Say HEllO to the Watch Life
HEllO was founded by Ninad Umargekar, a lifelong watch lover with over two decades of lived experience on the wrist. Not as an observer, but as someone who has worn, collected, traded, modified, stored, and carried watches across categories, eras, and brands.
Long before HEllO existed, this journey led Ninad to travel and work closely with strap makers in Europe and South East Asia, building straps for his own watches. With a creative background and an unconventional spirit, he went on to conceptualise and create hundreds of straps. Designs were explored, materials tested, constructions refined, and ideas worn daily. This hands-on immersion in craft, materials, and real-world usage quietly shaped the understanding that would later make HEllO possible.
When HEllO was launched, the idea carried its own gravity.
What began as a personal pursuit quickly gathered customers, friends, collaborators, and partners who recognised the same obsession. Collectors offered feedback. Designers refined the language. Craftsmen pushed possibilities. Friends and believers joined as business partners. What was once an idea became a brand and a business in remarkably little time, shaped as much by community as by intent.
Today, HEllO serves over 5,000 customers and offers one of the most considered and expressive collections of watch straps, alongside thoughtfully designed watch carry and storage gear. Our work spans materials, constructions, colours, and ideas, created not just to pair with great watches, but to challenge conventions and offer modern ideas around how watches are worn and lived with.
What sets HEllO apart is a deep understanding of the watch lover’s mindset. Case proportions, lug geometry, balance, comfort through the day, how different watch types behave, how watches are stored, rotated, and carried, and how history informs what feels right on the wrist. These nuances guide every decision we make.
Every HEllO product is crafted with our Modern Luxury Gear ethos:
• Modern Design that feels fresh yet quietly timeless
• Luxury Standards in materials and craftsmanship
• Gear-like Utility driven by function, innovation, and everyday use
Everything is originally designed. Nothing is dropped in. Materials are chosen for how they age and wear. Craftsmanship is purposeful, never decorative. Even details like the shorter distance between strap holes are deliberately engineered to deliver a better fit across a wider range of wrists. Free and extra keepers ensure play and durability.
Almost all our products are designed and crafted in India. Top-grade stainless steel hardware is sourced from reputed factories in Hong Kong and China, while select leathers come from legacy tanneries in Italy, France, and the United States. We source the best wherever it exists, so what we make can travel confidently anywhere in the world.
HEllO is powered by four strengths that continue to shape its growth: deep expertise, purpose-built products, meaningful experiences, and a committed enthusiast community that remains our strongest feedback engine.
We love watches, and we love what the Watch Life has given us: friendships, conversations, and shared obsessions across the world.
If you like what we’re building, want to know more, or just want to have a coffee and talk watches, come over and say HEllO.