Figuring Out What Makes Women Tick

Mo Oshodi, a 38-year-old buyer for several fashion brands in London, likes to dress well. That’s great news for makers of high-end footwear; for Swiss watchmakers, not so much. “I have three watches, but probably 300 pairs of shoes,” she explains. “It’s such a big investment. I’d rather just buy one and hold it, and buy more shoes.”

In 2013, Swiss watch companies saw their slowest sales growth since the global financial crisis, partly because of a $1 billion contraction in watch sales to China, where the government has discouraged extravagant spending. So companies from Audemars Piguet to Richard Mille are wooing women, who account for only 35 percent of sales. The $50 billion watch industry had concentrated for decades on the race to outfit the wealthiest men with wearable status symbols. “For many, many years the watch industry didn’t communicate with women, period,” says François-Henry Bennahmias, chief executive officer of Audemars Piguet, who aims to increase women’s share of his brand’s sales to 35 percent in the next three years from 25 percent.