I’m relatively new to the online watch community, but it didn’t take long for me to notice that it was about more than watches.
I saw people supporting one another, rallying around causes and using a shared interest to build a genuine sense of community. That made an impression on me.
It also came at a time when my own life had changed dramatically.
After two unexpected cancer diagnoses, I found myself thinking more seriously about time, health and what I wanted to do with the next chapter of my life.
I felt a need to create something meaningful.
At first, I thought about a cancer-awareness bracelet or perhaps a watch. I started designing, experimenting and exploring ideas. Before long, what had started as a small project became something much bigger.
I began asking myself a different question:
Why limit the idea to one cause?
There are countless people, families and organizations that deserve support. Instead of creating a single awareness watch, I began imagining a watch brand built from the beginning with giving back as part of its purpose.
That idea became WOTCH.
The name is a play on “watch,” but to me it means more than a timepiece.
A WOTCH is something you wear.
But WOTCH is also something you do.
And that led to the words that brought the entire idea together:
Watch what WE can do.
The WE is the most important part.
My hope is to build WOTCH with the community rather than simply present finished products to it. I want to share the design process, listen to feedback, explore ideas openly and let the people who support the brand help shape what it becomes.
Giving back is part of the plan. A portion of WOTCH proceeds will be donated to worthy causes, and I hope the community can help shape where that support goes over time.
There’s another part of the story, too.
I’ve spent roughly 40 years working as a Mechanical Designer across several industries. No matter what I was designing, the challenge was always similar:
Understand the problem. Develop the idea. Figure out how to make it real. And never stop learning.
Now, as that chapter of my professional life winds down, I’ve discovered that the designer in me has no intention of retiring.
I still find myself asking:
What if?
Watches have become a new outlet for that curiosity.
WOTCH gives me the opportunity to keep designing, keep learning and hopefully build something that is about more than the watches themselves.
If we can create watches people are proud to wear while also helping people and doing some good along the way, then this idea will have become something much more meaningful.
Watch what WE can do.
— Paul
Founder, WOTCH Co.