Indian watchmaking has been stepping up its game for a while now. From legacy brands like Titan getting long-listed for the GPHG and the microbrand Delhi Watch Company's Terra going viral, to Bangalore Watch Company's recent innovations in carbon, homegrown brands are gaining wider recognition among watch enthusiasts both in India and abroad.
What is also worth noting is that more and more young brands are stepping into this space. Here’s a list of relatively new Indian microbrands that we have come across recently.
Kala Watch Co.
Founded in 2025 by watch enthusiast Sai Prakash Y., Kala Watch Co. focuses on blending Indian art with watchmaking. Based in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, the brand’s name 'Kala' is reflective of art, dream, and time, derived from Sanskrit, Telugu, and Hindi (Kaal), respectively.
The brand debuted with its Warli Art Edition, inspired by one of the country’s oldest art forms. Designed and assembled in India, its debut collection features three 40 mm chronograph watches Panda, Black, and Terracotta. It was the detailing of the Warli art by the brand that stood out the most in these watches – there is Warli geometry minute markers, circular hour markers inspired by the ‘Circle of Life’ painting by Maharashtrian artist Jivya Soma Mashe, and a custom radial texture on the dial that draws inspiration from artist Madhukar Janu Kharpade’s work. The watches are powered by the meca-quartz Seiko VK64 movement. The timepieces come with a 1-year warranty from the date of shipment.
Price: Rs. 6,999
Sebastian Watch Co.
The youngest on this list, Sebastian Watch Co. was founded in March this year by the Jaipur-based Rohn Sebastian, a watch collector. The brand grabbed enthusiast attention with its first watch, Kalakari, whose dial featured the intricate Meenakari art of Rajasthan. Launched with just 21 pieces, the dials are meticulously created by artisans from the state, all unique in their own way, just like the 'Triquetra' logo of the brand, which represents body, mind, and soul.
The brand released its second edition, Jali, inspired by the jalis of Rajasthan, also as a limited edition of 21 pieces. Both collections sold out, and the brand is soon releasing its third watch, Jharna, inspired by fountains, which is going to be a limited edition of 31 pieces. Its watches are powered by the manual-winding mechanical HMT 0231 movement. The 35 mm watches are crafted in stainless steel, with ionised gold plating done in Kalakari.
Prices: Rs. 6,000 for Kalakari , Rs. 7,500 for Jali, and Rs. 10,000 (approx.) for the upcoming Jharna.
Avarth
Founded in late 2025 by entrepreneurs Gajendra Jangid, Mehul Agrawal, and Ruchit Agarwal, Avarth’s new Chandini watch for women is all over our Instagram feed these days. A 21 mm stainless steel tank style watch for women featuring a lotus motif and Devanagari hour markers on the dial, it is powered by the Swiss Ronda 762 quartz movement, and has a price tag of Rs. 5950.
The Mysore-based brand debuted with Ashva, a chronograph inspired by horses. Priced at Rs. 10,990, it featured a minimal dial featuring a jump hour inspired by retro speedometers and a retrograde minute indication, powered by a quartz movement. Since then, the brand has expanded its portfolio with Waqt, a jump-hour dress watch priced for Rs. 10,990; and Shunya, the most recent in the brand’s arsenal, featuring what looks like bold hour markers made of Lumebloc™️and hands coated with the same luminescence — it will be available soon on the brand’s website for Rs. 8,499. All of Avarth’s watches are quartz.
Verte Watches
Founded in 2022, Verte Watches is a Bengaluru-based microbrand founded by entrepreneur Gaurav Suresh Gupta. The brand debuted with the futuristic-looking Urbn, a contemporary timepiece priced at Rs. 5,499, featuring a quartz movement. Encased in a 43 mm steel alloy with a DLC-coating, the watch featured a 5-disc display for reading time.
The brand upped its game by entering the premium segment with the introduction of Project Karbon this year. The collection has two time and date iterations measuring 45 x 51 mm and featuring carbon composite cases and dials. Fitted with automatic Miyota 1950 movement, each watch is unique, thanks to the carbon composition. Two models have been introduced, and are priced Rs. 34,999 onwards.
Shaw Watches
Founded in 2023 by Shyam Shaw, the eponymous brand originally started as ShawStraps with the idea of creating high-quality straps for watches. However, the brand rebranded itself as Shaw Watches in 2024 with the introduction of its two dive watches called Manta, powered by Swiss quartz movements. The watches come with a solid 200 metres of water resistance.
The brand later upgraded its Manta collection with the Seiko TMI NH35 automatic movement and also introduced the Spirit series of field watches—a time and date watches which the brand refers to as GADA watches (Go Anywhere, Do Anything). However, the brand continues to sell straps as well.
Prices: Manta Quartz starts from Rs. 8,500, while the automatic versions are priced from Rs. 14,500. The Spirit series starts at Rs. 14,000.
Cypher Watch Company
Founded in 2025 by Sufiyan Mulla, Cypher Watch Company is a Mumbai-based watch microbrand. It debuted with the Paddock '74 chronograph collection, inspired by the 1974 McLaren M23. -Followed for its vintage racing-inspired dials, a few iterations of the inaugural line sold out on the day of launch. Priced at Rs. 9,974, the chronographs are powered by the Japanese Seiko VK64 meca-quartz movement.
For now, the brand has three new collections in the pipeline: Legacy, Aphelion, a limited edition of 500 pieces, and Samrat, which the brand says is set to become the country’s first World Timer GMT watch, with a limited run of 4,320 pieces.
Images: Courtesy brands
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