We have all worn leather and metal-based watches, but have you worn a wooden watch? Indore-based Pan Coupe uses leftover wood from abandoned furniture and makes not just wrist watches, but also sunglasses. Started by cousins 28-year-old Arpan Bhutda and 29-year-old Aashutosh Pasari in 2012, Pan Coupe officially registered in 2015 as a company. Both engineers, the two started Pan Coupe as a product recommendation from a friend, as a wooden watch wasn’t available in the market at that time.
With a 1,200 sq ft workshop in Indore, every process needed to put together a wooden watch is done in-house. The wood is sourced from the local market, and since the products needs very little wood, they don’t necessarily require fresh wood and use leftovers from old furniture.
“We first slice the wood into required dimensions and cut as per design,” explains Aashutosh.
“The small wood pieces are then carved and shaped by hand, the final watch body is polished with natural materials and then assembled with other parts such as the watch movement, dial, glass, crown and the buckle.”All these tiny parts are sourced from the local market, or Mumbai, he adds.