner, founder of Dimepiece. “Although I agree that it's a lazy tactic to add the colour pink or, say, a mother-of-pearl dial and diamonds markers, to a watch's famous model to instantly render it "for ladies", I do think the "shrink it" element is still cool.”
Wallner says the first watch she truly fell in love with early on in her watch career was the teeny tiny Royal Oak, which she affectionately refer to as the TTRO. “What a lot of people take for granted is the effort that went into creating this smaller version. It's no small feat to achieve the proportionality required to pull off a sized-down version of an icon... This, to me, is the key to a smaller watch – keeping it neutral and sporty, relying on the strength of the metal and its design elements of its larger counterpart. If it does have a little extra spice, like the recent re-release of the TTRO, I appreciate that it's considered (like the use of Carolina Bucci's frosted gold) and not just like slapping the diamond marker bandaid on.”
J.J. Owens, founder of Daily Grail and longtime owner of the original mini Oak – a vintage gold 26mm quartz piece – loved seeing AP release the frosted minis. “It takes a level of strategic irreverence to release the minis and execute it with the excellence they did. Inarguably, that was the watch girlie timepiece of the summer, and it isn’t slowing down anytime soon.”
But do they still possess the same wow factor when smaller? “I think a huge element of the appeal is the overall fun factor – luxury watches especially are thought of with the very Swiss stiffness that made the industry flourish so brands relinquishing that stiffness whilst maintaining the quality is highly desired,” adds Owens.
“I definitely see an openness to wear smaller watches from men – I credit Mike Nouveau for a lot of that as well as the fact that many couldn’t acquire pieces above a 36mm – so magically it became far more socially acceptable to wear a smaller piece, especially when that smaller piece was as substantial as a 34mm Nautilus or a baby Royal Oak,” says Owens.
Just a few weeks ago, A. Lange & Söhne subtly upgraded its holy grail, the Lange 1, and it came with its own baby, the Little Lange. Even though it might seem new, Lange has been doing that mini version for a while. “The 'Little Lange 1' has a long history,” says watch writer Thomas Brechtel. “In 1998, four years after the introduction of the classic Lange 1, the Little Lange 1 comes to life. And this watch was more or less introduced as the very Ladies Lange. A watch for women,” he says, adding that it was manufactured with diamonds, sparkly aventurine dials, with coloured dials… you know, things the ladies might love?
“Funny thing happened – not so many ladies decide to get a Little Lange 1 – BUT – elegant men, men with smaller wrist-diameter began to develop an interest for the Little Lange 1. The Little Lange 1 was subsequently made without stones or fancy dials – as a Little Lange 1 for men,” says Brechtel.
Would he wear it? “The beautiful Little Lange 1 has such a nice size, 36.8mm, super lovely. For me, I come from the tradition of the Patek 3919 Calatrava 34mm, the Little Lange 1 is superb. Perfect size. Sooner or later I will get one for my collection.”
