Karishma Karer
Publisher and editor, Mumbai, India
In India’s rapidly growing watch industry, Karishma Karer’s independent publication, The Hour Markers, has a purpose. “People are hungry for information in India, they want to know more,” she said. “The watch market has evolved tremendously. It has gone beyond just the logo and the brand.”
And Ms. Karer, 42, should know as she has spent much of her life watching the industry’s expansion.
“For me, the watch media space is a family business,” she said. “I’m the third generation.” In 1954, her paternal grandfather, Ved Prakash Karer, started the trade magazine Watch Market Review, which still is publishing.
Ms. Karer did part of her studies in Switzerland, and after returning to India, she would still make occasional trips there. “I’d go visit the small manufacturers, the independent watchmakers, the larger big boys, the commercial brands as well.”
In 2010, she established the watch magazine Hands on Time, and in 2021 decided to add a digital publication, founding The Hour Markers with Punit Mehta, the founder of RedBar India, a chapter of the international watch enthusiasts’ organization.
That same year, she also organized a Watch Femme event in Delhi, a gathering inspired by the Swiss organization that promotes women’s voices in horology. “We realized that women have questions, and they’re not afraid to ask,” Ms. Karer said about the event.
