In 2007, four friends from Stockholm decided to quit their day jobs and launch a watch brand. They knew little about the watch industry, but brought experience from fashion and retail to their new company, Triwa, and believed that their fresh approach to design, marketing and distribution would help them make an impact.
Seven years later, and the company has grown to 12 people, and is producing tens of thousands of watches that sell in over 200 stores in Sweden.
The company is also exporting to 20 countries via agents and distributors, and is gaining particular traction in the USA and Australia, according to Triwa’s Hanna Bergdahl.
The UK market is next on Triwa’s hit list. It currently has limited distribution in partnership with Sew Agency, but this is mainly to fashion retailers such as ASOS.
The brand is keen to push upwards into more traditional watch channels, particularly UK independent and multiple jewellers, Bergdahl told WatchPro.
The first step in that push upmarket was to design and manufacture better quality watches than their early plastic fashion collections.
“We started with colourful plastic watches in 2007, but that trend passed. Now we use only the best materials, including organic Swedish leather, stainless steel cases and Citizen movements,” Bergdahl explained.
Retail prices for the 2014 spring/summer collections are EUR 99-250.
