Islamabad, Sep 30: The first professional female watchmaker in Pakistan, Saira Akram, was trained and inducted into the service center of Collectibles by Sonraj, a well-known watch and jewelry company in Pakistan, creating history in the process. Saira is a trailblazer, encouraging young people to choose unorthodox career paths that provide both professional success and personal joy by pursuing a career in watchmaking.
For more than 50 years, Sonraj has left a distinguished legacy in the watch industry of Pakistan. Top international luxury brands including Gucci, Glashütte, Blancpain, Omega, Hublot, Chopard, and Breitling have all been exclusively sourced by the company.
The Swiss Horological Federation and the Pak-Swiss Horological Training Center collaborated to establish the center in 1967. A top-notch three-year associate diploma in watchmaking was provided by the institute.
The institute gave prospective watchmakers the abilities and information required to succeed in the industry. The center developed hundreds of gifted people over the course of more than 40 graduating batches before closing in 2022 as a result of deteriorating economic conditions and sustainability issues.
The parent company of Collectibles, Sonraj, trained highly qualified workers in 1976 when it opened its first service center. The company is currently dedicated to restoring Pakistan’s timepiece sector under CEO Rameez Sattar. To this end, the Collectibles Service Center is being used to continue training local talent.
“Making watches has always been my passion,” said Sattar, “but the industry in Pakistan has almost completely vanished as a result of professional institutions closing.” Our goals are to revive the nation’s proud heritage and generate employment opportunities.
With the recent training and induction of Pakistan’s first professional female watchmaker, Sonraj created history and hinted at a promising future for the sector. The company has been instrumental in the training of hundreds of watchmakers, many of whom are employed by well-known international brands.
Sattar thinks Pakistan has a huge potential to meet global demand because of its vast population of tech-savvy youngsters, especially women, who make up half of the population. Pakistan can come back into the watchmaking sector by taking advantage of this unexplored skill, even if there is a global lack of watchmakers.
Sonraj was instrumental in teaching hundreds of highly experienced watchmakers through its service facilities; many of them went on to work for world-renowned watchmaking firms.
“I’m excited to join Sonraj Service Center and become the first female professional watchmaker in Pakistan,” Saira Akram stated. Collectibles now operates stores in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, and Faisalabad in addition to a state-of-the-art training facility in Karachi that trains future watchmakers and offers top-notch after-sale services to clients.
“Pakistan, especially Karachi, used to be the center of watch manufacturing in Asia,” Mr. Rameez Sattar reminisced. Sonraj is spearheading efforts to bring the industry back to life, and with the support of other prominent figures and international companies, our efforts should start to show results shortly.
