Indian American watchmaker launches watch with Hindi numerals 

Son of an Indian immigrant, Sunny Bhathela launched the watch to pay homage to the oldest numerical system 

An Indian American watchmaker has launched a wristwatch with Hindi numerals to pay homage to the oldest numerical system still used today and as an ode to the South Asian mathematicians of the 6th and 7th century.

Sunny Bhathela, an NC State graduate with degrees in biochemistry and genetics, started the VIANI Watch Co to market watches with the Hindi numeral system which can be traced back 5,000 years to the Indian sub-continent.

This design choice was intentional to highlight the historical impact of the numeral system that is credited for introducing decimal-based numbers, and significantly influencing the global landscapes of mathematics and science, he told the university newsletter.

“I saw a lot of watches where, if you had this watch, really all it represented was that you made a little bit of money,” the 31-year-old Raleigh native says. “I was like, where are the South Asian-owned watches? Where are the US-based watches? So, I did the research.”

READ: Two Sillicon Valley schools to introduce Hindi as world language (January 23, 2024)

In the Triangle area, South Asians are a growing demographic, especially in western Wake County. About one in three people in Morrisville speak Hindi as a first language, and the town has become a hub for cricket, a popular sport in India.

Bhathela started wearing a prototype of one of his watches around friends and family, and their interest inspired him to keep going. Although the numerals on his watches are Hindi, Bhathela said you don’t have to speak or understand the language to wear one. Over 30% of his customers are non-South Asian.

“I always like to say, you don’t have to be from Rome to wear a Roman numeral watch,” he said. “So it’s similar to the Hindi numerals. It’s still a historically important numeral system.”

After graduating from NC State in 2014, Bhathela went to New York to earn a doctorate in optometry to work with people in the South Bronx.

But becoming an Indian business owner was important for him. He was inspired to pivot careers by NC State’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub, which encourages students to pursue passions outside of traditional careers like those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In second grade, Bhathela made a calendar in Photoshop that is still at his parents’ house.

“I never really realized that you can make a career out of,” he said. “It always felt like a hobby to me. And I guess a big thing about this is now that I’m a bit older, a bit wiser, I realized, hey, you can make a career out of the things you’ve found interesting since you were a child and utilize all the knowledge that you’ve accumulated.”

Bhathela was also inspired by his entrepreneurial father, an Indian immigrant who owns a paint store in South Raleigh, and his creative mother, who comes from a long line of tailors. “So I believe those two aspects came together to create and pursue what was kind of written for me,” he said.

VIANI launched on Black Friday in 2023 and is currently direct-to-consumer and online only.

Its eight watches, made in Switzerland, are priced from $300 to $340, compared to luxury brands like Rolex, whose watches can start at $7,000. They vary in style, color, and dial, with stainless steel, leather, and buckle differences. “It’s not an entry-level price, of course, but it’s still a watch that you can be proud to wear,” Bhathela said.

The watches are powered by indoor fluorescent light and outdoor sunlight, with two minutes of sun exposure enough to power the watch for a full day. A singe battery charge, if the watch is left in the dark, lasts six months.

At NC State, Sunny Bhathela found moments of inspiration at events and opportunities on campus such as the College of Design’s Art2Wear and Entrepalooza.

“During my time at NC State, I was exposed to many avenues of individualized thinking and creative design” Bhathela told the university newsletter. These experiences set Sunny up for a successful career and gave him the confidence years after graduation to start his own company.

“An important early starting point was attending Entrepalooza my freshman year, where I was exposed to many young and bright business-minded colleagues on NC State’s campus,” he said.

“This was vital in allowing me to realize that I can be an entrepreneur myself,” he said. “It was important for a young student like myself that was trained on the formalities of education, to realize that my entrepreneurial ideas can come to fruition if I drive off the beaten road with consistency and direction.”

Currently, VIANI is conducting international sales, designing new products and establishing research on IP-sensitive features that Bhathela says “have never been done before in the world of watches.”