Following the success of Europa Star’s ‘80th Anniversary Portraits’ column that we ran in 2007, we have decided to feature an exceptional portrait section in this issue as part of our special glamour section. The particularity about these portraits is that there isn’t a man among them. From Germany to Japan, Italy to Australia, France to the United States and the United Kingdom to Switzerland, there are some incredible women moving and shaking the watch business. Europa Star’s network of international correspondents decided to talk with some of the industry’s most talented women to find out how they have succeeded in the male dominated world of horology.

At the end of the 1980s, having just barely finished her studies, Barbara Monti—born in 1965—entered the employment of the Swiss watch brand, Eberhard. She never left the company, and successfully held a number of important posts before becoming deputy administrator and then finally president of Eberhard Italy.
From her first days at the Italian company—at the time guided by her father, Palmiro Monti—Barbara took care of the financial dealings, audits, and administrative relationships with the parent company. Later, she became involved in logistics and planning, and personally followed the development of the brand’s products from their conception to their realization.
Currently, her attention has turned towards strategies and investments that can ensure Eberhard, in a brief time period, a stronger level of independence in terms of production and allowing the brand to develop its own movement. During 2007, Barbara Monti celebrated the 120th anniversary of Eberhard by creating a limited series of a commemorative chronograph with a platinum case. (PDV)


Source: Europa Star October-November 2008 Magazine Issue