Obaku, a Danish-based watch brand with owners from Hong Kong, is aiming to re-enter the UK market with a new distributor.
The company briefly worked with Zeon in 2007, but the company’s owner, Catherine Chan, admitted that the early foray into the UK didn’t work out because the watch brand was not ready at the time.
“It was not the right time for Okadu,” Chan revealed in an exclusive interview with WatchPro at Baselworld.
“But, we are looking to move back into the UK, and we have several retailers from our first time round that were very happy with the brand and have been asking for us to return,” Chan added.
The company says it is discussion with several British distributors, and hopes to be ready for an announcement in time for the London Watch Show in early July.
“It has to be the right partner that can help us break into independents and chains,” Chan said.
Okadu hopes to ride the wave of success by other Scandinavian brands, particularly Skagen and Bering. The brand’s designers, Lau Liengard Ruge and Christian Mikkelsen, have created several collections to suit a wide range of tastes, but each sails close to Okadu’s core concept, which is to create minimalist, Zen-inspired watches using quality materials and components.
Retail prices for the watches are expected to range from £65-200.
