To mark International Women’s Day 2022, discover some of the leading and upcoming female voices in the watch industry you need on your radar.
On March 8, once a year, women group together across the world to champion one another, uniting for equal treatment and representation across all stratas of society. While we immortalize the specific day annually to celebrate the community between women, challenging archaic values in society, the attitudes and values of its intentions continue throughout every single day of the year.
A time to commemorate the social, political and economic achievements of women, spanning the entirety of the globe, IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific. This year’s theme calls to #BreakTheBias, to imaginea gender equal world, free of bias, stereoptypes and discrimination, at a time when the world needs uniting most. To forge women’s equality, we strive to create a world that is diverse, equitable and inclusive, where differences are celebrated and revered.
Honoring this year’s #BreakTheBasis campaign is to acknowledge the watch industry’s own institutionalized bias, which for a long time, has marketed the horological world to a male audience; from the prevalent gender disparity between watch size, target audience and a history between watchmaking and vocations the history books often attributed towards men alone, such as aviation and racing. But women care and know about watches too. Breaking the absurd bias that timepieces are a tale for men, we’ve spotlighted some of the leading and most exciting female voices, cutting through the noise and making a case for women as watch rookies, enthusiasts, aficionados and experts. After all, let’s not be forgetting the first watch recorded in history belonged to the Queen of Naples now.
1. @dimepiece.co
2. @jessicajjo
Introduced to the world of watches by her father at the age of 14, follow Jessica Owens, also known as J.J on her horological crusade, documenting the cutest AP you ever did see on her escapades through Manhattan. From Saint Theo’s to the sidewalk, J.J showcases the type of watch marketing we actually want to see, not against a meaningless background of pebbles and staged relics. Put simply, it’s watches in real life, and on the move. NYC content and vintage watches? Click follow already.
3. @omegaladiesclub
James Bond might’ve had a penchant for Omega, but it’s by no means a boys club. Meet the Omega Ladies Club, an online community spotlighting the Swiss delight through the hands of Omega zealots across the world. We all have Kaia’s mini model at the MET ingrained in our memory, but there’s no exclusivity here in this club, embracing all from far and wide.
4. @sheknowswatches
She knows watches? She does indeed. Immerse yourself into the history of the watches you’re seeing on your TL by the elusive moniker, @sheknowswatches. You might’ve seen the words ‘minute repeater’ in the smallprint before, but discover how a watch actually chimes, and an honest review of timepieces you might have your eye on.
5. @watch_femme
Newcomers to the industry and budding watch fans, take yourself over to @watch_femme, a non-profit organization addressing the gendered issues that hold us all back as an industry. Looking to provide answers and interrogate why gender has held such a grasp over watchmaking, Laetitia Hirschy and Suzanne Wong are carving out a space that celebrates women telling the time on their own terms. Where has this been all our lives?
6. @lorihirshleifer
Carrie Bradshaw fans, this one’s for you. If you’ve ever dreamed of having an SJP-esque closet, then hit the button on Lori Hirschleifer. Merging haute couture and haute horology, Lori, the fourth-generation owner of Hirschleifers, the high-end Long Island store, brings a different lens to the watch world. Dissolving the age-old debate – to stack or not to stack? – Lori combines her Rolex with Miu Miu shoes, creating an online runway for her timepieces, as much as their celebrated fashion counterparts they’re paired with. A Chanel 2.55 bag with a Patek is the content we’re here to see. Who said watchmaking wasn’t an art form then?
