Inspired by HMT, two Bengaluru techies launch a fine-watch brand

All it took was an introspective six-month sabbatical from their tech jobs to give-up comfortable paycheques and turn into ecommerce entrepreneurs. This story is pretty much routine now for new-age Bengalureans but what’s different here is that Nirupesh Joshi and Mercy Amalraj found their calling in the offbeat business of watch-making in India. While Joshi worked for Akamai Technologies in Hong Kong for ten years, Amalraj was a freelance mobile app developer and quality assurance engineer.

Few weeks ago, the husband-wife duo launched Bangalore Watch Company. The fine watch-making brand based out of the IT city manufactures mid-segment gentleman’s timepieces, priced at about Rs 40,000 each.

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 Interestingly, their first collection of 500 limited edition pieces pays a tribute to the legendary Indian watch brand Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) by incorporating design details like vintage arrow-head indices and dauphine-shaped hands on the dial.

Plan is to narrate Indian stories in all their successive collections too. Even their brand logo incorporates the geometric interpretation of the coat of arms symbol from the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore.

 Joshi says, “I often wondered why fine watch-making never took off in India the way fine jewellery has made a mark. Indian watch brands like Titan have a cult following but they are not in the luxury category. Final turning point came when legendary brand HMT shut down in 2015. We quit our jobs and turned our passion into a business plan.”

Joshi has turned into a watch designer. His assembly unit located in Kanakapura brings together components sourced from across the world to manufacture these pieces.

In the last three weeks, they have found takers in tech-executives, entrepreneurs, artists and architects above the age of 30. “They appreciate things of Indian origin and want to add our watch to their existing collection of timepieces,” adds Joshi. The brand’s next collection will be rolled out in October this year.

source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> ET Home> RISE> Startups> News Buzz / by Smita Balram, ET Bureau / April 25th, 2018

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