Founded on the principles of history, heritage and India’s luxury traditions, Jaipur Watch Company combines craftsmanship and antiquity with an impeccable watchmaking process, says Gaurav Mehta, Founder, Jaipur Watch Company
The bespoke watches look exquisite. When did you launch the company and how has the journey been so far?
Thank you. So, glad you like our work.
Well, we launched the company in 2013 and the last 8 years has been an enlightening journey of experimentation and innovation. See, India has had a history of watch making with HMT, Titan, etc. But we are the first watch brand in the microbrand fine/bespoke watch space.
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Founded on the principles of history, heritage and India’s luxury traditions, Jaipur Watch Company combines craftsmanship and antiquity with an impeccable watchmaking process.
This pandemic has further taught us some valuable lessons. For starters, always stay on the pulse of your consumers, never know when the economic climate, consumer buying behavior and preferences change. No matter where you consumer thought-process/preference is at you got to stay prepared and stay ahead. As Harry Gordon Selfridge said, “the customer is always right”
How are you looking to change the watch industry in India?
We would want to take the ‘Make in India’ concept a notch higher. Jaipur Watch Company’s watches will not be the first watch for a client; they are bought by watch connoisseurs, people who are intrigued by a fine Indian Watch and people who have a heart for Indian history. We have clients who are looking for something personalized and one of a kind in the world – the bespoke watches.
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Indian art and artefacts have been a favourite across the globe for a very long time now and our watches have been welcomed by people all over the world, especially NRIs who can feel the great Indian connect in our pieces and the numismatists.
Our watches have the same built, mechanism and quality as any international fine watch has, so why would a tag “Made in India” hold it back. In fact, the Indian watch market has a lot to explore and expand into. HMT, my personal favourite watch brand made the finest of watches comparable to any of the Russian or Japanese brands of those days. So, I think the Indian luxury watch domain has a lot of potential. Our watches will be comparable to the best of the timepieces available across the globe because we believe in holding up to the international standards and mindsets. We are taking up real estate next to the best of the swiss brands to open our flagship store and we will continue this trend and hopefully more and more people will realise that a Made in India brand is no less than many others.
Tell us about the quirks of a bespoke watch collector? What kind of requests do you get?
They are endless. Everybody has a different personality, and they want what they wear to embody this.
We have had some interesting requests over the years. There was a client who wanted to personify her love for flowers and glitter. She told us that she wanted a watch that looked like a flower, where the petal patterns looked like they were in motion when she wore the watch. So, we created a 18 Ct. gold watch with a reverse diamond setting or snow setting on the dial. Further, we lined the dial with petals embellished with diamonds baguettes and specially crafted curved hour and minute hands to epitomize the design. What makes this design unique is that the petals move with every movement of the wrist.
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They have been many more… making our journey interesting!
Your coin watches are in trend. Tell us in detail about such watches.
Jaipur Watch Company is India’s first and Only Coin Watch Manufacturer. Jaipur Watch Company also specializes in unique Swarovski Crystal Watches. All our watches are made in a very limited quantity thus making them extremely unique. For instance, we will be soon launching the "Baagh Collection" as a tribute to 75 years of India’s independence. It’s a 43mm stainless steel watch has been created by using a particular One Rupee Coin from the year 1947 bearing a Tiger on the face. This One Rupee Coin holds its significance as it was the last coin minted under the British rule.
