When it doesn’t exist, sometimes you just have to make it. That’s what a young pilot named Abingdon Mullin concluded after trying in vain to find a fully functional aviator’s watch for women. “I’m 5 foot 6, a hundred pounds drippin’ wet — it looked like a grandfather clock hanging off my wrist when I’d try on these other brands,” she recalls.
“So I got the idea that there needs to be something for a smaller frame in nicer colors, but still functional — something I could wear with a dress or with a flight suit, something I could beat up and wear someplace where I needed to impress. I was 22 years old, and I decided, ‘Oh, let’s start a watch company.’ I never anticipated it blowing up the way it did.”
With what can only be considered an insane amount of research and hustle, Mullin got the operation off the ground within a year — while gaining various flying certifications — launching two watches in 2007 that are still bestsellers, the Amelia and the Jackie. The secret to her success? Listening.
“A 40mm case size, automatic movements, sapphire crystals: these are things women do want, it’s just nobody ever asked them,” she explains. “You’ve gotta realize when you sell to women, it’s a different conversation. For men, it’s a primary piece of jewelry. For women, it’s a secondary one.”
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All along, the Las Vegas-based brand’s focus has been on function first, whether that’s GMT, a stopwatch, a compass, diving capability, etc., and the brand relies heavily on its devoted customer base, a.k.a. “the Crew,” for feedback during development.
