Timepieces studded with diamonds, many of them hand-engraved and crafted to perfection, from some of the best independent watchmakers across the globe exhibited first time in India. Ankita Jain reports
Time stands still in the form of customised wrist and pocket watches at the gallery of Mad Paris. launched 10 years back, Mad strives to push the boundaries and codes of the horological brands, to offer its customers tailor-made and unique timepieces. lang & Heyne, Kudoke were the other two independent watchmaker brands who for the very first time exhibited their collection in India through India Watch Club. It is a streamlined club dedicated to watches and lovers of the art of watch making. Be it an inexpensive watch or an ultra limited edition, the club curates accordingly and caters to people who can afford watches in lakhs. “Since my childhood, I loved collecting timepieces. From those vintage Mickey Mouse to HMT, I have worn all of them. According to me, watches often draw much attention, and are in many circles as much a status symbol as a lamborghini sedan or a diamond set,” said Rahal Kapoor, the mind behind India Watch Club at a shoddily organised luxury watch exhibition.
Apart from being a collector of watches from across the globe, Rahul is also a treasure trove of information as far as tales about watches go. He narrated many stories, ranging from the emergence of wristwatches as an offshoot of an attempt to see time when manoeuvring an aircraft, to the creation of the self-winding mechanism, which made winding time much easier and created a revolution of sorts as far as the watch making industry was concerned.
Talking about the launch of wristwatches in the early 20 century, Rahul said, “In that period, wristwatches were mostly worn by women. In 1904, a Brazilian aviator Alberto Dumont wanted his friend louis Cartier to come up with an alternative timepiece that would allow him to keep both hands on the controls while timing his performances during a flight.”
He also talked about how he brought these independent watchmakers on board for a launch in India, “I just roped them since this is the right moment, Diwali is round the corner and also the wedding season. And so far we have exhibited in Chandigarh and two more cities. Next year, we might jump over to Mumbai or Kanpur as per the requirement and also looking at the demand. Meanwhile, we are considering Sushmita Sen and few other actors for the brand ambassador.”
The timepieces range from 15 lakh to crores. And these watchmakers have spent hours, days, weeks and months crafting the components for every watch. Cutting, drilling, weighing, and polishing — all at a minuscule scale. Moreover, these watches will be catered only to the clients of India Watch Club.
“The finish has got to be completely flawless. There are no excuses, it’s either right or wrong, there’s no in-between,” concluded Pierre lheureux, the owner of Mad Paris which creates some of the most original customised and bespoke pieces known to the modern day collector.