BENGALURU:What’s the time? And you flip out your mobile phone. Watches have been forgotten except as a fashion accessory. Cashing in on this trend, a team of hostelmates started TSAR watches that makes wood watches.
Abbas Akbari, a partner, says, “A watch has gone from being a utility to a fashion accessory. A wood watch is not any fancier, it simply gives an alternative and has an element of novelty.” But what about the trees that need to be axed? “We are a zero carbon emission company and plant a tree with every watch sold,” he says.
A TSAR watch can cost you anywhere between Rs 4,200 and Rs 5,800.Abbas says, “Many a times a leather watch strap can cause an itch on your wrist because of sweating and can cause an allergy, not so with a wood watch.”
Launched in March 2016, the team comprises of its founders Haider Ali Lashkar and Abdul Kadir Bhandari from Indore, Abbas Akbari who joined in as a partner from Chennai, artistes, marketers, thinkers and designers. Abbas says, “Haider is a watch enthusiast and realised that he only had leather and metal-strap watches. He started researching on what other materials could be used that people would like and he came up with the idea of wood watches.”
These are sold online on e-commerce websites such as Amazon. Abbas says they get an average of three to four orders from Bengaluru a month. “We plan to increase our customer base by also tying up with major watch retailers in the city because it has cosmopolitan population with a lot of youngsters who are fashion forward,” he says adding, “Our customers are usually between the ages of 20 and 35 years because they understand fashion better and are more open to changing trends.”
The wood is sourced from different countries. “For example, the maple wood is sourced from Canada whereas the red sandalwood from Africa,” he says. “It is usually said that wood becomes better with age. Our watches have a very good long life but it also depending on how one uses it.”
The team plans to increase their watch variations by introducing chronograph and automatic movements. “Our other plans include exporting our products to other countries.
We have started at a small scale in Africa. But we plan to expand it to Europe and American countries as well,” says Abbas.