Wooden Watches For Men And For Women: Does It Matter?

At a glance

• The label is about size, not about who is allowed to wear it. Forest's women's watches have cases from 28mm to 40mm across, and the men's from 42mm to 45mm.
• Plenty of women choose a men's size on purpose. A big watch on a small wrist is a look, not a mistake, and it has been one for years.
• Three Forest watches, Dawn, Dusk and Nightfall, sit in both collections, because a mid-sized case suits either wrist.
• The woods are the same on both sides: walnut, ebony, zebrawood and olivewood appear in each collection.
• Prices are close. Women's watches run from £80 to £125, men's from £75 to £260, and the top of the men's range is where the automatic movements and the whisky-barrel oak live.
• A strip of paper round your wrist tells you more than the collection name does. Under 16cm, look at 36mm to 40mm. Over 17cm, 42mm and up.
• Every Forest watch, either collection, comes with a wooden gift box, a link-sizing tool, ten trees planted through Tree-Nation, a 2-year warranty and 90-day UK returns. Engraving is £25 for up to 40 characters.

Is there a difference between men's and women's wooden watches?

Less than the two headings suggest. Put the men's and women's collections next to each other and most of it is the same: the same reclaimed woods, the same quartz movement in most of them, the same clasps, the same boxes.

What actually changes is the case. Women's watches are built on smaller cases with narrower straps, and men's on larger cases with wider straps. Dial colour and detail follow from that, because a 28mm dial has room for hands and markers and not much else, while a 44mm dial can carry sub-dials, a date window or an open view of the movement.

So the honest answer is that "men's" and "women's" are shorthand for "larger" and "smaller". They are useful shorthand, because most people shopping for a gift know roughly which wrist they are buying for. But they are not rules, and neither label stops anyone wearing the other.

It cuts both ways. Some women want the chunky 44mm men's size on purpose, because an oversized watch on a small wrist has been a deliberate look for years. Some men want a slim 40mm. The label tells you the size. It does not tell you what you will like.

Why are three Forest watches in both collections?

Because they are the middle size, and the middle size suits either wrist.

Dawn, Dusk and Nightfall are the same slim shape in three woods: Dawn in pale olivewood, Dusk in striped zebrawood, Nightfall in near-black ebony. They have a plain dial, a slim case, and a link bracelet in the same wood. On a smaller wrist they read as a clean everyday watch. On a larger wrist they read as a slim dress watch. So they are listed under both headings rather than guessed into one.

They are also the entry point to the range at £80 each, which makes them an easy first wooden watch, and an easy pair.

What size is a women's wooden watch?

At Forest, between 28mm and 40mm across the case.

• Midnight is the smallest at 28mm, with a 16mm strap. It is the one to look at if you have a narrow wrist or you wear your watches small.
• Zara is 36mm with a 20mm strap. Small, but with more dial to read.
• Ember is 39mm.
• Ivy, Royal and Victoria are 40mm, on an 18mm strap.

All of them are between 8mm and 12mm thick, which is slim enough to slide under a sleeve. The 40mm watches are what most people picture when they think of a woman's watch today. The fashion has moved larger over the years, and 40mm on a woman's wrist is now ordinary rather than oversized.

What size is a men's wooden watch?

At Forest, between 42mm and 45mm across the case.

• Nightjar is 42mm and 8.4mm thick, in dark wenge. It is the smallest case on the men's side.
• Most of the range is 44mm: Scout, Flint, Bracken, Harbour, Cobalt, Gale, Raven, Windsor, Woodland, Alpine and Nordic.
• Riverstone, Woodhaven and Barrel are 45mm and 11mm thick. These are the biggest cases we make, and the ones with the most going on inside: Riverstone and Woodhaven are automatic, with the movement visible through the back, and Barrel is a chronograph.

Strap widths run from 20mm to 22mm. That width is part of why a men's watch reads as a men's watch: it sits broad on the wrist rather than narrow.

How do you know which case size suits your wrist?

Measure the wrist. Wrap a strip of paper round it where a watch would sit, mark where it overlaps, and lay it against a ruler. Then:

• Under 15cm: 28mm to 36mm. Midnight or Zara.
• 15cm to 17cm: 36mm to 40mm. Zara, Ember, Ivy, Royal, Victoria, or the three in both collections.
• 17cm to 19cm: 40mm to 44mm. Almost anything in the men's collection, or the 40mm women's watches if you like a smaller face.
• Over 19cm: 44mm and 45mm. Riverstone, Woodhaven, Barrel, or any of the 44mm men's.

A second test, once the watch is on: the lugs, the two points where the strap meets the case, should sit inside the edges of your wrist, not hang over them. If they overhang, the case is too big for you, however good it looks in the picture.

If you are buying for someone else and cannot measure, their other watches are the clue. The case size is on the maker's listing for that watch, in millimetres. Failing that, a normal men's wrist takes 42mm to 44mm and a normal women's wrist takes 36mm to 40mm, and the middle-sized watches are the safe bet when you truly do not know.

Do women's wooden watches come in the same woods as men's?

Mostly, yes. Walnut, ebony, zebrawood and olivewood appear on both sides.

• Walnut: Midnight on the women's side; Scout, Bracken, Cobalt, Gale, Raven and Woodland on the men's.
• Ebony: Nightfall in both collections; Flint, Nordic and Riverstone on the men's.
• Zebrawood: Zara and Ember, and Dusk in both; Alpine and Harbour on the men's.
• Olivewood: Ivy and Victoria, and Dawn in both.

A few woods are on one side only, for now. Rosewood is only on Royal. Kosso is only on Windsor, wenge only on Nightjar, maple only on Woodhaven, and whisky-barrel oak only on Barrel. That is a matter of which cases we have made in which wood, not a rule about who should wear what. If you want a rosewood men's watch or a maple women's watch, tell us.

Every case is reclaimed timber, so the grain and tone vary from watch to watch on both sides. Two Dawns will not match exactly, and neither will two Woodlands.

Are women's wooden watches cheaper?

Slightly, at the bottom of the range, and by a lot at the top, but for a reason that has nothing to do with gender.

Women's watches at Forest run from £80 (Dawn, Dusk, Nightfall) to £125 (Midnight). Men's run from £75 (Scout) to £260 (Barrel). The overlap is wide: most of the men's range sits between £85 and £150, which is where most of the women's range sits too.

The gap at the top is the movement and the case. Riverstone at £220 and Woodhaven at £250 are automatic watches with the mechanism on show, and Barrel at £260 is a chronograph in oak from a Kentucky whisky barrel. There is no women's watch at that price because there is no women's automatic in the range yet, not because we price by who is buying.

Can a woman wear a men's wooden watch?

Yes, and many do on purpose. A 44mm watch on a woman's wrist is a chosen look, and a good one. It reads as confident rather than borrowed, as long as it fits: the lugs should sit inside the edges of the wrist, and the strap should be shortened so the watch does not slide.

The practical thing to check is the strap. Men's straps are 20mm to 22mm wide and are made to be shortened. Every Forest watch comes with a link-sizing tool in the box, and taking out a link or two takes a few minutes at a kitchen table. So the length is never the problem. The width is the thing you either like or do not.

If in doubt, the three watches in both collections are the compromise: a mid-sized case on a mid-width strap.

Can a man wear a women's wooden watch?

Yes. A 40mm case is a perfectly normal size for a man, and Ivy, Royal and Victoria are 40mm. The differences are the narrower 18mm strap and the dial, which is plainer and lighter than most of the men's. On a slim wrist that is exactly right. On a broad wrist it can look small, and the men's 42mm Nightjar or the three watches in both collections would sit better.

Midnight and Zara, at 28mm and 36mm, are genuinely small watches and would look small on most men's wrists. That is a matter of taste, not a rule, but it is worth knowing before you order.

Which wooden watch suits a small wrist?

Midnight, first. At 28mm across on a 16mm strap it is the smallest watch we make, and it comes in two dials. Zara next, at 36mm. Both are marked "slim" on the collection page so you can find them without reading every listing.

On the men's side, Nightjar is the smallest case at 42mm across and 8.4mm thick. If a small wrist wants a men's watch, that is the one.

Whichever you pick, the bracelet will come too long, because they are made to fit large wrists and be shortened. Use the tool in the box, take out a link from each side of the clasp so the clasp stays centred, and stop when one finger slides under the strap and two do not.

Which wooden watch should you buy as a gift for him or her?

Buy by wrist and by taste, and let the collection name be a guide rather than a rule.

For a woman: if you know she wears her watches small, Midnight or Zara. If you do not know, one of the 40mm watches. Victoria in olivewood with a gold-toned dial is the one we would pick blind, because pale wood and a light dial suit most skin tones and most wardrobes. Ivy is the same wood at £90 with a simpler dial.

For a man: if he wears a suit, Flint or Nightfall in ebony, because dark wood reads formal. If he wears a t-shirt, Scout in walnut on a nylon strap at £75, or Bracken. If he is the sort who would enjoy watching a mechanism turn, Riverstone or Woodhaven. If you want the one that gets the biggest reaction when the box opens, Barrel.

For either, when you do not know the wrist: Dawn, Dusk or Nightfall. They are the three in both collections for exactly this reason.

Whichever you choose, engraving is £25 for up to 40 characters on the back, and an engraved watch can still be returned within 90 days in the UK, which takes the risk out of personalising a gift you are not certain of.

Do matching wooden watches for couples exist?

Yes, and there are two ways to do it.

The obvious way is the same watch twice. Dawn, Dusk and Nightfall are in both collections, so a pair of Dawns is a matching pair by design. The same wood, the same dial, the same case, on two wrists. Because every case is reclaimed timber, the two will not be identical, which suits a pair.

The other way is the same wood in two sizes. Midnight in walnut and Raven in walnut. Zara in zebrawood and Harbour in zebrawood. Victoria in olivewood and Dawn in olivewood. They match in material and differ in size, which on two different wrists looks more deliberate than two identical watches.

Two watches in one order take our pair price: 20% off the cheaper watch, applied in the bag before you pay. Both can be engraved, with a different message on each, at £25 a watch.

How do men's and women's wooden watches compare, side by side?

Two collections, one range. The women's side is smaller cases, narrower straps and plainer dials. The men's side is larger cases, wider straps and the more complicated movements. Everything else, from the wood to the warranty, is shared.

How do you choose, in one line?

Measure the wrist, pick the wood you like, and read the collection name as a size guide rather than a rule.

Every Forest watch, in either collection, is engraved, finished and packed in our London workshop and plants ten trees through Tree-Nation. Engraving is £25 for up to 40 characters, and an engraved watch can still be returned within 90 days in the UK.