The Sexually Aggressive Watch Trend Everyone Pretends To Hate But Secretly Loves

There’s something deliciously polarising about a white watch. They’re the horological equivalent of a white Ferrari, flashy, borderline gauche, and often dismissed as the choice of someone with more money than taste. Yet the watch industry keeps pushing this icy colourway and, like clockwork, consumers keep pouncing.

From St Tropez yacht decks to Bondi’s sun-baked Icebergs, white watches signal leisure, wealth and a refusal to blend in. They scream one thing: I’m not here for the boardroom, come to my bedroom.

To some, they’re ostentatious, like wearing a shiny white suit to a black-tie dinner. To others, they’re the perfect accessory for a beach club afternoon or a Palm Springs brunch.

They look spectacular against tanned wrists, pop in photographs and bring a certain desert-cool energy to any outfit. In the office or on a packed commuter train they can feel jarring, but that’s part of their appeal. They read as unapologetically holiday mode and, in a sea of stealthy black-on-black pieces, a white watch doesn’t just stand out, it steals the frame.

It’s the wrist game equivalent of turning up to Monaco in white Speedos, fresh hair transplant gleaming against your tan, on a superyacht full of cheap blow and hookers. Scandalous, obvious and impossible to ignore.

“If you don’t like white watches, you don’t like yourself.

Andrew McUtchen – Time & Tide

The real game changer has been ceramic. In the past, white watches in steel or coated alloys aged poorly, scratched easily and lost their lustre. Ceramic changed everything. Scratch resistant, fade proof, cool to the touch and glistening with a refined sheen, it turned white from a seasonal novelty into a serious luxury proposition.

Rado pioneered ceramic in the 1980s and 1990s, but modern masters like IWC, Chanel, Audemars Piguet, TAG Heuer, Zenith and Hublot have elevated it to a prestige material.

The machining is now so precise that cases can have razor sharp bevels, tight tolerances and perfectly integrated bracelets, all in a blinding white that never dulls. When half the appeal is looking brand new forever, that permanence is a major selling point.

IWC’s Lake Tahoe models put the trend on steroids. Debuting in 2022 as part of the Colours of TOP GUN series, the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph and Big Pilot’s Perpetual Calendar in white ceramic were inspired by US Navy Service Dress Whites and the snowy peaks surrounding Lake Tahoe. Rumour has it, that the Tahoe was their most in demand watch ever with hundreds of pre orders before it dropped.

They sold out quickly, became catnip for collectors and crossed over into pop culture, with Lewis Hamilton and Barry Keoghan both wearing them publicly, cementing their place as style statements.

Zenith’s Defy Skyline Skeleton White Ceramic is a newer arrival and a perfect example of how far this category has come. Measuring 41 millimetres, it houses the skeletonised El Primero 3620 SK calibre with a 1/10th second indicator and 55 hour power reserve.

The blue open worked dial plays with Zenith’s star motif, creating a watch that is architectural, modern and undeniably summer ready. It is water resistant to 100 metres, comes on either a ceramic bracelet or rubber strap and delivers the kind of sports luxury crossover appeal that makes it as comfortable in the surf club as it is in a boardroom, if you dare.

Zest lord, bon vivant and Time & Tide founder Andrew McUtchen tells DMARGE, “If you don’t like white watches, you don’t like yourself. A white watch says: ‘I’m comfortable being seen. I don’t need a stealth colourway to hide behind.’ In a sea of shining steel, the guy (or girl) in white isn’t just wearing a watch, they’re making a statement — and they’re at peace with the attention it brings.”

At the extreme end of the scale sits the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in white ceramic. First appearing in 2019, it pairs a hand finished white ceramic case and bracelet with a deep blue Grande Tapisserie dial loaded with complications, including a perpetual calendar, moonphase, leap year and week indicator, all powered by the ultra thin Calibre 5134.

It is boutique only, which keeps supply tight and desirability high, and despite its full ceramic build it retains the sharp finishing and brushed surfaces that made the Royal Oak an icon. It is the horological equivalent of pulling up to the marina in a white Lamborghini Aventador.

Then there’s Chanel’s J12, the watch that took white ceramic mainstream in the early 2000s. Fashion forward, gender neutral and surprisingly versatile, it offered a glossy ceramic build with Swiss automatic movements, making it equally at home in a Vogue editorial or on the wrist of a Monaco GP VIP guest.

The J12 proved white watches could be more than a gimmick, cementing them as part of the modern luxury landscape.

Hublot’s Big Bang Unico in white ceramic sits in the same space but plays even louder. Bold case architecture, layered materials and open worked dials make it a statement piece for those who want maximum visual impact and are not afraid to lean into the theatrics of a fully white sports watch.

White says wealth without saying a word. It signals vacation mode, a quiet rebellion against the grey grind. It looks incredible next to swim shorts and golden skin. On social media, nothing pops like white, especially when shot beachside, poolside or under terrace lights. It reads as aspirational, a watch that suggests time is yours and you prefer tan lines to deadlines.

White ceramic also steels against wear. Unlike steel, which scratches ungracefully, or gold, which can feel too ostentatious, white ceramic stays pristine. In a world where timepieces are both investment and armour, that durability is part of the thrill. Culturally, white ceramic bridges the gap between sporty tool watch and designer piece, as at home in a yacht club as it is at a rooftop party.

So yes, white watches may be tacky to purists, evoking bold choices and polarising opinions. But that is the point. They are not meant to blend in. They are a wearable manifesto.

They sparkle, they challenge and they transport us, if only mentally, to places far from spreadsheets and fluorescent lighting. From Lake Tahoe to Bondi, from Royal Oak boutiques to open worked Zeniths, white ceramic watches are aesthetic rebels wrapped in flash and precision.

They are a little unsubtle, unapologetically eye catching, and the fact that we can’t stop buying them only cements that they are exactly what modern luxury needs, a statement that will remain eternally white and eternally bold.