IN-DEPTH: Women in watches provide the XX factor
It is a sad truth that the watch industry, like almost every other major sector, has more men than women in positions of power and influence. But how open is the industry to change when it comes to gender equality? Watch and jewellery journalist and consultant Rachael Taylor looks into the reasons behind women’s under-representation at boardroom level, what hope there is for material progress in the future, and why watch brands could be doing themselves a commercial favour by leaning on a woman’s touch a lot more.
Ilaria Resta doesn’t like to discuss what it’s like to be a female CEO in the watch world. During a live interview at London College of Fashion last summer, the boss of Audemars Piguet told the audience: “I was lucky enough to have a career [in beauty, before watches] where gender was never a topic…I believe the more you talk about it, the more it becomes an issue, so I prefer not to talk about it.”
When Resta took on the Audemars Piguet role in August 2023, however, the general reaction was precisely the opposite – everyone wanted to talk about her gender. There was a thrill of excitement at seeing a woman take the helm of such a storied watch brand; indeed, any pureplay watch brand. While it might not have occurred to Resta, who claims she was initially surprised by the line of questioning she took from journalists on this, her appointment felt seismic for a lot of onlookers – particularly women with ambition in the industry.
“Seeing women in senior roles makes those paths feel visible, attainable, and legitimate, not theoretical,” notes Carolina Navarro, deputy director at the Horological Society of New York (HSNY). “Role models help shorten the learning curve, normalise ambition, and counter the idea that success in watchmaking or leadership requires fitting a single, traditional mould. Representation doesn’t just inspire, it actively shapes who stays, who advances, and who believes they belong in the industry long term.”
This is, of course, not to say that the watch industry is devoid of women. It’s not. If we take Swatch Group as a barometer for the wider trade, its workforce in 2024 was 49% female. You couldn’t ask for a more even split (bar a faction of a percentile). However, Swatch admitted in its sustainability report from that year that “efforts need to be made to increase the number of women in management roles,” as only 36% of its management roles are held by women with “a disproportionately high number in lower management.”
This is the crux of the issue; and why Resta’s appointment felt so exciting. “In the luxury watch industry, just like many other industries, gender inequality and the lack of female C-suite leadership remain persistent challenges,” says Iris Van der Veken, executive director of the Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030 (WJI 2030), a Kering- and Cartier-founded multi-stakeholder action platform committed to supporting industry players to advance climate resilience, preserve resources, and foster inclusiveness. Van der Veken believes that tackling gender inequality in the watch industry should be a key priority, and that change must come from the top down. “It is essential to adopt a systematic approach that begins at the top, with governance, executive, and board-level commitment,” she says. “Companies need clear plans of action to ensure equal pay and equal opportunities for all. It takes time if you want to build a true cultural transformation.”
Van der Veken notes that she has witnessed a “growing collectable commitment to gender equality” in watches, singling out Audemars Piguet and Swiss watchmaking supplier BDL5 for praise. BDL5 is one of the companies within the WJI 2030 membership to become a signatory of the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), formalising a commitment to advancing gender equality in the workplace and agreeing to public reporting of its progress. As BDL5 director Ken Wenger noted in a WJI 2030 and WEPs publication titled Emerging Practices: Advancing Gender Equality in the Watch & Jewellery Industry: “Gender equality is not just the right thing to do. It is also beneficial for business.”
Barbara Palumbo, a watch editor and Le Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) juror, has been a leading voice campaigning for greater visibility of women in the watch industry for the past 10 years. During that time, she says she’s seen a shift in representation: “When I moved from the jewellery sector [where I started my career 30 years ago] to the watch sector, it was still largely male-centric, which, as a staunch feminist, was part of the reason I felt my voice was needed. I do believe, in my heart, the watch industry as a whole is changing, and women are being accepted more in leadership roles…in sales…in watchmaking. It isn’t perfect, but with a western world removing women’s rights on the daily, we are never going to see an overnight change anywhere.” Particularly in Switzerland, she points out, which didn’t give women the right to vote until 1971, and didn’t achieve full women’s suffrage until 1990 due to the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden holding out until it was finally forced into unity by an order of the Federal Court. “This may or may not have something to do with gender equality [at Swiss watchmakers], but it’s difficult not to believe it doesn’t, subconsciously play a part,” Palumbo says.
How women generally find their way into the industry is still somewhat patriarchal, according to a 2024 report co-authored by Deloitte and Watch Femme, a Genevan non-profit organisation working to promote and strengthen women’s voices across the watch world. In the report, titled ‘Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Insights 2024:
Spotlight on the female market,’ Aurelie Streit, vice-president of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), said: “Women currently working in fine watchmaking have often been introduced to this sector by a man; their father, for example.”
Navarro at the Horological Society of New York is actively working to help women carve their own paths in the watch industry. How? “Don’t just welcome women in – invest in them,” she says. The Society has developed a scholarship to help fund the studies of women training to be watchmakers. So far, $80,000 has been awarded to 16 women.
It is named The Grace Fryer Scholarship after one of the tragic Radium Girls, a group of women who were fatally poisoned by radium while painting watch dials in the 1920s, and whose legal battles helped put in place protections for future workers. “Creating this scholarship has not only allowed us to keep their memory alive, but aims to help women by alleviating financial costs associated with their studies,” says Navarro. “In my experience, the barriers [for women in watches] are less about ability, and more about structure and culture. Advancement pathways in watchmaking are often informal and opaque, relying heavily on long apprenticeships, legacy networks, and sponsorship that haven’t historically included women.”
What is encouraging about this particular set of hurdles, Navarro says, is that “solutions exist to many of these problems through intentional mentorship, clearer pathways, and broader recognition of excellence”.
Advancing women in the watch industry isn’t just a boon for aspiring female CEOs, it also has the potential to strengthen brands seeking to better connect with a growing female watch market. “Increasing the number of women in leadership roles would broaden perspectives at the decision-making level, which naturally influences how products are designed, how stories are told, and who the industry imagines as its audience,” continues Navarro. “Whoever decided that women like small pink watches with gemstones never spoke to the women collectors I know. I envision women leaders as being more likely to recognise female consumers…engaging women as serious collectors, experts, and cultural contributors – something that ultimately makes the industry richer and more relevant for everyone.”
