It was still dark outside when I loaded over 50 build-it-yourself plastic clocks into the boot of my car and set off to meet Carole Kasapi, Director of Movements at TAG Heuer, and Juliette Gruot, TAG Heuer Designer, at the University of Geneva’s Uni-Mail campus. Every two years we get together for an important event that we hold dear to our hearts called Expanding Your Horizons.
Expanding Your Horizons is a non-profit association dedicated to providing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) experiences for young girls. The EYH Network began in 1974 and has since expanded around the world, coming to Geneva, Switzerland in 2008. The objective of its biennial science discovery fair is to open doors to careers that most young girls would perhaps not even think about – not because they aren’t interested in them – but because they are usually dominated by men.
Expanding Your Horizons
Every other year, Expanding Your Horizons invites over 300 young girls between the ages of 11 and 14 to discover over 25 such careers that range from forensic science to robotics, cryptography to virus tracking and more. During the day, they try different activities that aim to open their minds to new ideas for their future. “Sometimes all it takes is a spark,” explains Lorraine McDowell, President of Expanding Your Horizons. “If just one girl leaves the workshop inspired to take a career path that she wouldn’t have thought about before, then this event has been a success.”
Build your own Clock
No surprises for guessing which workshop Carole, Juliette and I were hosting! This was our fourth “Build your own Clock” experience and, as in previous years, it was the first to be booked up. During the hour-long sessions, students learn the basics of how a mechanical clock mechanism works by assembling the gear train, the barrel, the escapement and hands, accompanied by one of the finest watchmakers in the field!
Discovering the World of Watch Design
Once all the clocks were ticking, we handed over to Juliette, who talked to the girls about watch design (another career predominantly occupied by men) and gave them the opportunity to create their very own TAG Heuer Carrera or Monaco design. The results were inspiring with all kinds of designs that gave Juliette quite a few ideas for the future.
Since we started this adventure back in 2014 there has been a lot of progress in erasing the gender divide in careers, largely thanks to initiatives like this and greater awareness about gender discrimination globally. Organisations like Watch Femme, co-founded by WorldTempus’ Editor-in-Chief Suzanne Wong, are also working to support women in both the watch industry and the female collector community. The watch workplace, however, still remains a largely male-dominated space, especially at the management level, so I think Carole, Juliette and I still have a few workshops left to hold. Hopefully one day, we will bump into one of our students at a watch bench somewhere, or maybe in a watch boutique perusing the latest complications, or maybe even at the head of a watch brand – that’s the goal!
Join the Fun
If you have a daughter who would be interested in taking part in our next workshop, put a note in your diary for November 2024, or sign her up for the Expanding Your Horizons Club, which has monthly science activities throughout the year on Wednesday afternoons or Saturdays. And if you fancy having a go at building your own clock, we have five to give away, so drop me a line at sophie.furley@worldtempus.com.
Special Thanks go to Laura Cale at One for Fun Ltd. who found me 50 clocks even though they were out of stock and saved the day!
