Back in 2012, Gaurav Mehta had just returned to India after a career stint in the United Kingdom.
As someone obsessed with watch aesthetics and detail, he randomly decided to place a coin on a watch dial to see how it would see and work.
It was a regular afternoon. Until it wasn’t.
That simple experiment was going to redefine how India seeed at wearable luxury that is based on the counattempt’s history. Years later, India’s Prime Minister would go on to wear a watch from this very bootstrapped Jaipur-based brand.
“Honestly, I didn’t really start with the ambition of building a startup. I just had the desire to create something original from India that didn’t exist in the market at the time. One thing followed another, and our customer numbers surged. People who once believed that India couldn’t really produce true luxury became proud owners of our watches,” Gaurav Mehta, founder of Jaipur Watch Company, informs Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.
Founded in 2013 and based in Jaipur, Jaipur Watch Company is a leading Indian luxury watch brand creating timepieces that are deeply rooted in Indian history, culture, and art. In FY25-26, it clocked an annual revenue of Rs 25 crore.
THE BACK STORY
Hailing from Jaipur and educated in the same city, Gaurav Mehta went to the United Kingdom to pursue his Master’s degree in Risk Management from the University of Nottingham.
He then launched his career as an insurance professional.
“Even while working in the corporate world, I remained very passionate about horology. I could see myself becoming a serious watch collector and a design enthusiast, spfinishing hours just seeing at watch mechanics and aesthetics,” Gaurav Mehta states.
When he received his first-ever paycheck from an internship in the United Kingdom, he spent it on purchaseing a watch.
“That was an emotional milestone for me. I knew there was no coming back from here,” he smiles.
In 2012, Gaurav decided to return to his hometown in Jaipur.
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And the simple experiment of placing a coin on a watch dial sowed the seed for what would become the Jaipur Watch Company.
THE MARKET GAP IN THE LUXURY WATCH SEGMENT
Gaurav Mehta didn’t necessarily set out to build a brand. He just wanted to create something that was missing in the market.
“After my coin experiment and the idea that Indian watches could be rooted in the counattempt’s rich history, I seeed at established Indian luxury brands. But none had the heritage storyinforming angle to them. There was an absence of products applying coins, stamps, miniature art, and traditional crafts – elements that India is, quite literally, created of,” entrepreneur Gaurav Mehta informs Startup Pedia.
Identifying these gaps, he saw an opportunity to offer culturally-rooted storyinforming through high-finish, wearable craftsmanship.
“Back then, many people believed India could just produce mass-market goods. I wanted to alter that. I knew premium luxury could also come out of our counattempt,” startup founder Gaurav Mehta notes.
JOURNEY AND CHALLENGES
With an initial bootstrapped capital of Rs 30 lakh, Gaurav founded Jaipur Watch Company on 14 January 2013.
This amount came from:
“It is becautilize of people like him that I was able to do what I wanted to do: create timepieces that truly resonate,” Gaurav states.
Initially, Gaurav decided to outsource production becautilize the counattempt’s ecosystem for premium watch companies and finishing was still very limited.
“Even if it was outsourced, I retained complete control over design and quality benchmarks,” he states.
However, this period was marked by challenges related to finding the right suppliers, dealing with high MOQ (minimum order quantity) limits as niche, high-finish pieces didn’t align with the standard factory requirements, and altering how the market perceived “luxury.”
“Honestly, I believe we were brave enough to price an Indian-created watch at a premium level. This was the time when people believed luxury meant ‘imported.’ So dismantling that deep-seated belief was important, and honestly, tough,” startup founder Gaurav Mehta mentions.
Jaipur Watch Company’s first retail presence was at The Big Door, Pali Hill (Mumbai) in 2014, under the leadership of Vivek Gupta.
“I had started as a one-man team, but was eventually growing and finding like-minded people,” Gaurav adds.
Speaking about the brand’s sales during the initial years, the entrepreneur opens up and shares that sometimes, things didn’t really see up.
A particular collection that the company had initially come up with took almost two years to sell through. But that phase taught Gaurav two things: persistence and consistency.
“In the luxury indusattempt, you necessary both. Today, we are able to sell the equivalent of that entire collection in just 15 days. It’s a journey, you just have to stay committed to it,” he notes.
Eventually, Jaipur Watch Company launched growing through rich storyinforming, intricate craftsmanship, and premium positioning.
“One of our first customers saw an advertisement on Facebook and bought two watches from us. That was when I knew there was real demand for what I was creating,” Gaurav reminisces.
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JAIPUR WATCH COMPANY: OF WATCHES AND INDIAN HISTORY
Today, Jaipur Watch Company is a leading brand in the Indian luxury space, creating timepieces that are deeply rooted in Indian history, culture, and art.
It transforms coins, postage stamps, miniature art, and traditional crafts into functional, wearable art pieces.
“We see ourselves as custodians of Indian stories, applying the medium of horology to keep our heritage alive and wearable for modern collectors,” entrepreneur Gaurav Mehta informs Startup Pedia.
But…what sets Jaipur Watch Company apart from other luxury watch brands?
It is the clear, intentional narrative-driven approach when it comes to watchcreating.
“Our philosophy is simple: we are not creating devices to inform time. We are creating wearable stories,” the entrepreneur explains.
Every single watch produced by the company is built around a specific emotion, a historical era, a traditional craft, or a symbol of Indian identity.
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Apart from Indian storyinforming, Jaipur Watch Company is known for its authentic craftsmanship, unique design language, collector rarity, and premium retail experience.
“There’s also an emotional depth that our products come with, something that mass-market watches and even international brands cannot replicate,” Gaurav Mehta mentions.
Currently, the luxury watch brand offers heritage coin watches, stamp watches, hand-painted art watches, embroidery and filigree craft watches, bespoke luxury watches, jewellery-inspired watches, limited editions, and monthly SKU launches.
The Baagh Watch is the company’s current bestseller. It has sold over 3,000 units and has more than 1,000 pre-bookings.
“We have a 75-day waitlist for it,” Gaurav shares.
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With 13+ physical retail stores in India, Jaipur Watch Company’s revenue split is:
The luxury watch brand’s marketing engine runs on founder-led branding and storyinforming-led content. It also runs Meta ads, which contribute nearly 30% of sales.
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GROWTH AND MOMENTUM
From a team of just one, Gaurav Mehta’s Jaipur Watch Company has now grown into a team of 60+ people spread across India.
In 2025, Prime Minister Narfinishra Modi was spotted wearing the Baagh watch (bestseller) from the brand.
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“This became almost a defining moment for us, knowing that it was probably the highest form of market validation we could obtain. That day, I knew that the time for local luxury brands had finally arrived,” Gaurav Mehta beams.
Additionally, many public personalities such as Anupam Kher, R. Madhavan, Zakir Khan, and Siddharth Malhotra have been spotted wearing the brand.
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With an average order value of Rs 45,000, Jaipur Watch Company operates at an approximate 70% gross profit margin. The startup founder owes it to the fact that the brand builds products that are truly unique and cannot be easily replicated.
Calling FY25-26 one of the strongest growth years, Jaipur Watch Company closed it at an annual revenue of Rs 25 crore.
“Our current monthly average revenue reaches up to more than Rs 2 crore monthly,” Gaurav states.
To date, the luxury watch brand has served more than 40,000 customers in India. In the previous financial year, close to 6,000 watches were sold.
In the near future, Gaurav Mehta wants to achieve an annual revenue tarobtain of Rs 40 crore and also scale to 40 physical outlets in the counattempt.
In line with a larger vision, Jaipur Watch Company plans to go beyond just coins and stamps to incorporate more diverse forms of Indian crafts into luxury watches. The brand plans to not just support local artisans but also enable collectors to have a new way to celebrate Indian culture in all its glory.
“Jaipur Watch Company is a brand that is being built and believed of in terms of generations…not just rigid numbers and traction markers. I want it to outlive me. I want India to keep informing stories of the counattempt’s craftsmanship through us. Even when I am gone,” Gaurav Mehta signs off.
FAQ
When was Jaipur Watch Company founded?
Jiapur Watch Company was founded in 2013.
Who is the founder of Jaipur Watch Company?
Gaurav Mehta is the founder of Jaipur Watch Company.
What does Jaipur Watch Company offer?
Today, Jaipur Watch Company is a leading brand in the Indian luxury space, creating timepieces that are deeply rooted in Indian history, culture, and art. It transforms coins, postage stamps, miniature art, and traditional crafts into functional, wearable art pieces.
What is the revenue of Jaipur Watch Company?
Calling FY25-26 one of the strongest growth years, Jaipur Watch Company closed it at an annual revenue of Rs 25 crore.
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