As Times Changed, The Watch Industry Remained the Same

HUR TABLE GUESTS

Feb 28

As Times Changed, The Watch Industry Remained the Same

with Zoe Abelson, Malaika Crawford and Kate Lacey

By HURS Team

Women have always been part of the watch industry, from designers to artisans to those assembling. But most brands have stuck to the boy’s-club cliches, focusing solely on men in both their designs and communications. Luckily, the 75 billion dollar global industry seems to have finally woken up to the fact that women are key to further growing the bottom line (the market was estimated to be worth 23.6 billion dollars in 2020). But to do so, brands have to take an authentic approach. Shrinking and pinking it isn’t enough – women want watches of their own.

Additionally, similar to adjacent industries like art and fashion, the watch industry has been impacted by the democratization of knowledge through social media as well as the increase in consumers purchasing luxury goods online. The endless amount of information available has made it impossible to further gate-keep the industry. It has allowed new buyers and voices to become a part of an industry that used to feel niche and out of reach for most of us. With so much opportunity for innovation and change, we wanted to know more.

ZOE ABELSON
Zoe Abelson is the founder of Graal, a luxury watch service that helps clients buy and sell their watch “grails.” One of the few women working within the space, Abelson has previously spent extensive time in Hong Kong during her time working at WatchBox and is one of the premiere dealers within the vintage and pre-owned arena.

MALAIKA CRAWFORD
Malaika Crawford is the Style Editor at Hodinkee. Prior to her role at Hodinkee, Crawford held the position of jewelry and watch editor at youth culture platform Highsnobiety and was a contributing fashion editor at Interview Magazine. She also hosts the ‘Killing Time’ podcast with fellow watch enthusiast Brynn Wallner, the founder of Dimepiece. Her refreshing take on the traditional watch market has cemented her as a key tastemaker in the space.

KATE LACEY
Kate Lacey is a watch specialist and valuer with more than fifteen years of experience. Lacey held the position of Director and Head of the watch departments at Philips and was the Director at Sotheby’s Watches. She’s also the founder of THE SHREW, an online platform that sells pre-owned and collective luxury watches, clothes and accessories.

We asked three industry insiders for their thoughts on whether women are excluded from the watch industry, tips for first-time vintage watch buyers and their hopes for the future.