Traditionally there have been men’s, women’s and unisex watches, but it’s really just a matter of size, and sizes are a changing fashion. Of course there’s styles that may be considered more masculine or more feminine, with women’s watches traditionally emphasizing the jewelry aspect and men’s watches emphasizing function, but there’s plenty of overlap there. Just as in clothing, women generally have had more latitude in wearing “masculine” styles than men have had in wearing “feminine” styles, but that’s changing these days, too, and there are plenty of examples from history of “men’s” watches with floral designs engraved on the case, or gems set in the bezel, or whatnot, and many “women’s” watches with tough, utilitarian, oractical designs. Lately, some brands are dispensing with gendered descriptors altogether and grouping collections by small, mid , and large sizes.

So, really there’s only one rule: wear what you like and what fits you well, in both size and style.

Size trends currently are headed towards smaller watches after a couple decades of big watches being in fashion. There are a few measurements that sum up a watch and will give you an idea how it may fit, but just like clothing, the numbers don’t always catch all the details and aren’t a full replacement for trying it on.

The first will be case diameter/width. A pretty typical size for “large”, traditionally men’s watch is 40mm, but 38mm and 36mm are coming back into style. 33-34 is a typical mid-sized watch, and 28-31 mm for a small. These are typical sizes for round cases, square, rectangular, cushion, or tonneau cases “wear large” taking up more visual space for the same width, so they tend to be narrower. For example, if you look at one of the classic watch brands that has long produced both rectangular and round cased watches, Jaeger-LeCoultre, their traditionally fitting large round cased watches, the Master Control series, are 38-40mm wide, while their large rectangular cased watch, the Reverso, ranges from 28 to 30mm.

The next important measurement is lug to lug. This is the length from where the strap/bracelet connects on one side to where it connects on the other. This can be very variable and affect the overall fit as much or more than the diameter/width. Some makes are famous for “long lugs”, like Nomos, which, despite their typical smallish diameters, will fit a large wrist well or, conversely, a small wrist poorly, because of the large lug to lug size.

Finally there’s thickness. This is caseback to the highest point of the crystal thickness. Sport or utilitarian watches generally get away with being a bit on the thick side, emphasizing durability, weather resistance, or added functions, while dressier watches will work best if thinner, more discreet, and able to fit under your shirt cuff without binding. Diameter also comes into play here, since a 36mm watch that’s 13mm thick will seem a lot thicker than a 42mm watch that’s 13mm thick, simply due to proportions.

Then there’s technology. Quartz remains a highly accurate, and generally lower cost, technology, but there’s a world of difference between low cost quartz and high quality quartz. Quartz is often seen as “soulless” simply because it works, with no fuss, and little need for interaction, while mechanical watches have a fair amount of “care and feeding” instructions that come with them. Plus mechanical comes with a rich and interesting history, and often a transparent caseback, known as a “display” or “exhibition” back, which gives you a view of the visibly energetic work going on inside, which is always fun.

Basically, mechanical watches are not just time telling devices, they’re also sort of a Tamagotchi, the “virtual pet” toys that were popular in the 90s that required interaction to keep them “alive”.

Within the realm of mechanical watches, there’s manual and automatic watches, with a manual (sometimes referred to as just “mechanical”) requiring regular winding by hand to add power to the mainspring, while automatics use an autowind device, a rotating mass (the “rotor”) and gearing to harvest energy from normal arm movement and store it in the mainspring. There are positives to be said for both. I enjoy a nice manual since wearing one let’s me start the day with a few tens of seconds spent winding it until it’s full, meaning I get to check an item off my “to do” list without even getting out of bed. Plus, they tend to be thinner since the addition of the autowind device adds to the bulk of the movement. But, there are some very thin autos out there. On the plus side for autos, you have the added complexity of the device, which can add appeal for a gearhead, plus the convenience of not having to wind it up every day. And, with the vast majority of autos, you can wind them by hand if you want, adding extra power. This is useful if you’re a relatively sedentary person, since if you’re not active, it won’t be able to harvest enough energy to keep running.

Mesh bracelets, also called Milanese bracelets since this method of interlocking wire coils to form a flexible mesh originated in the city of Milan, are a great choice, and one of my favorite bracelet styles. But, quality really matters for Milanese bracelets, and with heavier watches you want a thicker mesh to give some mass to the bracelet to act as a counterweight, keeping your watch nicely centered and located on your wrist without having to wear the bracelet too tight. A well-balanced and well-fitting mesh bracelet is very comfortable.

Mesh bracelets, owing to their straight ends, can usually be fitted to most watches, and there are a few makers of Milanese bracelets which excellent bracelets, with good adjustability, so if a watch is not offered with a mesh bracelet as original equipment, it’s usually easy to add one. My favorite mesh bands are the German made Staib bracelets. They’re very supple, nicely finished, and just all around solidly made.

So, that’s some basics.

- “So I’m a female, I assume there are differences between male and female watches?” in paper yes some brands will have collections divided by male / female, but in reality most watches are unisex. Just wear whatever makes you happy

- “Can a female wear a male watch, or is that a big no-no” Just wear whatever makes you happy. 95% of the people you meet won’t care about your watch anyway

- “What is the difference in styles or quality between the two?” generally speaking size (ladies watches tend to be smaller) and design (ladies watches tend to have more decorative elements like diamonds / mother of pearl details etc). Quality is basically the same

- “Are there unisex watches?” most watches are unisex

Most important question right now: what’s your budget? You can get an OK watch for a few hundred or if you want a Rolex they will start at around $7k. So set a price range you are comfortable with and people can guide you better.

You want a mechanical watch or a quartz? Mechanical watches work by you inputting energy into them either through the movement of your hand (they have a small pendulum inside) or by manually winding them. They will need service every few years (usually around 5 years but you can service them once they stop) and that service can cost around $300-$500. If taken care of they can last several generations as parts can be replaced if broken. They are accurate enough but most will gain or lose around 5-10 seconds a day, so you will probably have to adjust the time every few months. Quartz watches get their energy from a battery. They don’t need to be serviced except for when a new battery is needed (around every 3-5 years). They are very accurate (+/- 10 seconds per year) and tend to be more robust. They can last for a long time too but if the movement breaks it will be much harder to fix than a mechanical watch. Usually the whole movement will be swapped out and a whole movement doesn’t cost much either.

About the “mesh” bracelet, you can swap them out. So you can “dress up” the same watch by adding a crocodile strap to it in order to make it more elegant. or you can “dress down” a watch and make it more casual by adding a rubber strap to it. So I wouldn’t focus too much on that aspect. I would buy a watch with it’s original metal bracelet and then swap it out for whatever you like best. Straps tend to be much cheaper than metal bracelets and most times getting an original bracelet aftermarket can be hard

I would suggest taking a look at watch websites like these:

https://www.ablogtowatch.com/

https://www.hodinkee.com/

and try to figure out what style of watches you like regardless of the price. Then you can use those as reference so people here can help you find an alternative within your budget

You can start by looking at stores and trying them out, don’t be afraid to ask around and try even if you have no intentions to buy one.

There is a series of questions you might want to ask yourself. But maybe the easiest would be to show you where you can learn and you can make up your own opinion on the subject. There is many youtube-channels you could check out, e.g. Teddy Baldassarre have a playlist of different watch education videos you can watch.

There is Mens, womens, and unisex watches, but dont think to much about that, but what you like and what fits your wrist and style. More important is the actual size of the watch. Often people talk about the size, that’s measured diagonally from about 10 to 4. This gives a indicator of how big the watch is. In regard to how big it looks on your wrist you need to think of how much of the watch which is the dial. Of the watch is all dial (and no bezel, the ring around the dial) it will look bigger. If the watch has a smaller dial and more bezel it can be a little (technically) bigger before it looks too big. Maybe as important if not more important is a watch’s lug-to-lug measurements (length from “horn-to-horn across”). These affect how the watch will wrap around your wrist. If the lugs are too broad they “hang” outside your wrist and that could look a bit strange.

If you like a mesh (could also be called milanese bracelet) you could go for that. A watch could feel/look very different based on what strap or bracelet you chose to wear. with that in mind you could get two watches for the price of one watch and two straps.

You might want to consider whether you want to go for a quartz (battery) or a mechanical (spring) movement (powersource). Quartz are cheaper, keeps time better, and wont stop if you leave it for x amount of days. Mechanical movements come in two main types (manual and automatic winding), but the basic concept is the same. They are more expensive, more engineered (more moving parts), the seconds hand will glide instead of tick. A manual movement requires you to wind (spin) the crown (the small wheel on the side which you set the time with). A automatic movement has a weight inside it which spins back and forth when you move, this movement is caught and stored in the spring inside the watch. the spring is slowly unwinding, keeping your watch running.

There is lots of great watch brands out there, If you have a price range in mind I’m sure you can get loooots of suggestions both for brands and exact models.