Dial E for exotic: a watch with a meteorite
After proving its inspired designing with parts from a decommissioned MIG-21 fighter jet fused into watches followed by cricketthemed timepieces, the homegrown Bangalore Watch Company (BWC) is at it again.
This time, the company, led by Nirupesh Joshi and Mercy Amalraj, has launched the Apogee — the point in the orbit of a satellite that is furthest from the earth — on August 15 as a nod to the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
Joshi, who started the company with his wife Amalraj, says that the time-piece is crafted in lightweight Grade 2 Titanium and features a Fumé dial that mimics the behaviour of light patterns in outer space. There’s also a limited edition for around 50 watches that will sport a meteorite dial.
Meteorites have been used in recent times by fine watchmakers and jewellers alike, given their rarity and novelty for those who follow astronomy, space news and science. Joshi says that his vision has always been to tell interesting but different stories from India through watches. “Historically, it has almost always either been the Taj Mahal or Indic numerals, and that’s not our idea of Indian stories,” he says. BWC’S Mach 1 features dials with metal from fighter jets and then later their Cover Drive series was a cricket-themed sports watch with a rotation bezel that can track overs. Did he consider using wood from say Sachin Tendulkar’s bat for the Cover Drive series? “We actually discussed that quite a bit but the two big challenges that popped up were sourcing the material and then engineering it to suit the required dynamics of watchmaking and dial-crafting. We may yet consider it in future.”
Amalraj says that the Apogee watches, which pay tribute to Isro and five decades of India’s space exploration, are all created from a single block of Titanium, use a Swiss automatic movement (by the manufacturer Sellita), and have a 3D engraving of the Aryabhatta satellite on the caseback.
Kong Lee, a Kolkata-based collector, says that his collection of watches includes pieces such as Universal Geneve with a map of undivided India. “That’s kind of exotic to me, and I think ultimately what defines a watch’s dial as exotic lies in the eyes of the beholder. One collector may see sterling silver dials as unusual, another may see it as a marketing ploy,” he says.
Has business grown for BWC? Joshi says they are selling around 1,000 watches a year and that the lockdown has boosted their business. “When people are sitting at home twiddling their thumbs, it helps the e-commerce business boom and watches have emerged as a hot category for every e-tailer.” In the last quarter, Joshi says his business grew by 40 per cent. Will BWC look to ever making its own movements and thereby a fully indigenous premium or even luxury time-piece?
Joshi and Amalraj left behind their tech-consulting careers overseas to return to India to start Bangalore Watch Company in 2018. “The answer is that the vision is to make respectable quality watches with a great back story and substantial service and support at under $1,000. So, for that vision we are doing just okay with the current movements, but in future things can always change,” Joshi says.
Others see it as defining. “A meteorite’s uniqueness is the material and it attaches a story to the timepiece. So, ultimately it boils down to how rare and uncommon the material is,” says Yasho Saboo, founder of Kamla Dials and Devices, a global manufacturer and exporter of watch dials and watch hands. “Going ahead, recycling and the environment in relation to dials with story will acquire an important role.”