Bangalore Watch Company enters 2026 GPHG with a dial it says is made from captured carbon
Bengaluru's Bangalore Watch Company has entered the 2026 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève with the Peninsula Carbon, a watch built around a dial it says is made from captured atmospheric carbon: a sign of India making, not just buying, premium timepieces.
Bangalore Watch Company, a Bengaluru-based independent maker of mechanical watches, has entered its new watch design in the 2026 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, the watch industry's leading awards. The company says the watch's dial is made from carbon captured from the atmosphere: a claim it describes as a first in mechanical watchmaking.
The entry is a modest marker in a larger shift. India is one of the world's faster-growing markets for luxury watches but is usually treated as a buyer rather than a maker. A small Indian brand competing for the industry's top prize for a second year running on the strength of a materials claim is the kind of signal watched by anyone betting India can build premium, export-facing consumer brands rather than only consume them.
The nominated piece, 'Peninsula Carbon' uses ReforgeCarbon, a proprietary material that integrates carbon recovered from our atmosphere into a forged carbon composite dial for watchmaking. ReforgeCarbon was developed in collaboration with Carbon Craft, a Bangalore-based sustainable materials company. The watch features design equivalent to same standards applicable to any other luxury watchmaker.
While using atmospheric carbon in watchmaking is a breakthrough, it is not yet widely used as a mass-production material by major brands. However, companies across various sustainability and eco-conscious initiatives utilise alternative recycled and upcycled carbon composites. Sustainability has moved from a consumer-driven demand to an industry-led mission, according to a 2023 Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry study. Watchmakers are becoming committed to incorporate sustainability to craft high-tech timepieces.
Bangalore Watch Company was founded in 2018 by Nirupesh Joshi and Mercy Amalraj, a husband-wife team who left tech careers to start it without external funding offer shipping worldwide. Co-founder Joshi said India should be seen "as a place capable of producing brands that can be appreciated globally," not only as a consumer of them.
GPHG award winners are chosen by an international jury and announced on November 7, 2026. The official 84-watch nominated shortlist for the 2026 GPHG will be officially unveiled on September 1, 2026. We wait to see if Bangalore Watch Company made the cut.
