A time for art and history with Jaipur Watch Company

Nothing exudes sophistication like a classic watch. For generations, Switzerland’s Omega and Rolex, and closer home Titan, have been the family heirlooms. And soon, homegrown brand Jaipur Watch Company might find its way into families’ legacy watch collection. 

Founded in 2013 by Gaurav Mehta, Jaipur Watch Company combines luxury with Indianness. As the country’s first micro-luxury watch brand, Jaipur Watch Company uses elements that represent India’s art and culture at the core of its design philosophy. From antique British India coins, miniature Pichhwai paintings, peacock feathers, paper stamps, precious stones to Indian Gods—each watch features one unique element that represents India’s essence.

Finest craftsmanship

Jaipur Watch Company produces two broad categories of watches—the pret collections and the bespoke watches. 

Jaipur Watch Company launches three to four pret collections each year and each of these collections are made in batches of 200 to 300 watches, featuring three to four variations of the same design, starting from Rs 15,000. 

The bespoke watches, as the name suggests, are made-to-order, as per clients’ requirements. Gaurav has himself designed and crafted more than 50 bespoke watches ranging between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. “We charge a premium fee if the client does not want us to repeat the design or ever publish it in any of our catalogues,” he adds.  

The limited edition collections are made of timeless pieces that combine traditional elements with contemporary designs. Gaurav wishes to connote stories through each of his designs. 

Speaking about his latest Baagh collection, Gaurav says it was launched to celebrate the 75th year of Indian Independence. “The collection features a 1947 coin–the last British India coin to be ever minted,” he says. The Baagh collection consists of two gold plated watches (Rs 50,000 each) and two steel (Rs 45,000 each) watches.   

Jaipur Watch Company manufactures made-to-order prime collections of solid gold watches, queen watches, and engraved watches. So far, the brand has launched 20-plus pret collections, featuring more than 100-plus SKUs. 

Jaipur Watch Company was the first Indian brand to launch a 3D printed watch in 2019.

Passion meets business

The brand watches are donned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi; actors Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Rajkumar Rao, Rana Daggubati, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui; and cricketers Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and KL Rahul, among others.

Gaurav’s story is as unique as his watches. From having to sell his BMW 3 Series to manufacture the first collection, to being the first Indian brand to sponsor the Jaipur Polo Festival, and making a Rs 2.4 lakh sale mid-air– Gaurav’s entrepreneurial journey is made of stories worth telling. 

The idea of embedding antique coins on watches came naturally to Gaurav. As an inquisitive child, he spent most of his boyhood dismantling toys and then attempting to put them back together. It was thus, natural for him to disassemble the first watch he was ever gifted. “I wanted to know how watches worked and then put it back together,” Gaurav tells YS Life. 

The 12-year-old found a Re 1 coin when he dismantled his first Quartz watch from Maxima. That memory remained with him. Gaurav’s hobby of numismatics further fueled his curiosity. It was this childhood memory that made Gaurav turn to wrist watch manufacturing without any technical know-hows and funds. “Before this, whatever I have done has been for money. This was the first time that I was chasing my passion,” he says. 

By selling his BMW and with some help from friends, Gaurav was able to manage Rs 30 lakh to fund his passion. But once he got his first coin collection manufactured from China, Gaurav ran out of money to set up a shop and actually sell the watches. A chance meeting with Vivek Gupta, founder of The Big Door, a former Mumbai-based store dealing with Indian art and heritage collectibles, through Facebook ads helped Gaurav get into business.

“At that time I didn’t even have the money to hire a PR team, let alone set up a shop…The Big Door helped us sell up to 50 watches a month and before we knew it, we had celebrity clients,” says Gaurav. In 2014, Jaipur Watch Company got its first full-page newspaper coverage– a milestone event for the brand.

Gaurav’s next mission was to get Jaipur Watch Company in multi-brand stores. However, “None of them were willing to keep expensive Indian watches in their stores…Some retailers even questioned the two-year warranty we offered, since the company wasn’t as old by then,” he laughs. 

Ultimately, Gaurav displayed his watches in 11 Taj Khazana– the luxury lifestyle stores at Taj Hotels.

Today, Jaipur Watch Company has a small manufacturing unit in Peenya Industrial area in Bengaluru where all the gold and bespoke watches are manufactured. For all the complicated pieces, manufacturing is outsourced, however, assembling is done in the Jaipur Watch Company facility.

The watches are now available for sale on the brand’s website, in Tijori across seven Oberoi Hotels, and one Taj property. By Diwali this year, Jaipur Watch Company plans to open a brand store in Delhi’s Select City Walk and another in Taj, Bengaluru.

From numismatics to horology 

Gaurav continues to collect rare coins, for his business and his personal collection. Interestingly, despite manufacturing watches for the who’s who of the country, the entrepreneur himself boasts of a colossal collection from across brands. 

“I buy three to four watches by other brands every now and then…for my personal collection and to seek inspiration,” Gaurav says. While his favourite brand is the classic HMT, Gaurav’s most prized possession is an Omega De Ville rectangular watch which is worth more than Rs 8 lakh today. 

However, Gaurav is yet to make a personalised watch for himself. “Until the time I am not satisfied buying watches, I will not make a bespoke piece for myself,” he says. 

Spilling the secrets of some of his marquee clients, Gaurav reveals that Amitabh Bachchan has a regular coin watch, while Prime Minister Modi has a bespoke watch with the Make in India logo. “We are not following any Swiss brand’s philosophy in terms of designs or looks. We are offering designs that speak about Indian history, art and elements from its culture,” Gaurav says. 

Looking back, Gaurav says there have been two major highlights of his brand’s journey so far. First, when he got upgraded to the Business Class of Jet Airways and ended up selling a watch worth Rs 2.4 lakh to his neighbouring passenger, mid-air. 

“I didn’t have any packing material or a watch case. The customer handed me Rs 2 lakh in cash and sent over the remaining Rs 40,000 to my office in Jaipur,” Gaurav recalls. 

And the second time, when Jaipur Watch Company made 1,000 watches as gifts for guests attending the 70 years coronation anniversary of Jodhpur’s His Highness, Gaj Singh. The brand is also likely to become the official timekeepers for the 2022 Jaipur Polo season. 

“It took us some time but now our brand acceptability is high. Selling a product is easy but when you are building a brand, you are selling a story,” Gaurav ends.