Talking Timepieces with the Tick Tock Belles

Good friends Deborah Wong and Stephanie Soh share their love for horology and how it led to the creation of a female-focused platform for watch collectors.

- LYNETTE KOH

Completing each other’s sentences, bursting into easy laughter, and occasionally sporting complementary accessories or outfits when out together, Stephanie Soh and Deborah Wong could easily be mistaken for sisters. Instead, they are close friends and avid watch collectors, who started Tick Tock Belles, a shared Instagram account dedicated to horology, three months ago.

An IT professional who became interested in watches some six years ago after being influenced by long-time collector Soh, Wong says, “We each have our own collections that we regularly share on our Instagram accounts. Over the years, we have received questions, primarily from ladies, about what we think of a particular watch or what timepieces would be suitable as heirlooms for their children.

“They love that there are female watch collectors they can bounce ideas off. So we decided to set up a watch appreciation community by women for women to support their interest in watch collecting. Additionally, we hope this platform will broaden women’s knowledge about the different types of watches they can wear.”

It may surprise some to learn that it was their love for an entirely different category of luxury goods that first brought them together. In 2014, Soh, a music teacher who also runs a home-based kombucha business, listed an Hermès Cadena padlock for sale on Carousell. Wong reached out to buy the padlock, which sparked a friendship between the two Hermès bag enthusiasts. The friends also began to share an interest in Chanel ready-to-wear at some point.