For the September issue of GQ, I wrote about the raging debate in the watch world between teeny-tiny watches and their outsized counterparts. The tug-of-war has decidedly gone toward teensy pieces over the past few years, although a loud contingent refuses to cage their epic 45-mm wristwear. But those beasts took another critical hit this weekend at the Annual Academy Museum Gala where Paul Mescal and Dwyane Wade showed up with some revealing weaponry of choice. Wade wore the Tiffany & Co. Eternity watch, a 28-mm ladies watch smaller than a half-dollar coin, and Octoberâs GQ cover star Mescal chose the diminutive watch of 2024, the bite-sized version of the Cartier Tank.
While watches have been trending smaller, with some adventurous dressers like Timothée Chamalet and Bad Bunny sporting ladiesâ watches, itâs now fully breaking into the mainstream. Letâs explain this in Pokémon terms, because thatâs what weâre all familiar with, right? You gave your trend a Paul Mescal Stone. What? Your trend is evolving! Congratulations, itâs now the mainstream aesthetic!
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Taylor Hill
Mescalâs tiny Tank was one of the conversation pieces at this yearâs Watches & Wonders, the industryâs biggest tradeshow. The shrunken Tank replicates its larger counterpart in every wayâproviding all of the iconic Cartier details in smaller packaging. Much smaller: the TTT (teeny-tiny Tank) measures in at an adorable 24 by 16.5 mm.
The TTT was Cartierâs follow-up to 2023âs smash-hit Bagnoire Bangle, a product the Parisian jeweler still canât keep in stock. I bring the Bangle up because it demonstrates how quickly trends can move. While many male collectors acknowledged the beauty of the Bangle upon its release, few dared to actually wear it. Even those who did, like the super stylish Mark Cho, wore it as a bracelet and hid it under suit sleeves. Now, just a year later, celebrities are proudly wearing equally small watches on the red carpet.
And itâs not just Mescal riding the delightfully small ripples of the tiny watch trend. Wade showed up to the same event with an equally pint-sized piece. Wade takes his wristwear seriouslyâso much so that his stylist Jason Bolden told me he hems his clientâs suit sleeves a touch shorter to set the stage for his watches. That makes Wadeâs fashion statement last night ring that much louder.
Taylor Hill
Taylor Hill
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