Watch the video of the watchmaker below.
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With the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets, the demand for traditional wrist watches has understandably gone down. After all, why stick to one device that can only tell the time when you can have something that does a whole lot more?
This does make it challenging for watch companies to compete in this environment but the value of a wristwatch lies in more than just its ability to tell time. Some watchmakers have taken to lavishly decorating their watches or even putting some precious stones on them. These types of watches can serve as perfect gifts to girls or as a bling piece to show to friends.
And of course, those with really fat wallets won’t hesitate to wear a Rolex because it’s a status symbol that tells people who the wearer is or at least, how much money the wearer has in their bank account.point 287 |
But other watches also give more functionality apart from being a timepiece.point 65 | For example, some smartwatches can be loaded with certain apps that measure a user’s heart rate or warn if a user has spent too much time sitting down.point 195 | 1
Others, like the G-Shock Gulftmaster, also measures altitude, pressure, and temperature which is ideal for seafarers or mountain climbers who need access to this information with one glance without fiddling around as would be the case with a tablet or smartphone.
The point is that people still buy wristwatches but for very different reasons from when they were first invented.
One particular watchmaker in Indonesia is pushing boundaries when it comes to making creative wristwatches by manufacturing them out of recycled wood. As the owner explains in the video, furniture makers use up a lot of wood but a lot of it also ends up not being used because of how the various furniture pieces are designed. It is these unused pieces of wood that the watchmaker acquires and turns into stunning wrist watches.
These watches sell for anywhere between $75-120 and have even found buyers in at least 9 countries including China, Japan, Singapore, and South Africa. Customers are attracted to the watches because of the design and craftsmanship.
Currently a small operation, only about 25 of these watches can be manufactured each day. But this business still goes a long way towards making sure that no material goes to waste, least of all the wood from trees that are rapidly dwindling as time passes.