WHO TO FOLLOW: @Watchgirloffduty
Andy GreenBy day she’s a watch buyer for a well-known American jeweller, by night she’s Batwom – no, wait – by night she’s @watchgirloffduty!
Name: Zoë Abelson
Occupation: Watch buyer at Govberg Jewellers
Handle: @watchgirloffduty
Followers: 3397
Location: Philadelphia, PA
How do you unwind?
After work I typically get some exercise in, cook dinner, and take a long bath. It’s a therapeutic process that helps me get some sleep after a mentally draining day. If I’m out and about, I’m exploring Philly by way of my stomach. Before starting a career in the crazy watch industry I worked in the crazy hospitality industry, so I love keeping current with the food scene and trying new restaurants.
What’s your daily watch and why?
Good question, but I don’t really have one. I have a pretty solid rotation between four of my watches. It depends on what I’m wearing and what the plan for the day is. If I had to pick one that sits on my wrist the most, it would be my vintage LeCoultre chronograph with a Valjoux 72 movement.
Of my six watches, the ones that I wear the most are the vintage LeCoultre Chrono, a Rolex Datejust with a blue dial, a JLC Reverso Night & Day, and my great-grandfather’s Patek Philippe Ref. 2431. I’ve acquired all of my watches in pretty interesting and non-traditional ways. I have a strong attachment to all of my watches for different reasons, so I don’t choose favourites. But, I would say the most special watch that I own is the Patek Ref. 2431. My great-grandmother gifted it to my great-grandfather as a 25th wedding anniversary present and it has a beautiful note engraved on the back. Clearly good taste in watches runs in the family. The piece was handed down to my grandpa, then to my father, and although I do have an older brother who was definitely next in line for it, I was very vocal that I should be the one to have it next. Sorry, Mike!
What’s your daily ride? How do you get around town?
Uber! I lived in NYC for six years and now just moved to Center City, Philadelphia, so there isn’t much need to have my own car.
Am I right in assuming you prefer men’s watches?
You are correct, I much prefer men’s watches. There are a select few ladies’ watches that I wouldn’t mind having in my collection, such as a diamond Bulgari Serpenti. Otherwise, I’m pretty lucky that vintage watches are considered “small” by men’s standards today because that just leaves more for me.
The handle @watchgirloffduty – how did that come about?
I started this handle about two years ago when I was curating watch auctions at Auctionata. I created a new account because I wanted to show off some of the cool pieces that I came across, but I knew none of my friends or family who followed my personal account wanted their feeds to be inundated with wrist-shots. After my first post that I took of some amazing pieces that were going to be in my next auction, Eric Wind included my post in a “Bring a Loupe” article on Hodinkee. I quickly gained a couple hundred followers, which really jump-started the account. I only have 3000-odd followers to date, which is very few compared to the more popular accounts in the watch world.
I try to be a little different and show both my life working in the watch industry and also my personal life outside of it. Still, you can see that watches are a part of my life even outside of work. I think anyone who looks at my Instagram can easily know a lot about me. I leave very little offline.
If you could own any watch tomorrow, what would it be?
Another good question, and probably one that I get asked the most. My answer changes daily. Today, I would say a Rolex Day-Date ref. 1803 with a blue “Stella” diamond dial.