The Cocktail Watch: The Diamond-Studded Jewelry That 1920s Women Used to Liberate Themselves from Society

Looking back at a major auction, one of the world's top luxury watch brands, Blancpain, was willing to spend roughly 7 million baht just to bring one small platinum, diamond-set watch back into its museum collection. The question is: why does this tiny watch carry such enormous historical value, and why is its image so tightly bound to a global icon like Marilyn Monroe?

The answer isn't hidden in the beauty of the gemstones alone — it's woven into a "social revolution for women," carried on the wrist through a piece known as the Cocktail Watch.

The story begins between 1820 and 1873, during the Industrial Revolution in the West. Men of that era often drank away their time and wages at the bar, fueling poverty and domestic violence, while women at the time had no legal standing to fight back. That changed in 1874, when a group of Christian women banded together to form the WCTU (Woman's Christian Temperance Union), protesting alcohol, marching in prayer, and pouring liquor into the streets — arguing that alcohol was destroying morality and the family unit. But another group of women saw things differently. To them, alcohol was only part of the problem; the real issue was the blanket moral judgment placed on women and the narrow boundaries drawn around their lives. Public bars of the era, called saloons, functioned as clubs exclusively for working-class men and politicians — spaces to drink, smoke, and talk politics. The social rule was rigid: a "good, moral woman" belonged at home, raising children and tending to her husband. Any woman who dared step into a saloon was instantly branded by society. The public sphere was firmly closed to women.

In January 1920, the U.S. government enacted the 18th Amendment (Prohibition), banning the production, sale, and transport of alcohol nationwide. Saloons shut down completely. But in that very same period, American women won the right to vote for the first time — a moment that completely upended their social status. Women began working, earning their own money, gaining an equal voice, and no longer needing to answer to anyone. With alcohol now illegal, the liquor trade went underground, giving rise to secret bars called speakeasies. And because speakeasies were operating outside the law to begin with, they had no reason to uphold the old social rules either — they simply wanted paying customers, regardless of gender.

Modern Women with their own income began stepping into speakeasies to drink alongside men, shoulder to shoulder, for the first time in history. They cut their hair short, wore clothing built for movement and self-expression, and adorned themselves with a defining piece of jewelry: the Cocktail Watch.

The Cocktail Watch wasn't just a timepiece — it was a political and social statement. It announced: "I am not the traditional woman with her hand out asking for money. I am a capable, independent woman who earned the right to own something this valuable through my own effort."

Marilyn Monroe became the ultimate icon of this era — a symbol of confidence, self-reliance, and the ability to steer her own life. Her Blancpain Cocktail Watch was never just a marquise-cut diamond piece with an elegant Arabic numeral dial. It was a historical marker, capturing the moment women broke free of their chains, fought for equality, and stepped boldly into a new age. That's exactly why Blancpain was willing to fight so hard to reclaim this piece of history at auction — because this watch was never just about telling time. It's the story of how an entire world changed, one woman's wrist at a time.