The market for watches is certainly booming at the moment. Many people who may not have been attracted to traditional wrist watches have jumped on board with the latest high tech smartwatches. One of the biggest, quite possibly untapped, markets for is the growing demand for watches for millennials. It seems as though a lot of watch manufacturers are unsure exactly how to market watches to this generation.

Exactly when the “millennial” generation began is up for debate, but most people consider it to be people born after 1981 and before 1996. Meaning millennials are currently aged between 22 and 38 – the ages where people are most likely to spend on luxury goods – making them popular ages for marketers. But this generation have not always been the easiest to market to and they their tastes have quite often not been sufficiently met by watchmakers.

But it does seem that a lot of watch manufacturers have started to catch on to what millennials like. And it’s likely that we’ll see a lot of these kinds of watches on show at Baselworld 2019 and on shelves throughout the year. So, what are the perfect watches for millennials?

What Watches Do Millennials Like?

Most millennials have grown up in a world where technological developments happen fast and often. The world of watches is a very different environment than the one that millennials have grown up in – so it’s unsurprising that they are often underwhelmed by the latest watches. It’s hard to get excited about a new watch when you’ve just got your hands on the latest iPhone with hundreds and thousands of new features. This is one of the big reasons why many believed that the release of smartwatches would be perfect for millennials.

As it turned out, that wasn’t exactly the case!

The Apple Watch has been successful, but it has taken a long time for it to really hit the kind of figures that people expected. Most millennials took one look at the Apple Watch and asked “what does this watch do that my phone doesn’t do?” It’s no surprise that the addition of fitness tracking features – harder to do on a phone – has boosted sales. But not to the extent that many would have predicted.

It actually seems to be the case that classic watches are actually proving the most popular with the millennial market. When you consider that there are hundreds of different ways for people to tell the time, it is a surprise that the least feature-heavy wrist watches are the ones millennials want.

Which Brands Make Watches For Millennials?

While most would not believe that classic watches would be popular with a generation used to getting their hands on the latest and greatest technology. It is something that brands across the world have found to be 100% true. American designer Tom Ford produced a line of watches which proudly states that they are made by millennials for millennials. He explained in an interview, “In general I dislike a trendy watch, as I’m a fairly classic person. For a man who is more traditional, watches are really one of the few accessories he can wear outside of maybe a wedding ring.”

This view of watches for millennials as being a traditional, less flashy accessory is something that is backed up by the numbers. The decision for Movado to purchase MVMT and Olivia Burton was based on the sales numbers of traditional watches with the younger market. Millennials have found that they can pick up cheap or expensive classic watches to add an element of classical style to their outfits. And it’s very likely that sales of traditional watches to millennials is going to grow as more and more watchmakers catch on to the trend!

Conclusion

So if you are looking for the perfect watches for the millennials in your life, then it is always a good idea to look towards traditional styles. Smaller watches with a dial of around 36mm on a leather strap are the kind of watches you want to be looking for. Many of Movado’s brands feature these kinds of watches, as they seem to be one of the first brands to really catch on to the trend.

Watches from traditional brands like Rotary and Junghans also feature a lot of the kinds of watches which millennials will like. While smartwatches have not, on the whole, proven entirely popular with millennials – there are traditional looking smartwatches which may be worth looking at. The Swiss Horological Smartwatches produced by Mondaine and Frederique Constant are two of the most popular. These give wearers the popular traditional look and feel while still incorporating some of the latest technology inside the device.

There are a wide range of watches for millennials to choose from and this list is just going to get longer during 2019!