What is your startup about?
TSAR is a trusted brand in the business of wooden time pieces. We believe that watch is not just meant to show time but deliver things that can't be expressed. TSAR is a team of passionate breed of artists, marketers, thinkers and designers. What clashes daily are our crazy ideas, fashion acumen and urge to create something of greater value and style.
Also, Tsar has taken an initiative of planting a tree for every watch you buy. We have envisaged this noble initiative in association with an NGO in various parts of India. When you buy a Tsar Watch, you contribute to the Mother Nature and help in making it a greener place to live.
TSAR has been in the forefront of the wooden watch industry in India for the past 2 years. Starting with just 3 models in the initial stages to having 12 models by the end of 2017 shows us the level of interest that the people have shown in our product. Our uniqueness is not in just wood, but the variety we bring with it. The use of exotic woods such as the Koa, Ebony, Red Sandal, Maple, has brought in more enthusiasm from people than ever before. And with our initiative of planting a tree with every watch bought, we try to contribute to the society in the smallest way possible.
Who is behind TSAR watches?
Haider Ali Lashkar and Abdul Kadir Bhandari are based out of Indore. Abbas Akbari is a partner from Chennai. All three were in a hostel together in Mumbai while doing their graduation. Haider Ali is a graduate in Management Studies from Hinduja college, Abdul Kadir is also a graduate in management studies from NM college and has a post graduation degree in M.com and Abbas is a graduate in B.com from K.C. college. Before starting TSAR, Haider worked in a Mumbai based company Wood Ware Pvt. Ltd., Abdul Kadir worked as Deputy Manager in e-commerce company Ezzy Bazaar Pvt. Ltd., Abbas worked as a process analyst in Ford Motor Pvt. Ltd. at Chennai
What is the inspiration behind?
Always being watch enthusiasts and having an avid passion for watch making help create an idea for our brand. The spark of evaluating watches of different brands and understanding the commonality between them was a start. The basic conclusion was that watches have always been in either metal or leather. Therefore the research began on what other material can be used that will be accepted by the people, an addition to the watch industry and also benefit the environment at the same time. Hence, the idea of wood watches came up since it is a natural material and at the same time beneficial, environmentally conscious, renders benefits as wearing precious gemstones and largely accepted by the people.
What was the most challenging part of your journey till now? How did you overcome these challenges?
Everything is a challenge when you first start a business. The planning, strategy, execution, etc., everything is difficult because it’s not something you do every day. But it is fun since every day you learn something, you do things that you have never done before, you discover yourself in this journey. To sum all up the biggest challenge for us was to sell the watch initially. It was not like the day we launched we became a hit and people bought our watches. It took a lot of time to sell. No one had ever come across something like this. And people are so used to with their leather and metal watches that it was difficult for them to digest. And we face till date. There a still a lot of people unaware of wooden watches.
How you think your initiative could change the society/industry.
By making and purchasing wood watches, we minimize the need for products that are manufactured from carbon-emitting elements such as steel or plastic giving wood products a significantly a zero carbon footprint. Thus, also helping the environment
Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the initiative till now.*
We have not had any investments from outside. We are bootstrapping company.
What are your plans for next 3 years?
Our plans certainly include coming out with more models. But most important one is to introduce different woods while also working on dials and new movements. And also hope to introduce our brand to other parts of the world. But, out of all our plans stay affixed in being innovative and committed in making quality time-pieces.
tsarwatches.com