Anka Watches turns original Indian coins into one-of-one timepieces

Ahmedabad-based anka.watch launched in March 2026 with handmade wristwatches built around original coins and stamps from India’s princely, colonial and freedom-era history. The brand says each watch is made only once, making every piece unique and tied to a specific region’s heritage.

Why it matters: - anka.watch is trying to recast fine watches as a distinctly Indian object instead of something imported. - Each watch is tied to a specific coin or stamp from India’s history, which gives the product a personal and regional identity. - The one-of-one model means no duplicate watch will appear on another wrist.

What happened: - Ahmedabad-based anka.watch launched in March 2026. - The brand makes handmade wristwatches with wooden dials and an original historical coin or postage stamp at the center. - Every watch is made a single time, and the same design is never repeated. - The company is operated by Regaltick Watches Private Limited and was founded by Kandarp Patel.

The details: - Each dial is finished by hand, and the wood grain makes every dial visually different. - The central coin or stamp is left unaltered and is never drilled, cut or polished into a new form. - The watch is built around the artefact, not the artefact fitted into the watch. - All sourcing, study, woodwork and final assembly happen under one roof. - The collections include coins from India’s princely states, colonial years, freedom era and early Republic, along with rare postage stamps from the same periods. - Named sources include Maratha coinage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and issues from Kutch, Wadhwan, Rajkot, Morvi, Bhavnagar, Idar, Rajpipla, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Hyderabad, Gwalior, Mysore, Travancore, Patiala, Jind, Nabha, Chamba, Sirmoor and Charkhari. - The brand sources coins from numismatic collectors in India and abroad. - anka.watch says these pieces are often the kind that would otherwise be melted for silver or left to deteriorate. - The brand also works with rare postage stamps from the same historical eras.

Between the lines: - The product is as much about identity as craftsmanship. - Patel frames the brand as a rebuttal to the idea that a premium watch has to come from outside India. - Since launch, customers have tended to choose the coin from their own region first, suggesting the heritage hook is central to the appeal.

What’s next: - anka.watch is positioning itself as an Indian-made luxury watch brand with a collectible, highly localized model. - The company is betting that scarcity and regional memory will matter as much as mechanics or materials. - The one-watch, one-owner format means future growth will likely come from new artefacts and new regional editions rather than mass production.

The bottom line: - anka.watch is building watches as wearable pieces of Indian history, and making each one only once.