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.

Joëlle Degron is one of the rare women in France, perhaps even the only one, to manage a watch-related company. Her company is named Heurequal, and is headquartered in Pulnoy, a commune of 5,000 inhabitants situated in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, well away from the hustle and bustle of Paris.
Heurequal has sixteen employees and is specialized in after-sales service. Approximately 99 percent of its customers are retail stores, while the remaining handful are private clients. The brands that pass through the repair shop are well known and include the likes of Omega, Tissot, Longines, Rado, Certina, Calvin Klein, Seiko, Pulsar, Dolce & Gabbana, and Nike, among others.
There is certainly no shortage of work at the atelier. “Every kid who doesn’t know what to do in life should learn watchmaking. This is a metier with a future,” says Joëlle Degron. The 48-year old woman learned her profession by simply working in it. Her father, Gérard, was a watchmaker, and was President of the Association of Métiers in Meurthe-et-Moselle. He created the company in 1960.
“He quickly put me to work on the bench,” she remembers. “I was only 19 years old, and I was not what you would call a hard worker. At school, I wasn’t very serious.” Her passion for watches, however, came little by little. In the beginning, she repaired Atmos pendulum clocks but today she no longer has the time for this kind of activity. Just managing the company takes all her energy. One day, her son, Stéphane, will take over Heurequal, if he should so desire. Now, he works with his mother in the business. “He has a diploma in watchmaking, but I sent him back to school. I want him to take courses in business management,” explains Joëlle Degron.
“When a person is the daughter of the owner, like I am, people think that I earn three times more,” she continues, “but in fact, the op-posite is true. We are underpaid and work twice as hard! “I love my job,” she insists, “but my dream is to be able to take a week of vacation—just me alone—in 2009.” (AM)


Source: Europa Star October-November 2008 Magazine Issue