Breaking: Grizzled Veteran Watch Journalist Discovers 11 Year Old Swiss Girl Is Eating His Lunch

In retrospect, all the signs were there.

The watch world is a funny thing and it’s getting funnier by the minute. Today, whilst perusing the pages of that eminent Paper Of Record known as the New York Times I was beguiled by this headline:

“At 11, Already Making a Name for Herself in Watches”

and of course, had to have a look at the story.

The gist of it is very straightforward. The woman in question is 11, Geneva born and raised, and goes by the pseudonym Amandine, under which name she posts (in French) on Instagram, as watch__it__with__Amandine. She is, the Grey Lady tells us, a perfectly normal person in most respects (which is more than you can say for most watch writers):

“She loves colorful high-top Nike sneakers and shopping sprees at Bershka, the fast-fashion retailer. She listens to the Belgian hip-hop artist Stromae and likes to drink Stracciatella Frappuccinos, a specialty at Starbucks in Switzerland.”

She has also – because this is just how things work these days – become a burgeoning watch influencer with contacts out of all proportion to her number of followers, and she has done … well, among other things, guest reviews of watches with Aurel Back and, since then, some interviews with some pretty heavy hitters:

“Since then, she has been interviewed by online sites like the Hong Kong-based Wristcheck, had one of her IG posts praised by Watchonista and has done some interviews of her own, like a recent one with Pierre Jacques, chief executive of De Bethune for the Journal Suisse d’Horlogerie magazine. “Amandine is a breath of fresh air,” Mr. Jacques wrote in an email, “a refreshing, uninhibited and wondering look at contemporary watchmaking, yet without taking herself too seriously. It does us so much good!”

One of the several amazing things about this story is the fact that it’s as natural as breathing for the next generation of watch influencers and writers to build a presence on social media. I mean, there is nothing inherently unbelievable about a person born and raised in Geneva taking an interest in watches, but there is something remarkable about how quickly, if your interest is genuine and your mind is curious, you can become a meaningful voice. Good for you, Amandine, for succeeding in making even the Gen-Z watch influencers look kind of old hat. Read all about it at The NY Times, right here.

Image from linked article; quotes from NY Times, from a story by Vivian Morelli.