In Two, We Watch

Amid the flurry of watch releases and product presentations at Watches and Wonders this year, I also had the opportunity to visit the Panerai Manufacture in Neuchâtel.

- Somya Rauthan

It is where I met Deborah Wong and Stephanie Soh, the founders of TickTockBelles, a community that supports and encourages women's passion for watches. What struck me throughout my conversation with them was their infectious energy and zest for everything horology, and their mission to carve out a much-needed space for women in the world of watch collecting. An Instagram handle exchange before we went our own ways eventually led me down the road to reading about their contribution to encouraging women watch enthusiasts.

TickTockBelles started in 2022 when Wong and Soh, both based in Singapore, noticed a gaping absence of women in the local watch community. It was, in fact, the love for watches that had united Wong, who works in business development for an IT company, and Soh, an educator. Their friendship began a decade ago, when Wong purchased an Hermès Cadena that Soh had listed for sale on the buy/sell platform, Carousell. wanted to do it alone, and since Deb was interested in watches, too, it made her a natural choice for a partner. Increasingly, we have more and more female friends that we got to know on Instagram, asking us questions about watches. So, we decided to put our resources together and start TickTockBelles,” says Soh.