How Watch Femme Is Creating Space For Women In A Male-Dominated Industry

Bazaar Arabia’s horological columnist Elizabeth Doerr speaks with the founders of Watch Femme on strategy, support systems, and presenting solutions…

The pandemic gave the watch world far more than just skyrocketing watch sales; it also gifted the community with a new and much-needed association called Watch Femme. Founded by journalist Suzanne Wong, PR consultant Laetitia Hirschy, and industry executive Nathalie Veysset, the express mission of this venture is to promote inclusivity, amplify women’s voices, highlight female contributions, and help create opportunities for this majorly underrepresented group.

That’s a tall order. And one that’s long overdue.

“We want to do this [using] education, networking, and mentoring,” explains Nathalie who was once CEO of a watch brand (and most likely the only female one at that time). “And we want to do this through lobbying the boards of the companies and top management. So we want to go from both sides, using education and access, and by [changing the] mentality from the leadership side because [the industry] is still very traditional.”

“Men have support systems that are already ingrained, built-in, and structural,” Suzanne, who is one of the watch world’s most colourful and respected writers, adds. “We don’t have that, and we need it. We can’t just wait around until it happens; we have to consciously build it because we don’t have an existing base to build on.”

Watch Femme is about building opportunities, presenting solutions in the form of education and mentoring, and changing how the female consumer, executive, watchmaker, and so on is reflected in both the business and cultures of horology. And according to this energetic trio, the work perhaps could and should be started in schools in order to make women more aware of the possibilities they have for careers in the sector, whether from the technical perspective or from the business perspective.

“Too many women don’t see a place for themselves in this world. If that thought occurs to them, we want to be there telling them that’s not true; that we can help them be part of this world in a successful way,” adds Laetitia, an experienced PR executive with her own agency, Kaaviar PR.

So Watch Femme’s strategy, as Nathalie succinctly outlines, is to address the subject from every angle. “Bottom-up, top-down action amplified by generational change, is, I think, when you start to see things happen,” adds Suzanne.

But, the three co-founders agree, that perhaps the biggest factor in motivating change will be a focus on figures. “When did people [in the industry] start paying attention to the Asian market? When they started buying in big numbers,” Suzanne points out by way of example. “When did brands start making products solely targeted at Chinese customers? When they started spending money.”

“The numbers [will] talk,” interjects Laetitia, by which she means the scale of female consumers expressing wishes, being present, and interacting with the community. As pointed out during a talk the three held during Geneva Watch Days 2021, women influence 85 per cent of all consumer spending. If brands aren’t paying attention to them by now, they are missing out on a huge segment of their potential markets. “That’s the thing, I don’t have to justify our position based on moralistic methods or factors, which may or may not be subjective and can be dismissed as being cultural or too woke or too progressive in a conservative market. Numbers talk,” Suzanne states simply.

Talk is cheap. But what’s great is that Watch Femme’s effect is already starting to be felt after just a year in existence – a year in which several Clubhouse sessions brought women from all corners of the sector together to exchange ideas, inspiration, and knowledge. A year during which three in-person get-togethers took place, including one at Dubai Watch Week 2021, in which a Watch Femme evening introduced female consumers to new watches at the fair using a touch-and-feel session. And much discussion took place.

“Even simple things like people messaging us on Instagram saying, I took part in one of your Clubhouse sessions and that was the first time I’ve ever spoken in public and had my voice heard and I was so encouraged by that that I decided to start my own Instagram page,” adds Suzanne. Laetitia explains that the Watch Femme association has already mentored two women into new watch-related jobs. “They came back saying thanks to you and thanks to Watch Femme I’ve had the courage to put myself out there and then they got the job,” she says.

“It drives me nuts when people don’t see women’s talent,” Suzanne sums up. “I know that speaking from my own experience as a woman journalist, I’ve stood on the experience and shoulders of other journalists, people who have been there before and opened doors, trotting that path first so that we weren’t tripping over rocks on the way. Even one more set of feet on that road, if you can add even one person extra, I think that’s already something.”

You can join Watch Femme, get involved with the organisation’s in-person events, and find out more by visiting watchfemme.com. Elizabeth Doerr is the Editor in Cheif of QuilAndPad.com, a digital publication that keeps a watch on time.

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s June 2022 issue.