TIME AT 35-KM HIGH

Bengaluru-based watchmaker builds India's first space-qualified watch, which ticks successfully in the stratosphere

-  HRITHIK KIRAN BAGADE

EVERYWHERE, time has no beginning and no end, just perpetual existence. However, in space, which stretches into infinity, time takes a whole new meaning. Helping astronauts, who call space home for several months, to keep time is not only a challenge, but a feat achieved through a blend of creativity, engineering, and ingenuity. Several space watches have been created over the years, handsomely adorning the wrists of space-farers, telling them the time on Earth, and aiding them to keep a track of normal life, routine and tasks.

Bengaluru-based Bangalore Watch Company (BWC), which has embarked upon the exercise of celebrating India's space prowess through its distinct wristwatches, aims to go higher. Recently, the sixyear-old Indian watchmaker rolled out the country's first space-qualified watch, the Apogee Karman Line, which went through careful design and rigorous testing over the last 18 months, reaching high up and deep into the stratosphere, before landing safely back on Earth.

Space is the limit In 2021, the company launched the 'Apogee' series of watches as an ode to the Indian space programme. Apogee refers to the point in the orbit of the Moon or a satellite at

Space is the limit 

In 2021, the company launched the 'Apogee' series of watches as an ode to the Indian space programme. Apogee refers to the point in the orbit of the Moon or a satellite at which it is furthest from the earth.

"We didn't want to stop at creating watches that were merely inspired by space, but to see if we could build them to be qualified and tested for space," says Bangalore Watch Company Co-Founder Mercy Amalraj. Accordingly, BWC's Apogee Karman Line terms itself as the first space-qualified watch from an Indian company.