SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

With a wrist size of just 12cm, watch lover Stefanie Knight felt shut out of the mainstream collecting market, but found just the right solution.

Fortunately, the Malaysian doctor has always had an interest in fashion and is more than proficient in curating a chic watch collection to match her equally stylish wardrobe.

“I’d wanted to be a fashion designer,” says Stefanie Knight, “but since I got good results in school, I chose the dentistry profession. I indulge in my passion by wearing my watches to work daily!”

As a niche consumer in an industry that traditionally caters more to men, especially in the luxury space, Knight turns to the vintage market, independent brands, and of course, Cartier, which still holds the fort as a leading purveyor of small and refined ladies’ timepieces.

Case sizes of 38mm and below hit her sweet spot, but with a wrist diameter of 12cm, she can rock watches as diminutive as 26mm.

Throughout her eight-year collecting journey, she has bought an average of one watch annually. It also helps that her husband, a dentist who joined the practice she started eight years ago, is a collector who prefers watches below 40mm and would share his pieces with her.

So far, her tasteful choices have won her many female fans, who probably suffer from the same fate, on her Instagram account @tinywrist. There, she posts beautifully styled photos of her watches, sometimes complemented by a glimpse of her trendy outfits.

A LADY’S CHOICE

“Modern ladies watches are too chunky,” adds Knight, who prefers dainty, feminine models in gold. “Vintage gold also has a different colour from modern alloys — somehow, it’s more alluring. The 80s were responsible for some of the best ladies’ vintage watches.”

Her first “serious” timepiece, a Patek Philippe Calatrava 3796 that she won at an auction to commemorate the launch of her clinic, comes in the precious metal.