A combined love for the Scottish mountains and quality time pieces inspired father and son duo Andy and Daniel Bryan to start a luxury watch business.
Daniel, a full-time naval architect, founded Etive Watches from his spare bedroom, with support from dad Andy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It was one Highland mountain in particular that stood out – Buachaille Etive Mòr, a distinctive munro that sits between Glen Etive and Glen Co.
They have fond memories of climbing this mountain through the years, and it was this pass-time that created such a strong bond between the pair.
Having then been separated because of Covid-19, they reconnected through the birth of their new business.
Mr Bryan, who lives in Inverurie, said: “Having found myself with an extra hour and a half a day due to the lack of commute, I started to play around with designing watches, a hobby which stemmed from my personal interest in luxury watches.
“I’d sit on my laptop and come up with designs. At New Year I spoke to Dad and showed him my photos.
“He told me he had been wanting to start up a business as well so we decided to go for it.
“Influenced by the awe I felt the first time I was introduced to the Scottish mountains with a climb up Buachaille Etive Mòr, I decide to base the brand around this.
“With dad being self-employed and having his own logistics company, he has the flexibility and expertise to help with the day-to-day tasks that make Etive Watches a genuine family-run business.
“I found it hard during lockdown as I’m very much a home bird and not being able to visit my family was tough, and I know my mum and dad felt it even harder.
“So being able to travel and meet for work reasons was great.
“It was also a really nice way to reconnect with him.”
The watches are made with Miyota watch movements, the heart of a time piece’s mechanism and part of the well known Citizen Watch group.
The movements are then shipped to an assembly factory in Asia where they are combined with their surgical stainless steel cases.
They are then shipped back before being distributed by Mr Bryan to customers.
Positive feedback for products
Since launching in September they have sold around 40 watches and the duo are now making preparations for what they hope will be a busy Christmas season.
Mr Bryan said: “So far we’ve had five star reviews and everyone is very pleased with the quality.
“There was a lot of consideration on my part to make sure the packaging was really good. We went through lots of samples.
“They come in a vegan leather box with a branded polishing cloth and a handwritten note for the personal touch.”
The duo are now looking forward to growing the business and brand.
Mr Bryan said: “My long term goal is to have a legacy with my Dad and create a product that sells itself.
“I’m very much having to sell the watches but we are looking forward to a point where the watches will sell themselves and people will seek us out.
“Designing, building, and running a company together with my father has been a pleasure so far and we hope people find as much joy from using their watches as I have had designing them.”