Luxury Watch Founder: How PM Modi Changed His Business | Gaurav Mehta | FO555 Raj Shamani

31:24On coin there are numbers. No, this is actually a dial. Plain dial. Imagine this as a blank space and the coin has been stuck on it. Okay. So the outside is a dial. Outside is a dial. This one is a coin. So this outside and everything you would get it made. Yeah. Just the centerpiece you would put it in. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. So this is how the first lot came. That was the first watch. Yeah, that was the first watch and the first watch came. We got it made also. and after making the watch, after doing all the legwork, I realized where to sell this watch. That was a time when Instagram was not there.

32:01That was a time when, you know, D2C websites concept never used to exist where people would come on your website and they'll buy, especially a category like watch. In 2013. Yeah. So, first approach for any businessman, I'll go to multi-watch brand retailers in India. like these ethos helios of the world yeah now ethos helios now but there are smaller watch retailers also you know every city has one big name like like you know indore will have someone who's who is it in jaipur uh jaipur now it's a watch factory okay okay so every few years you know someone becomes big and you know it keeps on changing it's dynamic so i went to almost every retailer in North India, every single retailer in North India, everyone said no to me.

32:52Everyone said no to me. I have phone numbers of every retailer in my phone of North India. I think I must have gone to at least 24, 25 retailers. One by one, I used to carry my briefcase, carry the watches, set a time with them or just walk inside the store with the briefcase and show them, okay, sir, we have made this watch and will you please sell it for us? and the kind of a feedback i got if anyone else would have got they would have you know stopped the business that day what did you get what feedback why did they say no too so they told me how can an indian brand be expensive because that time the largest indian watch brand was selling their product highest price for their product was 15 000 rupees my product were i had priced at 23 3 ,000 rupees.

33:39Okay. So how can an Indian brand be expensive? What is there in this? The case costs this much, the hands cost this much, the coin cost this much. This is like, you know, they gave me a breakup of my own watch. Why are you pricing at 23 ,000? What is the kind of celebrity endorsement you'll give us? What is the marketing budget you have kept for your brand? so these are all the words i heard from everyone i met and everyone said no we cannot sell an indian watch brand at our store how can an indian watch brand be sitting next to a swiss brand so distributors also had this like i know that there is in usually post-colonial areas especially especially country like india and a lot of other countries there's a thing called cultural cringe.

34:30Yes. That anything that comes from domestic market or local made, it's usually seen as less valuable, inferior. It's cringy to wear that because of the colonial hangover. I'll tell you, whatever is from outside, it's more valuable. Indian is not valuable. Exactly the same mindset I faced. But that's of people, not of distributors or business owners. It is for everyone. I think there's one full generation which has this mindset. you know and I'm so proud of the upcoming generation I'm so proud of your generation you know people like you who have changed and who have broken this myth and that's why you see this booming Indian watch market right now because of it's because of the generation of people like you who not themselves changed the perception but they have convinced other people also fair but this was not there when you started selling no no it was nowhere close.

35:26It was nowhere close to that. Today it has changed? Do you feel? It has completely changed. It has completely changed. Yeah, like I don't see in our generation especially. You know, when I look at my father's generation, they still have this little hangover that whatever is coming from the white world is imported products are better. Imported products are better. We don't think, in fact, we give more value to heritage Indian brands. And the irony is, irony is, the first product was actually imported.

35:56but it was being sold under an Indian brand name people came up with suggestions like why don't you rename it to JWC it will sound more you know for like JLC like IWC or JLC or you know that why don't you name it as JWC instead of calling it Jaipur watch company who will buy a Jaipur watch company you know so this is the kind of feedback I got I was shattered I was beaten What was the most humiliating moment of your life? My humiliating moment was when he said that this is the breakup of this watch and it will cost you not more than 1000 rupees. Why are you selling it for 23 ,000 rupees? I could not even explain him the materials we have used in the watch and everything.

36:40The way he ridiculed the product. And you know the best part is life comes full circle. Most of them are the same guys who are now calling me to buy my watch. So you were here, you were getting ridiculed in the market. People were humiliating you. Did you go through a phase where you were insulted? Did anyone insult you? Made you feel smaller? Yes, it happened in my personal life. Not by the retailers, but it happened a lot in my personal life. What? I sold my car, which was a BMW. From BMW, I came to I-20. You know, the lifestyle change in India is a big thing. that you know something is wrong in his life that you know probably from a BMW overnight he has come to I-20 so that was how you know people started looking at me and I could see it in their eyes yeah from a 50 lakh car you have come to 5 lakh yeah so I could see it in their eyes that you know something is wrong people would ask me what are you doing nowadays that's a very humiliating question that what are you doing nowadays because you have done so many businesses so what are you doing nowadays that's their way to ask so what used to hurt a lot like that people used to taunt you or make fun of you or you were only getting embarrassed because you could see I was getting embarrassed and I could you know you can make out that people are talking bad behind your back you can make out you can sense it when you meet the person that he's going to talk shit about you behind your back right so So I could sense that it was happening, not just friends, even relatives, everywhere it was happening.

38:26And, you know, to make things worse, the business was not picking up. Even after putting in one full year, we had the products ready. No one was willing to buy. I was traveling here and there trying to meet, convince people, but no one was ready to take my products at all. So that time, you know, Facebook was beautiful. Facebook used to exist. And Facebook, a boost button below is also coming. But now it doesn't work. It was before it was done.

38:56So, I thought let's try this. This is new. So, let's try this Facebook boost. So, I tried. And that was actually working. You didn't need a business manager. Just press the boost button. Just press the boost. Said the audience, said the city. And it was going on. So, we did that. and first city I chose was Delhi. I said, okay, let's try Delhi. Being the capital, let's try that. And I did a boost, 900 rupees, something I put in it and boosted it in Delhi. Next day, I get a call from someone because the only phone number there was my mobile number. So if someone will browse down all my old posts, they'll actually find my mobile number.

39:39Okay. Or they can ask AI to just write down. AI to do the job. yeah so he called me someone called me from Delhi he said my name is Manish and I just saw your ad on Facebook and I really like your watches so how much is it priced at I said 23 ,000 he said okay send me two I'm depositing money in your bank account just in one day with 900 rupees 900 rupees and I got a sale of 46 ,000 rupees that day wow and I was like boss this is magic I found my way yeah absolutely yeah this was which year 2013 2013 I was like I found my way and this is it we are going to do this now because then next day I thought today we will boost in Bombay that was the king of the world yeah I decide where I get my watches yeah then I boosted in Bombay and then one gentleman saw there his name was Vivek Gupta, very dear friend of mine.

40:44And he saw it and he called me. He said, I've seen your products. They are beautiful. And I have a big retail store in Mumbai. We sell fantastic Indian art, Indian jewelry. And, you know, luxury of India in its own beautiful way. He was also way ahead of its time. He had opened a big store in Pali Hill by the name of the Big Door. Almost a 15 ,000, 18 ,000 square feet store. So he said, I want you to sell here. You know, I think you can make good sale here. This is a luxury art store. Yes, luxury art store. Not like a watch reader. Not like a, he had jewelry also. He had silver beds, he had paintings, he had, you know, crazy kind of Indian stuff.

41:26Very beautiful store. He said, why don't you come and sell here? I said, okay, whenever I'll come to Bombay, I'll meet you and we'll discuss. He said, no, no, you don't know how to do business. It's not done like this. I'm coming to Jaipur tomorrow. And he actually came next day to Jaipur with his wife. And he saw the product and everything. He said, okay, I'll keep it in my store. We'll sell it. And I'll take 40 % commission from you. And whatever is sold. And I'll keep this. So I said, you can keep it in the store. But how will it sell automatically? Because I don't have any support for marketing.

42:01He said, you don't worry. You leave it on me. I said, okay. Few days later, he tells me that, you know, 19th April, we are doing a launch of Jaipur Watch Company in Bigdore. You come to Bombay. I said, okay, what is the launch? I don't know anything. I didn't know anything. It was him deciding everything. Okay. He said, you come, you don't worry. I'll manage everything. You just come and be there. We're doing a launch. I see an ad in Bombay Times introducing Jaipur Watch Company. Nice. The ad given by Vivek Gupta. At his cost. Nice. for the first time in my life i saw celebrities inside a watch store like real bollywood celebrities walking inside a store my first sale happened that day dr jamna pai you know dr jamna the most iconic uh you know skin doctor the country cosmetologist the country has my first sale happened there dr jamna pai was my first client nice i was like boss something is happening for real in my life for the first time i saw cameras for the first time he made me a star for that two-day period i was facing cameras i was giving interviews i was doing everything and just watching me and i don't know i think he was sent by the god to help me wow and no connection No connections.

43:30Just a random guy on Facebook. How sweet. Yeah. Man, we need people like Vivek in the world. Thanks Vivek. Thank you so much for doing this for people. This is so good. Yeah. This is incredible. Okay, and then what happened next? How many watches did you sell? So then we started selling like 8-10 watches a month from a store. And things started happening. But obviously, it's very slow. It's very low number. You know, our 10 watches are on the month. It's very low as a number. when you see but in those two days how many watches did you sell in those two days alone we sold more than 10-12 watches okay so that was a good happy start for me that you know we made the biggest sale of our life yeah from zero to like six a day yeah so we were very happy and Vivek was doing his job he was promoting he kept us on the ground floor of his store in the front counter as soon as you enter you will see my watch so that kind of thing he gave I had no staff also Vivek staff was there everything was okay okay and i went back to jaipur left the watches there and he was slowly selling and paying me on time and everything was happening and then i realized this things won't work this way and i really need to do something because i cannot live like this i was married by that time i hardly had any money in my you know personal bank accounts everything was in jaipur watch company i was left with zero literally zero there was a time you know when i was uh running the company i had a team of three people and vivek was my only sales point and facebook was my other sales point and i had to pay salaries to people next day i was left with 33 rupees in my current account i was like what will happen and luckily you know a sale happened that night someone bought two watches again and he paid me and i could pay salaries the next day yeah i was going you know ikdam dot to dot i was moving i had no money like i would earn something i'll have to pay salaries i'll have to pay courier fees whatever so i had nothing in my only asset i had was those 500 watches which were not selling which was not selling so all my money was there so at that point it was probably a dead asset not even like it was liability more than an asset and then everything was going very slow and then uh i met someone at the launch event of vivek he was a pr consultant so his name is warren so i met warren warren told me you know i think you should try selling at more points and i said i've tried everything in india and everyone has said no to me so he said no no why don't you approach the five-star hotels so why don't you go to taaj they have a shop called Khazana why don't you go to Oberoi Oberoi has a shop called Tijori so they will appreciate because they sell fantastic Indian products from their stores and luxurious Indian products from their stores so I said okay help me set up a meeting he found the contact person in Taj we went there did a meeting he loved the watches and he was like these are fantastic this should win all the Taj he gave me 11 Taj hotels you name the Taj and I was there be it Falaknamo Palace be it you know any top notch Taj you can even imagine I didn't even go there in life maybe yeah my watches were selling through those hotel stores and how many orders did they get so it was not an order it was like you keep the watches they'll sell we'll pay you consignment so but that was good enough for me you know a watch lying in my almira better lie in a Taj's almira a visible element exactly so then I gained confidence I was like okay now let's approach Oberoi also so I went to Oberoi and I met and Taj keeps her watches yeah you should also keep the watches and they said yes I was surprised so I got all the Amar Villas Uday Villas and every property of Oberoi also top-notch properties and I was like two watches Taj one watch in a month and And 5, 6, 7, 10 watches We're still selling one thing And I was like This will never be finished And I had actually come to a point Where I decided I'll Cannot continue This will not work for me I don't accept this product I think I'm a failure And you know I should just Pack my bags Pack my bags I called up a friend in Dubai He was still in insurance I said boss Get me back I cannot do it in India I think I failed and I put my family's life on risk family's future on risk and I don't think I should be doing it he told me he said yeah try for one more year if it doesn't work then you come I'll help you but try don't give up so early it's just three years and three years you were doing this how were you sustaining actually where were you getting money from only mom and dad only thing no I was not taking money from that but I was getting food and I was getting And dad knew my condition.

48:41He was going to be in the car. And that was it. He was able to get a little bit from a vehicle. And that's how I was managing, honestly. What was the most difficult part of that time? Everything, every day was difficult for me. You know, for years together, you know, I would just go to office and do nothing and come back. Because I had no money to even make new collections. what do you feel when you're going through certain phase like that I feel you know if something keeps you alive I mean for me it was like the love for watches that you know India should have a nice watch brand India should have a brand which talks about stories of India and I think that kept me ticking that someday something magical will happen everyday I used to pray that you know probably today a big man will see my house and give me 100 pieces that was one hope i used to keep and you know try myself to not think very negative but what at any point did you feel like a loser every day every day in your own eyes or in your wife's eyes or in your family's in my own eyes my family didn't make me feel uncomfortable they would my wife never asked for money and I don't know how she also managed I have to ask her how she managed all these years what was the breaking point for you the breaking point for me was that I couldn't recharge her mobile phone that day then I had to ask my mom please recharge her phone and that was like I'm done and then I called my friend I said yeah get me a job so Facebook was not working retail was not working Taj Hotel Obray Hotel was not working friends whoever bought it whoever told you you should do this is not working yeah okay so now the next collection started next collection started and this was the time when for the first time all the feedback which i gathered for years from people because i was the salesman i used to interact with all the clients myself and all the feedback which i gathered i put in one design and we launched the king's restore the second watch and that watch did better than this watch okay we started getting some money and for the first time i think we touched a turnover of 50 lakh rupees in 2017 not bad yeah not bad this is good yeah from not being able to recharge your wife's phone yeah so 50 lakh rupees and this is all online all online and these whatever stores we had okay so where were you selling the most uh i think vivek store still was doing the best for us as compared to any offline stores we had all the hotels then not even digital was working as not even digital because people not used to people were not knowing me only you know that there's a watch brand how can you go and buy you'll be scammed most likely this is the thought process in india this is an unknown watch brand selling for 35 000 rupees why will i go and buy i'll probably get scammed and get nothing yeah okay so because there was no marketing you know thought There used to be media coverages about Jai Purwaj company.

52:01When some journalists were nice enough, they would write stories about Jai Purwaj company. And probably that was my only marketing. So it used to be like, one media coverage went and next day, LCR, what did something sale? You know, it was like, today, the coverage came. Probably, today, it should be a sale. It was that. D2C was like that. from my home. Okay. So, then, you know, things continued like this. Honestly, for the longest period of time or if anyone else was there, they would have broken down. But you kept going on. But I kept going on and something just kept me, you know, kicking. I don't know what.

52:43What was the changing? What was the pivoting moment for you? Like from here, things just changed. Pivoting moment came very late in my life. You know, pivoting moment came when I went on Shark Tank. and which year was that 2022 okay I went on Shark Tank so I get a call I was sitting in Delhi with the same guy Manish I was sitting with him and I get a call that have you applied for Shark Tank season 2 I said no I have not applied because we don't have numbers and I don't think what were you doing in 2022 same I was just doing watches only that's no no but what numbers we had done 1 crore rupees in 2022.

53:25One crore a year? Okay. One crore. So that's not a very large number, but we had achieved our first one crore rupees. Nice. So I get a call from Shark Tank India that why don't you apply and tomorrow is the last day and we would like you to apply. So I said, okay, let's try. I applied, cleared the first round, which is an online form, cleared the second round, which is like an audition which happens in Delhi or Bombay or wherever you are. and then finally you are on the tv so i went on the sets of shark tank india and first time in my life i was aired on tv people noticed me but at the same time it was a national rejection for me okay i was rejected by the sharks that you know this business is not worthy of an investment why uh because you don't have stores you don't have sales after nine years of business also you have done only one crore rupees so it's you know unbelievable that you know how can one do only one crore rupees in so many years of working and watches is not a category in india but one good thing came out of shark tank was every single shark appreciated my products they were like it's a very good quality product it's fantastic it's very nice but no one invested okay it happened people noticed me for the first time sales started increasing we started getting you know 50 ,000 visitors came on the website overnight all of a sudden there we had 50 ,000 visitors overnight we had orders coming D2C as like okay this is going good then we got an opportunity to open our first store in 2022 at select city walk so which is the best mall of india as per me and we got a ground floor at select city walk so we opened our first store there because we were getting all these sales due to shark tank india we had the money to open a store finally okay how much say how much in sales value you got from so i think uh that from one crore we jump to four crores for shark tank that's amazing yeah so that was a 4x jump for me that's incredible then yes yeah you're one of the lucky ones who got great results by the way not everybody gets i'll tell you i'll tell you what happened i think we played smart here that time shark tank india was kind enough they would allow people to use their clips for promotion now i don't think they allow oh so we picked those parts where we were praised and ran ads on we ran nice good stuff and that changed the today that would be illegal to do today that is illegal and they man your page yeah yeah your account would get banned now now shark see that time shark tank was new and they wanted people to know more about shark tank so probably that's why they allowed and it worked in our favor and we ran the same ad for one year no I'm talking so this was not a so that 4 crores was not a shark tank effect it was an advertisement it was an advertisement clever advertisement I'm talking about right after episode airing how much sales it was exactly right after episode airing I think we made a sale of good 4-5 lakh rupees that day that's it not like a lot not like a lot you were smart enough to actually capitalize that failure and we made it into look like a success.

57:01Fair. See, that's the smart part, right? So Shark Tank gave you 5 lakh rupee sales. That was your actual value. Budget for advertisement. That was your actual value. That was a budget for advertisement. And those 5 lakh you used it on their ads. Exactly. Which is illegal to do today. But great. Worked out in your favor. 4 cross. That gave you money to open a store and select a devour. Yeah. Then I realized offline stores is the way to go. Because Select City Walk did wonders for us. All of a sudden, overnight, first month, we did a sale of 20 lakh rupees at Select City Walk. Which was unheard of for me in my lifetime.

57:41Yeah. And then I realized this is the way to go. Offline. Offline. Then I opened more stores. We opened a store in Ahmedabad. We opened a store in Pune. So we opened like four stores back to back. and things started doing well for us from 4 crore we reached the point of 10 crore rupees nice because of the stores and then i realized one thing that opening a store is a very expensive thing you have to invest up front yeah capex is very heavy capex is very high security deposits are insane they charge you six months of rent for security deposit lock-ins are big lock-ins are big and they don't give you space also on ground floors.

58:22The same mindset what we were talking about in the beginning. This also exists in India. In retail. Indian brands can't be on the ground floor. We'll give you first floor or second floor. Why Indian brands can't be on the ground floor? The same mindset we are talking about and it's the same generation of people who were running malls that time. So they feel like it'll decrease the value of their mall if they keep it. And it still exists in some of the malls. I've experienced it personally. Even today? Even today. Right now I have 19 stores across India. And still some malls say that you're not proved yourself.

59:02And you're an Indian brand. Yeah. But why do you want a ground floor versus first floor? What's the difference? There's a lot of difference. You know, dynamics are completely different when you're on ground floor, when you're on first floor. Give me a rent comparison. Rent comparison? than I think 4x. Okay. From first floor to ground floor. Okay so if you get it on ground floor let's say it'll be 4 lakh rupees on top it'll be 1 lakh rupees. A grand damage. Yeah 70 % of the footfall never goes beyond the ground floor. So what you're left with is 30 % for the other floors. Unless there is a very strong brand pool and people come looking for you but when you're targeting the walk-ins inside the mall then the only place you need to be there is the ground floor.

59:45yeah okay so it makes sense yeah it makes complete sense but then if every brand wants ground floor they are not ready to give you know see the categories are there you know so watches is something which is premium which is expensive so they need to be on the ground floor okay whereas if my ticket size probably would have been a thousand or two thousand rupees you then then i don't need to be on the ground floor i can be on the first or second floor to survive yeah okay so then this happened and then all of these things are actually making your brand better tell you what's the brand story? Why do all of this?

1:00:18Like what's what makes your watch expensive? Why this coin? Why stamp? Okay. Now when you talk about why should I wear it? Yeah. So first I'll tell you why we made Jaipur Watch Company as a brand and why we follow a particular design DNA. You'll see very similar watches you know very Indianized watches here. Why we did that? I felt there is a gap that Indian stories are so strong that they should be narrated through watches. India is probably one of the only few countries in the world who have documented history through our Vedas, through our Puranas, through our Panch Tantra, whatever you say, you know, we have documented histories.

1:01:07Raja Ravi Varma, paintings were there. You know, that history is carried forward from one generation to another generation. and probably the medium might have changed but that has carried forward. You're big on Raja Ravi Varma, right? I'm huge on Raja Ravi Varma. Why? Explain if someone's watching this for the first time and they don't know who Raja Ravi is. I'll tell you. The same thing happened with me. Same thing happened with me. I was sitting with some of my rich friends and someone brought the topic of famous artists and famous paintings and then me being me I asked, do you know Raja Ravi?

1:01:40I said, I've heard but who's he, Raja Ravi Varma? I said there is a painting in your house or there is a photo of God in your temple in your house. Who has made that photograph? That was Raja Ravi. Every God. Every God. The humanized version of the God what we see. That there is a particular image when you imagine Lakshmi Mata that she is sitting on a lotus. Ganesh Bhagavan. Ganesh Bhagavan. And Saraswati Mata that you know she is in a white sari. and who gave that? Someone must have done that. That was one person. Raja Ravirova. The person who gave God an image. Yes. Because earlier... Almost all gods.

1:02:25All gods. Because the earlier, before Raja Ravi Varma's face, gods were only in temples in stone moorthis. They had no human touch. No human face. Who brought the stories of Mahabharat onto paintings? Raja Ravi Varma. he was the first I'll say the most dynamic startup entrepreneur of India he started Raja Ravivurama printing press so that because his paintings were expensive not everyone can buy painting because one painting will take a lot of time to be made he started Raja Ravivurama printing press where he would use the technique of lithograph and he would put you know the paintings into printed versions which people use on Diwali they stick it on the walls you know so that practice started because of Raja Ravi Urma's printing press nice so you and what do you do with him we did a collection of Raja Ravi Urma paintings and all gods all the paintings which he made We picked like 15 of his paintings and we made, I think, 50 watches each.

1:03:52Nice. Yeah. And these were licensed. We did a collaboration where we had permission from Rama Verma Ji, who's a living descendant of Raja Ravi Verma Ji. Still lives in Kilimanour Palace where Raja Ravi Verma used to stay. And all watches were signed by him personally. Nice. Yeah. But why, so what's the story? Why do you want this history, these stamps, these stories? How would people know? You know, my point is, when was the last time you used a postage stamp to post something? When did you go to a letterbox? Probably not in your lifetime. I don't know. Yeah. You don't know the process also, probably.

1:04:34And this entire generation probably doesn't know that. and this is the greatest system developed by mankind to communicate so I have a watch here which is made using penny black this penny black stamp you see is the first postage stamp issued by mankind it was issued in the year 1840 and that's how commercial postage started happening prior to that it was a toupee thing that i'll send you a letter or whatever and if you receive it if you are at home that time you have to pay for it yeah so they came up with the idea of using poster stamp where it's prepaid through a denomination which is put on a stamp you stick it the cost is decided and you stick as many number of stamps whatever is the cost and the letter goes interesting coinage we had beautiful coinage.

1:05:33You know, I, being a coin collector, you know how I made my first watch. I realized we used to have beautiful coinage. You know, have you seen a coin like this which has a hole? No. Have you seen a coin like this which has like 12 sides? 12? Okay. 12 facets. This was 1947. Yeah. So this is at the time of independence. This was the last coin of British India. And this logo if you'll see very closely this walking tiger is also the inspiration behind the Make in India logo hmm yeah yeah how did how did you get PM Modi to wear your watch you got the biggest influencer in the country to wear your watch that was biggest influence in marketing if someone asks me what are the two moments of your life hmm one is 2017 when my children were born hmm and I have twins by the way, boy and girl.

1:06:34So that was a very significant moment of my life. And second was December of 2025 when we found out Modiji is wearing our watch. I had the opportunity to meet Modiji in 2019. I met him. And I met him in person and we met at parliament. I showed him my watches. I showed him that you know we are doing something in Make in India initiative watch you have started. It was just the beginning of his I think second tenure that time. So he really appreciated the products and a lot of people misjudged the fact that I gifted him the watch. Okay. A lot of people because I met him there is a photograph of me and him together.

1:07:22So a lot of people misjudged the fact that I gifted him the watch and he's wearing that watch. It's not the case. I met him in 19 the watch which he's wearing today is this watch which is called the Bagh watch this was launched in the year 2022 it's the same watch that you're wearing yeah this is another variant so in 2022 we launched this collection on 15th August 2022 to mark 75 years of independence of India we named it the Bagh because it's got the walking tiger on the face of the watch and this became our best seller till date from 22 to till date it is our best seller watch okay now 2025 November how much is it for?

1:08:08this is 60 ,000 rupees okay so 2025 November onwards Moody Ji started wearing our watch December I get a call from a friend on a Sunday he says I have a feeling that you know this reel I just sent you which has PM Moody in it he's wearing your watch i said no way he said i think it is your watch you please check i immediately opened my laptop i went to the pm india website where they upload his gallery official gallery so i went there i started browsing all the way back till november they upload almost daily so i went day by day day by day i went back till november one image came where I saw my logo so Modi ji wears the watch like this so you can't see the face of the watch easily okay so one image came where this logo which is here on the clasp that was visible and my watch has very distinctive lugs you know this pattern is very distinctive on the side of the watch I could see that I could see this I'm like this is my watch I know that this is for sure and this is the bug watch but which version which variant of bug I cannot make out until next few months I kept following his image every day every day you know that is like my if you see my browser that's like my second tab after Shopify one day an image came where he was in a rally and his hand was like this oh you could see the watch clearly I could see the watch clearly and then things changed for us overnight very thankful to him to choose an Indian product but he bought it no idea you don't even know how I don't even know how it reached to him he never bought it from you you never gifted it you don't know who gifted it to him you don't know who bought it from their team yeah I have no idea how it reached nice I wrote letters that's power of brand I still don't know how it happened where it happened which store it happened online offline no idea I spoke to a friend who does celebrity watch spotting pages on Instagram and I shared it with him.

1:10:24I said, boss, this is what has happened. He said, don't tell anyone. I'll post it first.

1:10:33I said, okay. He posted. Within, I think, few hours, it reached a million views and next day onwards, every Instagram page was posting the same thing. the watch that PM Modi wears the watch that PM Modi wears third day I had TV media guys standing in my office in queue like my office conference room we had like 15 people with cameras and media guys sitting waiting for me to get over with one interview so that the second can come that how did you actually send the watch to him yeah and how do you feel and you know media questions and back to back I was full day giving camera interviews. How much?

1:11:19Like what were the numbers in sales? Sales went out of the roof. You can't even imagine. Did you have enough watches? That time luckily we had a fresh stock of thousand watches which had just come in. I mean the God is when God is kind he's really kind. Within one week we sold one thousand watches. All the same. Sixty thousand would be watched. One thousand watches. Nice. Within one week. And right now, till this date, as we speak, we have 1 ,500 plus people in waitlist for this one watch. It's still sold out. It's still sold out. We've never been able to, you know, fulfill the demand after that.

1:11:57So the trajectory for business completely changed after that. So we did 4 crores, we did 10 crores, we did 25 crores because of this. We were on track of doing 18 crores or something. then all of a sudden this extra 7 crore pumped in because of this one watch because December to March all organic so no marketing cost no marketing cost huge pat wow huge pat because this was all organic and it's a 60 ,000 rupee so you're making good money on this so then things changed drastically for us and now we are on track of doing like 75 to 80 crore rupees this financial year how do you make a watch? so there's a process first is the thought process behind the watch that what is the idea you want to work upon what is the theme you want to work upon not necessarily coins sometimes it's beyond coins like I showed you the Rajasthan Polo watch I showed you the Rajarivirma watch so they're beyond coins some watches and the first thing is the idea what comes to your mind 70 % of the time probably I'm blessed I can see the watch in my mind before it's made I know how it's going to look like I get that image in my mind okay I then go to my designers I sit with them I try to explain them that you know this is the thought now we have to make a watch like this it should look like this it should have these features then it is converted into a hand-drawn sketch but why hand-drawn in today's technology no they do on tablets also okay they do sketching on tablets also but it's again hand sketched okay be it a digital sketch but it's hand sketched why i think these guys are you know more comfortable doing it um that way rather than you know because they need a canvas to start with on the screen so they start from the hand then they draw it they come up with basic designs something like this, this is the bag watch this was the first iteration of bag watch like the case should have ridges on the side the watch that PM wore yeah, so the case should have ridges on the side and it doesn't look like this if you will see the body from here it's not actually like this it's similar to this that's how it started the first iteration then the second iteration was the detailing inside the dials like how the coin will come what will be the numerals around it how the numerals will look like okay okay because this coin is a very interesting coin this has a one rupee coin this has a half rupee coin and there is a quarter rupee coin i'll show you all three coins are same but are different sizes this is a one rupee and there's a half rupee and i think we have a small one here this is a quarter rupee thickness this is a family of coins okay all three same designs and three different denominations and three different sizes is it difficult to cut this one because it's like you don't cut small coins you put them as it is only this one you can only this one this one also we cut okay yeah so then this made this got made and then this goes to what then this goes to this what's this this is a 3d printing like a normal home 3d printer you guys have okay so we have slightly better home than home printer so we do 3d printing of the case first okay then this comes then this comes out then we know what is the uh you know look and feel of the product then goes the technical detailing of the watch where we know what is the thickness because we have to consider elements like the watch movement here what you see is a japanese citizen movement okay this comes from japan okay uh you have to consider elements like a dial which is this brass plate from the back you see okay then you have to consider the thickness of the coin because the coin has to sit down inside the dial or it has to come up from the dial depending on the thickness then all the positions have to match because it will go like something like this yeah it will go something like this and this crown position has to match the movement crown position so you have to give hole at that place if you'll see there's a crown on the side where you set the time so you would so it'll be like this yeah it gets so there are two legs on the dial and there are two spaces to keep those legs on the movement

1:17:01where can i see it put this yeah you see this hole here one leg will go here yeah one leg will go here okay and so this will go inside so this goes inside this then this sits inside the case okay this and then this stem is removed before it goes inside the case this stem is removed first this stem is pulled out then this goes inside the case and this stem is reattached from the outside got it so then this and then you put this then you put the case back then you put the hands and in the end you put the case back and the strap that's why what's the most difficult part in this why people call that watch making is complicated i got something for you this will just go yours yeah that's all so this looks very easy the main thing is this what's this so what goes inside this moment this small little moment is this this all these things one yeah seven one eight 85 depending on the complication but roughly 170 to 200 components go inside this in just this yes and this is why people say swiss precision swiss engineering swiss movements this is why the complexity of a watch is known for this is why watches are expensive this is why mechanical watches are more expensive than 170 to 200 parts go inside this exactly in the right manner yeah there's not an easy way to make a watch you can make a quartz watch there's very few components okay there's a quartz stone which oscillates with the power of battery that's it that's easy how many components do in there probably less than 20 oh this one's a mechanical watch yeah and what's the difference between a mechanical and quartz like in So quartz is powered by battery where a battery oscillates the stone which gives enough power for the hands to move.

1:19:30Whereas mechanical is self-powered. This is automatic watch. So there are two ways in mechanical. One is called hand winding mechanical watch where you tune it. It saves the power and it releases the power slowly and power drains out and you have to wind it again. like I have to keep winding this again exactly so because it's a hand winding watch then when you add a small part like this which is called the rotor this was an innovation so this rotor what it does is it does the winding for you so when you move your hand it will move and it will do the winding for you so that's why most of the watches when they have just kept idle in a box they just stop they stop but that also depends on the complication.

1:20:20So we have recently launched a watch which is a 60 hour power reserve watch. So it will last for 60 hours. This watch, BAG watch has a 42 hour power reserve. So it will last for 42 hours even after you stop wearing the watch. Okay. And if you're wearing it, then it will continue to work. Because the mechanical watch has so many parts, there are issues also with mechanical watches which require servicing. what is that so you know with age you know there is wear and tear there are so many gears there are so many components so there is wear and tear in the parts with age or if there is a you know accident impact fall so then balance is shift and then you have to rearrange everything and then how long does that take so depending on again the complexity of the movement what you have if it's a basic movement and if it's a skilled watchmaker probably in a day plus one day of testing you can get the watch back and if it's a high end complicated movement with the Tobio or some other complications then you might take a lot of time or you might have to end up paying a lot of money but are there watches where like the watch never stops no automatically it just keeps working that's the only way is quads where till the time the battery lasts the watch will last no forget quads i'm talking about mechanical mechanical the maximum they have done so far which is a huge accomplishment is a 60 day kind of a power reserve but not more than that but automatically forever because of some magnetic uh vibration frequency they are not very friendly watches aren't very friendly towards magnets so that is a point of concern for any watchmaker that keeping magnets is not a good thing and the only way to increase the power is the coils the hair spring what you see here okay okay so the more you can wind it the more power it can store inside it the more it will release and you cannot have bigger hair springs beyond a particular size you see the watch movement size interesting and what's the difference between swiss watches versus the rest of the world why swiss watches are the best the most expensive okay so there are two things one is the truth and one is the lie okay okay tell me both so Tell me the truth and then tell me lie.

1:22:59Okay, the truth is that they pioneered watchmaking. They started watchmaking. And they're the masters of watchmaking. Because they invented mechanical movements. They, you know, the small movement, what you see, it was invented by them. They invented all these components and made a watch work. So that is the truth. They invented a lot of complications. That is the truth. the false part is the marketing the storytelling around it what do they do so they're very good marketers no doubt about it like i mentioned in the beginning that the whole country supports the you know ambition of claiming that we are the best watchmakers in the world which no doubt they are the oldest watchmakers in the world but uh probably they have some of the best watches also in the world but cannot say that swiss watches are superior than japanese watches or swiss watches are superior than german watches i cannot say that and indian watches indian watches still don't have their own watch movements we are still using a heart of japan or heart of switzerland till the time we are not able to make our own movements i don't think we should claim that Indian Indian watches we'll be able to make our own movements very soon I can tell you that thing because you know as an industry you'll see Titan is probably 30 years old we are 13 years old okay when you see age-wise human age-wise we are young you know 13 years is nothing 30 years is beginning of a career so titan just launched a movement in-house first time we are very proud of that and we are just 13 give us a couple of years you'll probably meet me again where i'll be introducing my own movement interesting so the reason why swiss watches are superior in against german japan is a storytelling only no somewhere they're good also So with the movements, like I said, they have some innovations.

1:25:13But are they better than Japan? Are they better than Germany? When you talk about basic movements, like a normal three-hand movement, if I have to compare it with, say, a Miota 9015, which is a basic three-hand movement, and I have to compare it with an ETA 2824, which is a Swiss three-hand movement, or a Swiss SW200, which is a Swiss three-hand movement. Now, let's start comparing these three movements. they cost almost six times more than a Japanese movement. Okay. Their availability is a big issue. They don't supply to outside brands. It's very difficult to get Swiss movements. Now, talk about the reliability, talk about the repairability, which we have a habit of Indians.

1:25:59That, you know, we need something which can be repaired. Yeah. Yeah. Because we need things for a lifetime. I feel Japanese movements have done better in that when you talk about a country like India. Because Japan was the only country, citizen especially. They collaborated with HMT back in the 60s, you know. And when they collaborated with HMT, HMT could make their own movement based on the drawings supplied by citizens. Okay. Okay. They know Indian conditions. They know our weather. They know our usage. and that's why I prefer Japanese movements more than this even though I recently launched the Swiss movement watch but if you ask me what is the composition of Jaipur watch company's collection 80 % is Japanese automatic movements and the reason is because they can repair faster they can repair faster they're reliable and they are workhorses so you're telling me all of these components so let's say in your one watch like this one watch which is truly Indian watch which you say right it has more than 170 to 200 components no component are indians no of course now things have changed okay like the case what you see is indian the dial what you see is indian the coin what you see is indian no no this it has 170 things no 170 components in this little thing which is the actual heart of watch no they are they are we take it from the experts from japan because in India, no one is making the moments.

1:27:30It's altogether a different industry and it requires a lot of quantity. You know, if you don't have quantities, you'll not be able to support the costing of the moment. Is it a dying industry because of digital? No, it's not at all. Not at all. If you would have asked me three years back, I would have said yes. It's back, right? It's bounced back like anything, you know. And fitness devices caused a slump in the mechanical watches. But now it is the fitness devices, again, which are bringing this back because the non-screen fitness devices have come. People wear non-screen fitness device in one hand and a regular watch in the other hand.

1:28:10Like I wear Gabby and then this. Yeah. At the same time. Yeah. So the non-screen devices have actually brought the watch industry back. Tell me two, three wild ways which watches, like just, they say weird thing just to promote themselves. Exactly. so the first is this water resistance you know they go crazy on that like 100 atm 200 atm 300 atm you don't need that because no one is going that deep diving into the sea without wearing a watch which one has the highest a lot of brands do that i think a lot of diver watches specialists like omega has also made a diver watch with a helium valve release where if there's too much pressure the wall will release automatically and professional diver watches have come Panerai does diver watch also you know we were talking about the gimmicks so the storytelling you know they're very strong and they are the best storytellers in the world the Swiss guys and that is something which I've learned from them that you know you cannot sell a watch if there is no story in so tell me one was water what other things one was water another one was that one person's grandfather was sitting in Notch Tell in Switzerland and he was sitting on a lathe machine and making a watch and now that has become a legacy and you know it's a 100 year old 150 year old company which is now run by the fourth generation then complications like which which company is this many companies all the companies start with The same line.

1:29:43Okay. That's the village of watchmaking. In Switzerland. What is the village? Nauchitel. Okay. So where all the big Swiss brands are there. Like? All the brands. Pate Philippe, Cartier, Omega. All of them have had. Cartier is French. No. No. But they have all Swiss units. They call Swiss watchmaking. Cartier? Rolex was never Swiss by the way. If you don't know. I don't know. Rolex was not started in Switzerland. Where was it? Rolex, I think, was started in Germany and then it became Swiss. Which was the best watch story that you've heard? I think... For a watch company, manufacturer. So there are multiple stories.

1:30:21But for me, I think one of the finest stories has always been the artistry work which goes behind the watch. Which is real. Which cannot be manufactured as a story. You know, you'll see people doing enamel artwork, like probably the watch you are wearing. that deserves an enamel artwork on the back with a customization. And if you put your name on it for a wait list, you'll take probably a year from now when someone will do a customization for you. Yeah. So these are real craftsmanship which goes inside the watch. And I have always believed that India can also manufacture these things. Indian crafts are no less.

1:31:01You know, Indian hand painting, Indian miniature art, Indian craft forms, if miniaturized for watches they are no less and i feel that we'll be able to fill that gap where you see that indian craftsmanship handcraftedness has been missing from the indian watches so we are trying to fill that gap now which is your what do you which one do you think will become the rarest watch or the most valuable watch at some point i from your feel the same what we are talking about the bag was eventually you know probably 20 30 years from now it will become a very celebrated collection and it will be sold in secondary market at a very high premium.

1:31:41But 50 ,000 of these watches, they'll still sell at high premium. Why not? When you talk about these big watches, what you saw, initially they were made at a point when they were launched, they were made 20, 30 ,000 watches. They dried down from the market and they were left with few pieces and then eventually it became an auctionable product. So there will be a day when people will say this was the watch which was born worn by Prime Minister Modi when he was there in India and that is why this watch is so expensive. And that is why people are queuing up to buy this watch. And this also has a story that 1947 point.

1:32:18So it's like a India independent moment. It's a special year for all of us. Yeah, then the government like the government movement and his leadership point. So all the lovers who love him would want to do it and who sees it as a remarkable point. I feel, you know, this will eventually became see as a watch brand again the same thing we are only 13 years also we are only 13 years old how can you expect my products to come in the secondary market so soon fair i'm just asking like do you have a strategy in your mind the strategy is very normal and very natural that coins will eventually dry down and we'll not have these models again but the best part is in india you know government demonetizes coins every year like every five years government demonetizes so far 25 paisa coins are demonetized so we are okay to use demonetized coins so as more and more currency will get demonetized we'll always have coins with us fair yeah and then you'll by the nature of your business it'll keep getting right exactly okay and tell me if someone's watching it for the first time and thinking that i want to make my or build my own watch collection what should be the first three watches to start building your own collection across the world across the planet see depends on the budget first and foremost i mean if you're talking about amateur or if you're talking about a professional like someone who knows watches no first person ever doesn't know watches it's like thinking okay i'm the first one i'm getting in the world of watches i should have three watch which should build my collection and so the first watch will always and should always be a quartz watch for you if a young man who started making money in his 20s now want to build a watch collection for the first time yeah how how difficult would it be what are the three watches that you feel like good he has taste okay so if you're asking me that question then I'll say start with a Cartier first.

1:34:23Okay. Which one? If you have the money. Pick a Cartier quartz watch. Pick a Santos. Pick a Basculante. Pick anything what you find. A good nice rectangular watch. If you're asking me someone who has a taste as per me. Okay. Okay. That's the first watch you should start. Buy a basic Cartier quartz watch. You'll get it for 3 lakh, 4 lakh rupees. Okay. Tank. Tank or Santos. Yeah. And you start with that. That should be your first piece of a quality time piece. Second, I'll say when you are a little up in the ladder and when you have more money in your pocket, probably go for an experimental brand.

1:35:05When I say experimental brand, these watches are not easy to get. Like if you are lucky enough, try to get for a, you know, FP John or something like that. but since these are not accessible right now don't fall for the trap of marketing don't fall for a rolex or ap or you know don't fall for that trap rather buy something classier and probably go for something like a omega speedmaster okay because that's number one that's number two and number three for me the best watchmaker in the world Vacheron Constantine. VC. Which watch by VC? Because they have... There are multiple watches. I mean, the one watch which I fell in love had like some 72 complications and six, seven year waiting period.

1:35:59But at least they are available. They don't say don't come. We don't have a watch. You can book and you can wait and you'll actually get the watch. Not like these guys. Not. So, you know, these are three watches. if you buy and if you wear it I think you are a very classy person and you have a very good taste in watches. Okay. So these three are actually not. These are all expensive watches. These are none of them people can buy. Tell me a okay tell me Okay if you have to buy a cheap watch. Cheap watch. Like not I wouldn't say cheap watch. Let's say the beginner watch. Like a value for money kind of a VFM.

1:36:35Okay. So that it's it's easy to Find an original HMT. Original HMT. Okay. Find a nice hand winding original HMT watch. Good. Don't fall for the replica or repainted watches. Okay. Find the original HMT watch. That's one. Start with it. You'll probably pay 3000 rupees or 4000 rupees. Oh, brilliant. And you'll have a nice mechanical watch. You'll enjoy the charm of winding it every single day. Okay. Okay. Nice. Okay, that's first. Second in the league, go for a Titan Edge.

1:37:10enjoy the slim quartz watch which india has innovated and third in the league by a jaipur watch company bug watch fair this might become rare that's what you think this will become rare because of the nature so let's attach watches to personalities okay and let's do that so if someone wants to look powerful what watch should they wear this watch in this category the powerful watch which where this is called the premium bug okay where you will see a walking tiger and there are different settings this is just one model i have here but there are different settings the tiger is walking in a daylight where we have put a tigerized stone the tiger is walking in the night where stars are there we have put an aventure in the tiger is walking against a water body we have put a seashell abalone behind that got it okay so it's a powerful watch statement watch you'll see a muscular tiger walking and with a very indian aesthetics around it got it yeah so from other brand uh if you have to pick a powerful watch i mean this is very personal you know how you define power some people show power by money some people show power by rarity some people show power by you know statement pieces you know something which I don't like I'll put that here you know okay probably you know a lot of powerful people show power by money so that's where a Jacob and Co billionaire kind of a watch will sit in okay it's too blingy it's too loud for my taste but that's how someone who's ultra which will show his power.

1:38:58Okay. Someone who wants to show confidence. I think any subtle Pate Philip Clavatra which is like a normal three hand watch a Pate Philip Nautilus which anything is fine from a Pate. Okay. Then an AU. Rare taste probably will be from those three watches which we discussed like FP John or something that is very classy and rare okay the Rush Hakeem O yeah okay so FP John I don't know what's the name yeah it's I think we can google quickly and see the full name but it's FP John you put here in rare taste hmm take it on then young quirky trendy something like you know swatch collab watches which have come recently a lot of them swatches launched that swatch pop swatches launched that moon swatch okay so I'll put young and swatch into AP yeah so a lot of these swatch collaboration watches which have come they're young and trendy they are in focus for six months and then they disappear so okay and timeless timeless I think veteran on any watch from Vacheron.

1:40:25Nice. Okay. Here's a last question which I ask called my guest. Okay, which is what cost did you pay to become an entrepreneur in an industry which didn't even exist? I think I paid nine years of my life. What do you mean by that? I gave nine years of life without knowing I'll be successful. I spent nine years, which is almost a decade, without making a single rupee. I spent nine years with lack of sleep because I knew I had to make payments for probably the next day. I spent nine years asking people for money to survive. That's a big cost. Because you don't know what's going to be. And you don't know what the next day is going to be like.

1:41:28And you don't know when these nine years will end. Yeah. Is it year one? Is it year five? Is it year 20? I think you have no idea. 99 % people probably would give up by six, seven years. What kept you going? I think the love for watches. Honestly. You told me one thing, you know, when we were discussing that. What about the newer entrepreneurs? or first generation entrepreneurs, if they are rich, who will they spend on watches? I think I'm one of the biggest lover for watches because I could not afford expensive watches and I loved watches. I started my own watch brand. That's a very good thing to say.

1:42:09An investor would hate it. I know. But like, we are not... It worked out for you and it's a beautiful thing to say. Yeah. Well, I'm happy that it worked out for you. You know, now we are opening international stores. Our 20 stores are now. And people are loving us globally. I think that's one of the best feelings in the world. You know, when I'll turn on my phone after this podcast, I'll get like 15 notifications that, you know, so many watches have been sold till now. And that is the best feeling when I wake up in the morning. I see that. The Spotify notifications. Kaching, kaching. And the store messages which come that, you know, so many watches have been sold today so many watches have been sold today yeah so that gives me my morning you know kick when i used to run my own shopify store at that time i used to be like this like this i i never keep my phone on general it's always in silence yeah when i made my shop if i want then i kept it on general like catching like that you know my children my children know that it is a sale.

1:43:17So they're young, they're nine year old now. So whenever that comes on my phone, both of them yell together, watchy! Watch has been sold. Watchy! And they keep a track. Okay, that this order number is happening right now. So I'll ask them, okay, what is the number? So they'll make a guess. It's 9 ,151. how sweet nice nice but i'm happy thank you so much for thank you thank you so much for having me real you know pleasure to speak with you and you're a great human being in person i really enjoyed my time thank you thank you it was my pleasure i really love your love your journey love everything that you do thank you i am a big cheerleader for what you're doing thank you just I want to see this like someone from our country to go out and build an international brand It will happen, I promise you it will happen Absolutely, I'm waiting for it Thank you so much for watching this episode till the end We would love to know what you liked or disliked about this episode and which guest you would like to see again on this show or which are the new guests that you want to see Let us know in the comments Your feedback helps us improve and make every episode a little better I'll see you the next time.

1:44:39Until then, keep figuring out.