Watchonista’s 30 Under 30(ish) List for 2025, Part I

Watchonista is proud to present the first half of our fourth annual round-up of interesting, intriguing, and innovative people under 30(ish) in the watch community today.

This year, we’re cheered by the fact that the list of candidates seems inexhaustible, which means that since our 2024 list was published, there has been an explosion of new voices and talent in our industry and community. And we’re confident that this year’s cohort will continue to inspire both the generation coming up behind them (and us over 30ish folks as well).

So, without further ado, Watchonista presents, in alphabetical order, the first half of our 30 Under 30(ish) class of 2025!

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Born in the French watchmaking region of Franche-Comté, on the Northwest border of Switzerland, Baraket grew up surrounded by two things – watches and poetry. Still, she didn’t reconcile these two passions until 2022, when she launched her brand, Buci, on a made-to-order basis via Kickstarter.

In just three years, Buci is now being carried at well-regarded Paris-based retailers such as Printemps Haussmann and Unitam. And the nascent brand was nominated for Watch of the Year in 2022 – an event attended by the biggest names in watchmaking, including Richard Mille, Cyrille Vigneron (then CEO of Cartier), François-Henry Bennahmias (then CEO of Audemars Piguet), and Antoine Pin (then General Manager of Bulgari’s watch division).

Baraket also scored a pop cultural success in 2024 with a collaboration with watch customizer Romaric André of seconde/seconde/ fame. The 40-piece limited edition featured a papery-textured dial and was embellished with a drawing of a small gash, reminiscent of a paper cut, oozing black ink blood. Still, even without the illustration, Baraket watches are poetry in motion.
 

At 15, Owen Berger is the youngest member of our class of 2025. And while many catch the watch collecting bug at an early age, Berger’s commitment to and talent for repairing and restoring watches is exceptional.

We first read about him in On the Dash, a blog that focuses on vintage Heuers, when, on the recommendation of respected vintage dealer Eric Wind, On the Dash’s Jeff Stein sent Berger an 18-karat gold Carrera, Reference 1158 S, from 1973. He was very pleased with the results.

Then Berger’s name popped up again when actress Jenna Ortega turned up at a 2025 Met Gala afterparty wearing a 1915 Heuer Rattrapante Pocket Watch.

This timepiece also came from Stein’s collection. Clearly, the Heuer expert has faith in Berger. And we do too.
 

We are not playing favorites by including Watchonista contributor Cait Bazemore on our list. We loved her work before she even wrote one word for us. After graduating from the University of Georgia with a B.A. in English and Creative Writing, Bazemore spent some time at a start-up but decided that she missed the energy of writing and left to become a freelance lifestyle writer.

These wide-ranging experiences help make her a unique voice in watch journalism circles. Her education in creative writing makes her descriptions of timepieces come alive. Her experience in the entrepreneurial world provides a solid background for capturing the business side of the industry.

Meanwhile, her wide-ranging references to all aspects of the luxury lifestyle, like fashion, food, fitness, entertainment, and beauty (not to mention her training as an enamellist), always provide insightful context for the many watch novelties and industry personalities she profiles.
 

Indie watchmakers are the rock stars of the watch world right now. Fortunately, Gaël Petermann and Florian Bédat don’t mind sharing the spotlight.

After meeting at the Geneva Watchmaking School in 2007, the duo shared a workbench. Later, while apprenticing for A. Lange & Söhne, they were even roommates. Finally, in 2020, they decided to relocate to Switzerland and go into business together as Petermann Bédat.

Their first prototype was called the Reference 1967, an elegant timepiece with a clean blue dial and classic Roman numerals at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock. An impeccably finished timepiece, the most important part of the 1967 was the calibre 171 – a manual-wind, deadbeat seconds movement – the duo developed just for this piece.

With this watch, Petermann and Bédat shared many accolades, including the 2020 “Horological Revelation Prize” at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). Meanwhile, the duo’s second piece, the reference 2941 monopusher split-seconds chronograph, clinched the top prize in the highly competitive “Chronograph” category at GPHG 2023.

More recently, the brand has been making its mark internationally, taking part in IAMWATCH in Singapore. This event was one of the world’s largest gatherings of indie masters and rising stars, and Petermann Bédat was featured alongside the likes of Max Büsser, Kari Voutilainen, Rexhep Rexhepi, Rémy Cools, and Jean-Claude Biver.
 

Almost every name on our 30 Under 30(ish) list has a mission to make horology more inclusive. You’ll also see faces from all backgrounds represented. However, watchmaker Lucile Beney is one of those rare designers who reaches out to people with visual impairments.

Yes, there are electronic braille watches and connected smartwatches to help the blind and visually impaired tell the time, but Beney knows that mechanical watches hold a mystical allure for enthusiasts, whether sighted or not.

Thus, while still pursuing her undergraduate degree at HEAD Genève, she began working on a tactile time teller that employs an opening in the case, allowing access to three rotating discs imprinted with numerical Braille indicators.

Beney calls this prototype the Sensei Watch. As a result of its cutting-edge design, she was unanimously declared the winner of the Time to Watches Prize in 2023.
 

Watchonista doesn’t mind a little competition, and one of our favorite online reads is Italian Watch Spotter (IWS), a blog and retail shop co-founded by Fabrizio Bonvicino and his partner Vittorino Loreto.

Every watch publication has its own niche, and IWS is specifically aimed at the next generation of watch enthusiasts and collectors, delivering in-depth explorations for those new to the world of watchmaking.

That said, Italian Watch Spotter isn’t just for under-30s. Bonvicino and Loreto started IWS in 2017 with the goal of building a bridge between watchmaking’s past and its future by connecting different generations to keep the heritage alive.
 

A watch enthusiast and leathercrafter, Singapore-based Chia Pei Qi cofounded Delugs in 2018 with her husband, Kenneth Kuan (who appeared on our 2024 list). Leading business development and operations at Delugs, Chia also seeks to engage more women in the watch community through events and discussions.

Chia also wants to change the culture of watch connoisseurship. “At Delugs, we design and create products for the discerning watch enthusiasts and promote strap changing as a lifestyle,” she explained to Forbes.

In the last three years, the brand has expanded from leather to rubber straps in 2022, including one worn by Ed Sheeran for his Patek Philippe 5203G World Time. In 2025, Delugs opened its Delugs Flagship Boutique at the historic Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Oh, and Chia and Kuan welcomed their second child!
 

What the world needs now is more watchmakers, especially people based outside of the major watch repair and restoration capitals. Emilie Ciais is one of the new generation of horological caretakers we need most.

On her website, she acknowledges that both her age and her gender make her an anomaly in the world of restoration. But stints working with Omega, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Antoine Noros (an artisanal watchmaker based in Nice) only fueled her passion and helped hone her craft. She was named a gold medalist in the Best Apprentice in France competition before starting up her own repair business, A l’heure d’Emilie, in 2018.

An authorized Swatch Group and Seiko repair shop, she also offers a selection of tenderly restored vintage and luxury collectible watches.
 

One of the joys of attending Watches and Wonders, Time to Watches, and Geneva Watch Days is discovering small, scrappy independent watchmakers from all around the world. The Dutch watchmaker Annelinde Dunselmen was one of our 2025 discoveries.

From 2019 to 2022, Dunselman worked at Grönefeld, but she left to make watches under her eponymous brand, Dunselman Watchmaking. After two and a half years, she launched her first watch, the Black Tulip, the dial and name of which is not only a reference to her country’s national flower but also symbolizes rarity, as black is the least common tulip color.

The in-house, manually wound caliber D202.5, featuring a playful (and unique) zero-reset mechanism. When you pull out the crown to set the time, the small seconds hand jumps to 12 o’clock and stops there, as if it is a chronograph being reset, until the crown is pushed in.
 

We cannot stress enough the importance of preserving all horological heritage. We’re not just talking about wristwatches but also pocket watches and clocks.

That is why we’re so excited about Maisons, such as F.P.Journe, that are advancing watch culture and supporting emerging watchmakers by promoting the skills and artistry of the past.

This year, the F.P.Journe Young Talent Competition recognized Alexis Fruhauff, a Paris-based watchmaker, whose Pendule à Seconde encapsulated the discipline as well as the creative possibilities of independent watchmaking. The clock was conceived during his studies at Paris’ Lycée Diderot and further developed over a period of three years.

Inspired by the works of Antide Janvier – an 18th-century French clockmaker known for his astronomical creations – Fruhauff engages history by reinterpreting traditional techniques through contemporary calibers.

To get a deeper understanding of Fruhauff, he immersed himself in the horological arts, designing and crafting every component of the clock from scratch. Today, he works independently from the Paris workshop of Jean-Baptiste Viot, where he continues to evolve his skills while contributing to the restoration of antique clocks.
 

A horological man-about-town, you are just as likely to spot Justin Hast in an ad campaign for the British menswear boutique Drake’s as in the aisles at Watches and Wonders. It’s his keen attention to detail that makes both his writing and his sartorial style stand out.

For the last five years, he’s also been the driving force behind The Watch Annual, a yearly wrap of watch news and releases bringing together a seasoned crew of industry insiders. He’s also an accomplished photographer and filmmaker (check out the documentary short he made about Kurt Klaus for IWC).

And as if he hasn’t already proven himself to be a master of all media, Hast and fellow writer/photographer/consultant Stephen Pulvirent have also started up a bi-weekly podcast and newsletter called The Enthusiasts that seeks to explore subjects such as collecting, creativity, passion, community, and, of course, watches.
 

In the last five years, vintage watch dealers have become celebrities. Take, for example, characters like Mike Nouveau, Eric Wind, and Eric Ku. It makes sense, one of the guiding principles of buying timepieces on the secondary market is “know your dealer,” so putting your personality out there is part of the package.

Arwind Jhand is one of the growing numbers of these personalities. He started out in finance but was able to turn his passion for collecting into a full-time job when he opened Tortoise Watches, a tiny physical shop located in London’s bustling Grays Antique Market, which is shared like a secret among collectors (although you can also buy via the online store).

Jhand has a keen eye for sourcing vintage watches, particularly rare examples from renowned brands such as Zenith, Rolex, Tudor, and Omega, among others. Moreover, many collectors visit Jhand’s shop for the antique market experience and to engage in excellent conversation.
 

When you reach a saturation point in watch collecting, the next step is to start buying things for your watches. And while there are plenty of straps to play dress-up with and a plethora of watch rolls available for tucking your babies in at night, HasNoBounds offers an exceptionally well-crafted and curated range of watch straps and storage options.

The collection was launched in 2023 by Kristine Lam. Her husband, Leo Tsai, started the microbrand Selten and was having a hard time finding quality straps to match his formal watches. Lam, who comes from a textile manufacturing and furniture-making background, came to the rescue by creating bespoke straps for the microbrand.

Since then, Lam has elevated the art of accessorizing by offering not only ready-made and bespoke straps that come in a wide array of textures, colors, and options (all with quick-release spring bars) but also goatskin leather cases lined in Alcantara – a synthetic suede-like material used in automotive upholstery – to protect watch crystals, due to its unique texture and resistance to wear and tear.

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