ZOE ABELSON
Luxury watch dealer and advisor, Graal
Unlike many fair-weather watch dealers, Zoe Abelson has been in the watch industry for over a decade. In 2011, she dropped out of university to accept a job at a NY-based auction house, and the risk paid off. Abelson wound up graduating on her own time, juggling class with her budding career – and now, after a three-year stint in Hong Kong working as an advisor at WatchBox, she runs Graal, a bespoke watch dealership that grossed £3.7 million in sales in its first six months. But, explosive revenue aside, Abelson has developed a new kind of reputation in the wider horological world: as a lightning rod for community. “I love working with Zoe because of the care and approach she takes in the watch world as a whole,” says Michael Cherman, designer and founder of streetwear label Market. “Many of the men I’ve engaged with in the space feel like salesmen, and are just trying to push me to buy expensive watches. With Zoe, it’s a collaboration and exploration.”
DAVIDE CERRATO
CEO, Bremont
In the horse race of corporate leadership, freshly appointed Bremont CEO Davide Cerrato is a good bet. You can thank him for Tudor’s Black Bay 2012 relaunch, which put the Rolex sister brand back on the map. All eyes are on what he’ll do with Bremont, a rugged British brand that stands in contrast to the behemoths of Switzerland. Cerrato’s expertise in branding, design, and development is only compounded by the fact Bremont got a £48.4m investment from Bill Ackman and Hellcat LP recently. His snappy Italian dress sense and quick wit also make for a worthy complement to Bremont founders Nick and Giles English.
ERIC KU
C0-founder, Loupe This
Eric Ku is a collectors’ collector: eagle-eyed and high-taste, with an insane well of horological knowledge. He is also a true believer in high-low, and his Swatch Flik Flak – one of his first pieces – is never far away. Many newer enthusiasts credit him for opening their eyes to pieces such as the Cartier Crash (of which he owns 10) and Bulgari Octo Finissimo. A trail of serial entrepreneurship led him to found Loupe This, his killer online auction platform. For a collector with no shortage of grails, Loupe This is refreshingly democratic, encouraging listings across the spectrum of price and rarity, all available to the highest bidder.
MATTHIEU HUMAIR
CEO, Watches and Wonders
Matthieu Humair hasn’t been running the show for long, but his work is already showing results. The world’s largest watchmaking event closed with record figures this spring, attracting 43,000 visitors – in part due to the Chinese market’s post-Covid return, but also to Humair’s decision to make the community more inclusive, opening to the public for two days. Humair says he aims to create the “fashion week of the watch world”, a goal that conveys an increasingly ambitious, industry-wide objective of putting the “hot” in haute horlogerie.
