Indonesian Designer Recycles Wood Into Wrist Watches

Do people still buy watches? There is an observed decline of the use of watches when smartphones became a common gadget that almost everyone carries one along every time. Then, there must also be a decline in the demand of watches. With this, it became more challenging for watch companies to market their items but in Indonesia, a designer creates a reason for people to buy their watch products.

Time pieces, in order to be saleable, should have another reason for a buyer to buy them. In the market, both online and in physical stores, a consumer will find watches with several features added to it. Some watches are fashionably decorated with accessories that attracts the attention of girls. It serves as their time piece and a bling piece. So then, these buyers are not buying the item mainly because it is a watch but because it is a stylish piece that they can wear on their wrists. Some of these watches include charms or other cute figures that young girls really love to wear. Other buyers buy watches that are of limited edition because they are into collecting rare watches. Maybe, someone buys a watch made of precious stones or material for investment. In the future, such watch may give a return when the price of that material rises. For fitness-conscious consumers, they may be choosing a watch because it will give them certain apps that measure some health metrics that they wanted to keep track of. Still, other watches offer other features aside from being a mere timepiece. For example, the G-Shock Gulfmaster which is designed to measure pressure, altitude, temperature and provides particular data that someone working or navigating on the gulf like for instance, the precise time of sunset or sunrise.

Taking a look at these watches made in Indonesia, why will someone buy it? Uniqueness and creativity draw buyers’ interest into these watches. It is so unique because it is made of wood – recycled wood. Consumers’ awareness on participating in saving mother Earth is promoted in this era. People volunteer to contribute, in their own small way, in actions that will help conserve our resources. On the other hand, buyers of these wooden watches feel proud of having one of these because in their circle, they might be the only one having it – only a few still have these items on hand. As it’s said in the video, less than 30 pieces of these are being produced in a day and the products are sold in different countries. For sure, consumers want to be among the first to try a new product. Will you be buying one?

Makers of these watches are crafty and truly creative. Designing a small piece of wood is tough as compared to working on a bigger project such as wooden furniture, ornaments and fixtures. Perhaps, one of the challenging parts is creating the chain or wrist band of the watch – everything must be precise in order for the pieces to fit in.

With a consumer’s inquisitive mindset, one question pops up – How durable are these watches? Will they last long enough to make a purchase considered worth it?