Bengaluru:
Dilip Sivaraman, a Benglauru-based architect, believes everything has a soul and requires a human touch. For the same reason, he found love in watches that run mechanically.
“I have always loved the fact that a watch can be powered by you. Till today, I wear the HMT winding watch and it works beautifully,” he said. Little did he know that this passion for watches would make him the only Indian finalist on a global platform for watch-making apprentices.
For Dilip, 38, buying a 1980s clock over a year ago meant revisiting the heritage of clock-making. “I am a purist. So, whatever I buy or have currently in my house is a throwback in time,” said Sivaraman.
However, finding it tough to set the timepiece right, Dilip took to exploring the world of clocks himself. He searched the internet and scoured through online books on clock-making.
Recalling the experience of reading digitized versions of over 200-year-old books, Dilip said, “Most of these were written when technology didn’t exist. While questioning the need for complete traditional clock-making, I decided to integrate the use of technology into it as well.”
Although it took him 18 months, Dilip successfully designed and recreated from the scratch a mechanical regulator clock, which he named Gato.
Last September, while doing a regular follow up on the Academie Horlogere des Createurs Independants (AHCI) website, Dilip chanced upon the AHCI young talent competition for young clock/watch making apprentices. “I showed them the design of my clock while informing them that I’m not a formal student or apprentice. For something that I did out my love for it, they let me complete the project and send in my entry by January,” said Dilip.
Being the only Indian to enter the global competition and emerging among the top ten finalists, Dilip not only received huge support from the watch-making community at Switzerland but also got to meet his icon and renowned high-end watchmaker, FP Journe at the Baselworld watch exhibition in Switzerland this March.
A resident of Murugeshpalya, Dilip has plans to take his passion forward, “I wanted to make a clock that’d last for the next few hundred years and not just perish. At AHCI, I was encouraged to join their community of watchmakers. They have offered to review my work. But, for now, I’m hoping to wind up with Gato and, hopefully, start my next project soon,” he said.
Encouraging Experience
When I started the project I had no idea that it would enter the competition. The clock wasn’t complete and I had to seek an extension of deadline from the event organizers. But when I presented my work at the AHCI competition, watch-makers came up to me asking if I was willing to sell it. That was very encouraging. I hope to see my clock being sold someday and contribute to independent watch making.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / by Deepika Burli, TNN / April 06th, 2016