Just last week, it was my pleasure to have joined forces with Cartier’s Watchmaking Product Expert Carole Forestier-Kasapi to promote watchmaking as a career to the next generation of young girls.

This is the second time that I’ve gotten the chance to work with Carole, to conduct the special workshop designed for young girls between the ages of 11 and 14 years. The workshop is held at Geneva University and is part of a whole day of activities put on by the NGO Expand Your Horizons – Geneva (EYH), whose aim is to open young girls’ imaginations to careers in science and mathematics by providing them with unique experiences.

Workshops included everything from studying solutions for soil erosion using a three-meter-long river simulator, to finding a criminal by studying DNA samples, inventing smart jewelry and learning how to control an avatar with the brain, to name just a few.

The watchmaking workshop challenged girls to assemble their own mechanical clock that even included a quarter-hour chiming mechanism. Cartier’s Forestier-Kasapi expertly talked the girls through each stage of assembly so they could all learn the basic principles of a mechanical movement.

Over 450 girls attended the day with 50 of them taking part in the watchmaking workshop. The workshops are held every two years and will return in November 2019 for another edition.

For parents of young girls interested in learning more about this great initiative, check out the website www.eyhn.org/find-a-conference for your nearest workshop.

For families living in the Geneva area, the EYH organizes other events throughout the year. Check out their website at www.elargisteshorizons.ch

And for anyone wanting to try their luck at building a clock, you can buy them on Amazon. Just search for “Do It Yourself Clock”! Or, click here.