Nina is scally
Breguet Repeater Watch Ref. 2639 Caroline Murato, Queen of Naples, was not the world’s first wristwatch received in 1810. It was the watch that linked female races to portable timekeeping. It sent a strong message to the world: “Yes, women can love complex mechanical clock engineering, too.” That initial design allowed other watch makers to do the same, but women’s watches became more culturally acceptable until the end of the 19th century. Gradually, women began to carve out space for themselves when making watches that were traditionally considered male-dominated industry. We found it to be pretty good!
Today, women are shaping the future of watchmaking with many capabilities, whether it designs them, creates pioneering materials, or plays a leadership role in driving the company. Slowly and surely, society is stripping away the stereotypes that we have long believed in as clocks as the human world. In time for International Women’s Day, we seem right to shed some light on some of the names you should ever know and their achievements. These are names that currently disrupt the feathers of the most powerful and influential men in the industry, but are rising beyond the under-speaking ranks. It would be correct to assume that such articles should not exist for just one day a year, but there is no time to start challenging the story. So today (and not just today) we’ll show you a list of the best watch brands led by women.
Dr. Rebecca Struthers – Co-founder of Struthers Watchmakers
There is nothing about Dr. Rebecca Struthers’ childhood that has shown her to become, or even become, a highly respected watchmaker. However, the intersection of science and art always fascinated her, and eventually she dropped out of school and went to art school instead. Her job in restoring the watch came about a few years later when she joined forces with her husband and then waved back in 2013 to watch the design. Rebecca Struther is co-founder of Struthers Watchmakers and became the first female watchmaker to become the UK’s Hological Institute to become a master watchmaker. All watches made by Struthers are hand-crafted in a Birmingham-based workshop. Rebecca writes her own book. For example, watchmaker apprentices outline the evolution of watchmaking and focus on the artistic aspects of watches. Oh, and it’s also pretty impressive to be the first authentic watch doctor in the UK!
Eva Leube – Brand Founder
Born in Berlin, Eva Leube earned her masterwatch maker degree at just 23 years old before becoming an independent watchmaker in 2011. Over the years, she has worked with prominent names in the industry, such as Ulysse Nardin and Thomas Prescher, who built custom watches that boast Flying Tour Bilon and reverse infringement time indicators. Australia. One of her most proud works is the curved mechanical movement. This presented a unique set of problems while designing her ant clock, named after her son. Because a special released angular milling technique is required, all moving components must conform to the distinctive bend of the case. The ants have been a hard-working dream that Eva had envisioned several years ago, allowing for a panoramic view of movement through the elongated curved sapphire.
Susan Garbin – Founder, Garbin Watch Company
Sydney-based watch maker Susan Galvin founded his business, Galvin Watch Company in 2020, and in that short period he established his name by crowdfunding Brainchild design Alku with Kickstarter, an incredibly large 40mm unisex design. After attending a Finland watchmaking school and learning about her trade, Garvin began working for LVMH, then moved to Sydney where she worked for Omega. Galvin founded a brand of her name, turning adversity into success after becoming redundant during maternity leave with her first child during the Covid-19 pandemic. Galvin now owns Australia’s first female-led watch brand. Garvin watches feature a classic aesthetic inspired by Finland’s nature and Scandinavian designs and inspired by new Australian homes. Garvin believes that it is in educational institutions that it is considered a male-dominated industry and communicates the need for more women’s energy.
Pauline’s Sisters – Co-founder Pauline Watch
Founded in 2013 by a sister trio, Pauline Watch in Scotland is a popular micro-brand focused on affordable minimalist pieces. Charlotte, Eleanor and Elizabeth initially built a brand from scratch that converts spare rooms in Charlotte’s apartments into stock rooms. Pauline now boasts its own boutique in Glasgow’s West End. Interestingly, Pauline merged with Anordain, the success story of other contemporary watches in Scotland in 2023. Both companies are relatively small so it’s no surprise to learn that family elements are involved in the blend. In fact, Charlotte Pauline and Lewis Heath, the founders of both brands, are married. Pauline has expressed a new creative direction despite the fusion of modern (Paulin) and traditional (Anorden) brand languages, despite a strong, female-led vision still remaining.
Christine Hutter – CEO, Moritz Grossman
Christine Hutter is one of the few female leaders in the world, and has built a watch brand independently from scratch. Using her passion for watchmaking, she founded Moritz Grossmann in 2008, leading it through economic challenges, maximizing the benefits of a vertically integrated company. As a gender diversity advocate, Hatter employs women across her team and believes the industry needs women-driven designs. Hutter first cut his teeth with the originals of A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte, but after discovering Moritz Grossmann’s name (the original founder of Atelier in the 19th century), she won the rights to the brand with one vision in mind. Reopening the brand’s heritage. Today, everything is still hand-made by Moritz Grossmann and adheres to the core doctrines of his eponymous founding father.
Fiona Krüger – Brand founder
The fact that Fiona Krüger is trained in art and design explains a lot. Her whimsical abstract clock design has a strong punk/goth atmosphere that is practically alien to the hot, stifling world. In a world where movement often directs the design of a watch, Kruger’s movement follows the artistic concept of watches, resulting in different watches on the market. Highlights from Fiona Kruger’s collection are inspired by David Bowie’s hair during full jiggy stardust mode, and include artwork that adorns the dead celebrations of Mexico. The female watch designers admit that she relies on movement experts to advise on what she can and the parts of the movement she can’t play with.
Christelle Rosnoblet – CEO, Speak-Marin
Entrepreneur and watch enthusiast Christel Rossnoblett is a force to consider. She became CEO and president of Speak-Marin in 2012 and in a short time invested in acclaimed movement Atelier, Le Cercle des Horlogers, to expand the skills and expertise of the luxury complication brand. Now she is the sole owner of the brand and one of the few independent women in the watch business. Rosnoblet reduces achievements by having a bold nature. Working on Speak-Marin’s strategy and brand development side, her vision came to life in 2012 with the aforementioned opening of Le Cercle des Horlogers. Since joining Speak-Marin, Rosnoblet has refined the popular Piccadily cases in its open work and academic lines and designed the brand’s integrated sports watch, Ripple.
Maria Kristina Habring – Habring², co-founder and managing director
Watchmaking is often said to be romantic, but in Habring² it’s very literal. The Austrian brand, co-founded by husband and wife Duoricard and Maria Christina Hebring in 2004, describes itself as a “mechanical watch made with love.” They immortalized the story behind their meetings and the creation of brands in comics on their website. This is very cute. Together, the duo creates watches with simple visual styling, specialized for complications including tiny repeaters, jump seconds, split seconds chronographs, permanent calendars and tourbillons. Maria actually oversees the company’s quality control side and inspects all habring² watches, as well as each component that enters a rare outsourcing bit. The Austrian duo is pretty humble, despite some of the watches winning the GPHG award. Many of them use the A11 movement in Swiss architecture, where Richard adapts to his own skill set.
Ilaria Resta – CEO, Audemars Piguet
Last but certainly there is Ilaria Resta, the new CEO of Audemars Piguet. Resta’s career is not deeply rooted in watchmaking, but rather a European hairstyle. Although it is a relatively fresh name in the industry, her qualifications are quite impressive. Resta’sForte has always been increasing its global brand in a diverse range of segments. Since joining the brand, Resta has done a short task of improving the brand’s sustainability efforts, from working with global sustainability programs such as Swiss Triple Impact to working closer together with local suppliers. At the same time, her cyclical leadership approach eliminates the layers expected in pyramid management, achieving a more synergistic, collaborative watchmaking ecosystem.
More and more organizations are trying to break the barriers of unconscious bias in the watchmaking scene, especially when it comes to watchmaking and women’s leadership. Whether it’s overseeing a brand or the creative freedom offered by an independent space, opportunities are actually created. And that may continue.
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