Producer of Unique Wooden Watches

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Afidha Fajar Adhitya

Afidha Fajar Adhitya, 30, started his wooden watch business Eboni Watch with limited capital. The business runs according to the principles of environmental conservation. Appreciation of workmanship has been growing rapidly and his unique products have been marketed overseas.

It began in 2014, when Afidha was attracted by wooden watches sold in the market. “I’m indeed fond of wooden watches and at the time there were only three brands in Indonesia. So, the wooden watch market in Indonesia was still vast,” said Afidha at the Eboni Watch office in Klaten regency, Central Java, on Tuesday (9/3/2021).

Therefore, Afidha decided to try to produce wooden watches. He sought wooden watch design references from the internet and observed products already on sale in Indonesia.

From his observations, Afidha chose to make wooden watches in circular form with cow leather straps so as to look different from the other brands.

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Later he searched for a craftsman in Yogyakarta who was capable of doing the job. Afidha was then still in Yogyakarta.

After finding one, Afidha asked the craftsman to make one wooden watch as a prototype. With capital of Rp 2 million that he borrowed from a friend, he produced 11 wooden watches sold through Instagram. “The first buyer via Instagram even came from South Africa. He bought three wooden watches for a total of Rp 2 million,” said Afidha.

From 2014 to 2016, Afidha continued to rely on Yogyakarta craftsmen for his wooden watch production. “I changed watchmakers many times because they couldn’t work fast and if I pushed, their products were inferior,” he related.

Moreover, he was working on his own because he couldn’t yet afford to employ workers.

In 2016, Afidha decided to make wooden watches himself. As he had no wood craftsmanship knowledge and skill yet, he had to learn from scratch. Moreover, he was working on his own because he couldn’t yet afford to employ workers.

In 2017, Afidha moved his business from Yogyakarta to Klaten, his birth place, for cost saving. The office and production site of Eboni Watch occupy a house owned by Afidha’s family in Paseban village, Bayat district, Klaten.

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Afidha Fajar Adhitya

At present, Eboni Watch has 15 employees, eight of whom are in charge of production and the rest handle administration and social media. The production workers come from Klaten while the administrative and social media staff members are Yogyakarta citizens.

Originally, Eboni Watch products used ebony or blackish wood from Sulawesi as their basic material. Ebony was seen as suitable for being very hard and strong. The brand name of Afidha’s wooden watches was also inspired by this wood.

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However, in recent years ebony has become increasingly scarce, so that Afidha has replaced the material. “If I still used ebony, I would feel guilty about failing to help conserve this species,” said Afidha.

With good materials, wooden watches can be used for water recreation and daily activities.

He has turned to using maple wood and Indian rosewood instead. Both species of wood are strong enough to make watches durable. With good materials, wooden watches can be used for water recreation and daily activities.

Afidha revealed that he made use of scrap wood from the guitar production center in Sukoharjo regency, Central Java. “We buy the unused wood as the remainder of guitar making,” he said. The decision indicates Afidha’s concern over environmental conservation in doing his business.

Meanwhile, the watch machines used by Eboni Watch come from Japanese company Miyota. Today, Eboni Watch has 62 product types at varying prices ranging from Rp 300,000 to Rp 2.5 million. Its production capacity can reach 1,200 watches per month.

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Up to present, Eboni Watch sales primarily rely on online channels like social media and online sale websites. By means of online sales Afidha’s watches cover extensive markets. Eboni Watch can even access various countries like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Britain, France and nearly the whole of Southeast Asia.

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Afidha Fajar Adhitya

Some products of Eboni Watch have also earned awards such as those from the Indonesia Good Design Selection (IGDS) in 2019 and 2020 organized by the Industry Ministry and Good Design Indonesia 2020 arranged by the Trade Ministry. Moreover, Afidha also won an international honor, Golden Pin Design Award 2020 in Taiwan.

The Eboni Watch product that won the award at IGDS 2020 was a wooden watch named Eboni Pamor. The dial of this watch uses a metal wrought in the way a kris is crafted so that pamor or stripes appear in a certain pattern normally found on a kris.

This product resulted from collaboration with artist Sigit Pamungkas from Surakarta, Central Java, and the producer of Damn! I Love Indonesia garments. The collaborative work was in appreciation of the kris as the cultural heritage of Indonesia.

Yet Afidha’s spirit to develop an independent enterprise was never dampened.

Before starting Eboni Watch, Afidha had experienced ups and downs in business. He had tried different ventures from cell phone transactions, opening a chicken porridge eatery, to producing leather bags. Yet Afidha’s spirit to develop an independent enterprise was never dampened.

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According to Afidha, his business made progress after, among other things, following a business incubator program sponsored by the Industry Ministry. From this program, Afidha learned a lot of knowledge beneficial for the development of his business.

Afidha Fajar Adhitya

Born: Klaten, Central Java, 4 July 1990

Education: Associate degree in English, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta

Occupation: Owner of Eboni Watch wooden watch business

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)