This M’sian brand is creating Rolex and AP-inspired watches at a fraction of their prices

Think premium watches and you’ll probably think of well-established brands the likes of Rolex, Audemars Piguet (AP), and Patek Philippe.

Rolex was founded in 2005, AP in 1875, and Patek Philippe in 1839. The brands that have dominated the luxury watch scene are historic—maybe that’s why they’re great at telling time.

However, challenging the notion that premium quality only comes at luxury prices is Revelot, a Malaysian watch brand with a goal to keep its products at a fair price.

Established in 2017, Revelot has released a series of watches for both men and women. Prices vary depending on the model, going anywhere from RM349 to RM1,899.

The brand seems to have picked up steam when it launched its products—particularly R7 and R9—on two US-based funding platforms, Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Both watches quickly reached the targeted backing in just a couple of days.  

Don’t get confused by the New York location tag on its campaigns and the lack of rare mention of where the brand is from, though—Revelot is indeed founded by Malaysians Kevin HTJ and Yong Yee Mun. The watches can also be found in TIMEKEEPER outlets in the Klang Valley.

Time for a change

With a name that’s inspired by the combination of Revel and Zealot, Revelot is built around the premise that everyone should be able to afford premium quality products at reasonable prices.

According to its website, a study has shown that 80% of luxury products are sold at a price 10 to 50 times higher than the actual cost of production. Based on further Google findings of our own, the numbers may vary across the board, but they usually fall within that range.

“Hence, with a hand full of design ideas, we travelled across the globe in search of industry experts and manufacturers to bring you the highest quality products at the best prices,” Revelot’s website claims.

Eliminating middleman costs and marketing budgets, Revelot claims to be able to translate the cost saved into adding more features and using better materials for its products.

With that said, Revelot is indeed very much inspired by existing watch brands, often referencing other well-known watchmakers in its designs.

For instance, the R9 Veloce is said to carry a Genta-inspired case shape and form, with Gérald Genta having created some of the most iconic models in the watch world notably the iconic Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.

Its latest Hexmariner models are also inspired by Rolex’s Submariner, but at a much cheaper price.

Although some may argue that to be derivative, Revelot’s products don’t appear to just be carbon copies of other watches as they typically add some unique features to their pieces.  

From wrists to pockets

Expanding beyond timepieces, Revelot also creates leather wallets that don’t break wallets.

With variations for both men and women, Revelot’s wallets typically feature a sleek and minimalistic look, complete with a logo in the corner. The wallets go from RM299 to RM339.

Seeing that it has released quite a variety of different designs, the brand’s wallets seem to be doing rather well.

This perhaps is a sign of Revelot’s versatility, so we might even see the brand release other kinds of premium products.

Although Revelot has had multiple successful campaigns on crowdfunding platforms, this isn’t exactly reflected locally, with not much coverage from local news sites.

This is maybe in part due to the fact that Revelot doesn’t position itself as a local or homegrown brand. After all, it uses a New York location on its LinkedIn page as well as in campaigns.

Plus, it appears that a majority of its existing customers seem to based overseas, so this does seem to be intentional branding on Revelot’s part.

Regardless, the six-year-old brand has proved itself through said campaigns and continued iterations of watches and wallets.

• Learn more about Revelot here.
• Read more articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.

Featured Image Credit: Revelot