They've Got a Way with Wood

Founded in 2010 in Florence, Italy by “eco-smart entrepreneurs with a crush on the environment,” WeWOOD specializes in wooden timepieces and sophisticated sustainability – their watches are made from the scrapwood of exotic trees (Indian Rosewood, Guaiaco, and Tasmanian Blackwood) with inner workings that utilize state-of-the-art Miyota movements. The company has since flourished, opening a branch in Los Angeles and partnering with American Forests, which plants a tree for every WeWOOD purchased. WeWOOD is thriving elsewhere, too: one of the largest branches of the company is located here in the Czech Republic and also distributes oak-frame sunglasses and nifty wooden wireless keyboards as well as original WeWOOD watches.

The Czech branch was founded by David Homola and Jiří Lux, two friends from Ostrava who, wanting to embark on an entrepreneurial adventure, decided to invest their money into selling WeWOOD watches. Starting out was rough, they told us. In the beginning, Jiří says, “It was incredibly hard, because you cannot see any money coming back, and you just keep spending more money.” Luckily, the store has returned its investment more than twice over, and the shop is now very lucrative.

Jiří attritbutes that to their low overhead and modern approach to marketing and sales; so far, there are no brick-and-mortar stores for WeWOOD in the Czech Republic or Slovakia – in fact, the company employs only three people: David, Jiří, and David’s girlfriend. Almost all of their sales come from their online shop. The brand has largely eschewed normal advertising. “Most of our business these days comes from Facebook,” says Jiří. “Without pay-per-click ads, we would have nothing.”

It also helps that the Czech Republic has a well-known tradition of off-beat design and this, combined with the recent proclivity for natural, organic materials in everything from fashion to furniture, has helped WeWOOD fit into the larger scene. 

There is also the element of novelty. Jiří adds that many people express incredulity that the watches are truly made from wood. “I hear it all the time,” he says.

The Czech company BeWooden specializes in handcrafted (down to the clasp) wood bowties made from quality wood sourced from “excess materials from craft workshops”. The bowties are all made in the Czech Republic in a workshop located in the Beskydy Mountain valley.

The label was founded by the Czech commercial photographer and designer Ctirad Sára who sites his love of “material that people know for thousands of years” as his initial inspiration. Design duties are shared with fashion designer Eva Kočicová
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