Olam, a limited-edition chronograph, is an ode to Kerala’s boat races

TimeGraphers unveils Olam, a limited-edition chronograph inspired by Kerala's boat races, featuring unique design elements.

Kerala’s celebrated boat races are the inspiration behind TimeGraphers’ latest launch, Olam. TimeGraphers, a Kerala-based watch lovers’ collective, unveiled its latest watch Olam in Thiruvanantharam on August 11. A limited-edition chronograph, it is a sequel to Nazhika, the collective’s 2021 launch, which featured the Malayalam unit of time (nazhika). 

Olam (the Malayalam word for ripple) also uses the Malayalam unit of time, but with a sportier twist. The end of the numerals have been shaped like the tip of the snake boat. The dial has a green band on which the numerals have been placed; to represent the aerial view of the 44 rivers of Kerala. The beige colour of the dial is inspired by the Kerala handloom and the gold-coloured hands are a tribute to the Kerala kasavu. 

A lot of thought has gone into the designing of the elements of the watch, says Sohan Balacandran, founder of TimeGraphers and a watch connoisseur. “We wanted Olam to reflect a story unique to Kerala, just as our previous launch Nazhika did,” he says. 

The core team, which includes Sohan, Nishad SN, Dilip Maniyappan and Anish Dandwani, decided on a chronograph (stop watch), because historically, boat races were timed by them. This, embellished by myriad stories connected to the vallamkali (boat race), led to the conceptualisation of Olam. “We came up with the final design after about 40 iterations,” adds Sohan.

The chronograph’s tachymeter is called the aarpo (after aarpo-irro, the motivational slogan used by the rowers). The 100-metre water resistant watch was custom manufactured. While the minimalist Nazhika featured movement of HMT watches and had vegan leather straps, Olam is pretty high-end. Its movements were done by Seiko, Japan, the case was manufactured in Hong Kong. The case is made of 904 L (nickel alloy steel) and the case back is 316 L (surgical grade steel). It also features sapphire crystals. The scratch-resistant glass cover has five layers of anti-reflective coating, too.

The leather strap has Olam’s logo engraved on its clasp. Every element of the watch is connected to the boat; for instance, the hands have been modelled in the shape of an oar. 

Four hundred units of the watch will be manufactured. The first batch of 200 was pre-booked by members of the TimeGraphers community, which will be delivered in August. The price of the watch is ₹15,000 and bookings are open. It comes packaged in a hexagonal rosewood box made by a disabled artisan in Uttar Pradesh.