Ming Liu

I came to covering watches – perhaps not unlike other female watch journalists – through writing about jewellery. I was previously on the editorial team at the Financial Times and How To Spend It magazine, where I wrote about luxury, jewellery and watches. In 2015 I decided to go freelance, which is about the time I really caught the horological bug. I now regularly contribute stories to the Financial Times and The International New York Times, and my pieces have also appeared in Revolution magazine, the Economist’s 1843 magazine, CNN Style and Brummell magazine.

The world of watches fascinates me on many levels, from craft and design to innovation and mechanics. The watch business is very collaborative and global, something that perhaps appeals to my own background: I was born in the US but spent the first 18 years of my life living in New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei and Beijing. After finishing school in Beijing and university in Boston, I moved to London in 2004, where I’ve been living since.

Speaking of that bug I mentioned….In October 2016 I began posting a women’s watch on Instagram every week (under the hashtag #womenswatchaweek). The idea was to highlight this growing and less covered area of watchmaking and it’s been an eye-opening exercise. There are naturally the many watches themselves, but also the host of exceptional women working in the industry – CEOs, historians, communication directors, master enamellers, designers, movement makers….the list goes on. More talents are coming to the fore, and #womenswatchaweek has been a fun, inspiring journey as well as a weekly conversation starter – even if just for myself.

The watch industry is deep and diverse, populated by super passionate and knowledgeable people. I find there’s always more to learn.

Aut inveniam viam aut faciam ("I shall either find a way or make one.")

- Anything and everything by Graham Greene (though if I had to pick two: The End of the Affair and Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party)
- Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian and The Road
- Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire and The Transit of Venus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mingliuwrites