The watches were launched recently as part of the partnership with the diamond marketing company.
In an interview with Arts&Culture, Nako Timepieces co-founder, Gabriel Mothibedi, explained that their partnership with ODC was inspired and influenced by the recent transformational agreement between the government of Botswana and the De Beers Group: ‘The heads of terms for the new 10-year Sales Agreement for Debswana’s rough diamond production through to 2033, and the 25-year extension of the Debswana mining licenses through to 2054 (The Projects Magazine, 2023)'.
“The De Beers Group recently declared Botswana their new headquarters of Auctions Business, from Singapore.
Historical milestones and a result of progressive policies, strategies and programmes spearheaded by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi towards value addition to Botswana diamonds, and the De Beers Group Chief Executive, Al Cook, towards ‘long partnership in Botswana and contributing to the development of the diamond sector, as well to support the country’s development aspirations,” said Mothibedi. “For Nako Timepieces, this presents infinite opportunities for entrepreneurial growth and commercial success, particularly in the watchmaking and jewelry design sectors.
It offers immense opportunities to create innovation networks, to build business ecologies, collaborations and partnerships to enhance Botswana’s diamond value chain, to develop her product and service industries and to increase her manufacturing pulse. Botswana is a nation brimming with optimism and opportunity, a large producer of diamonds in the world, standing at position two by volume in the global list, after Russia and leading in value,” he added.
Speaking of the co-branding and brand partnerships, he emphasised that the partnership would be a gateway to many other cross-company partnerships, functions and events with added value to both the ODC and Brand Nako.
He said the ODC as one of Botswana’s main agencies for commercial and industrial development would help expand Botswana’s commercial and industrial horizons through the support of new and emerging industries, consumer product design, watchmaking and manufacturing.
So far, he said all the recipients of the watches were happy and quite impressed with the artistry, craftsmanship and quality of the watches. He added that was such a significant product and rich in their cultural heritage, ideal to celebrate their 10 years with. Mothibedi also pointed out that future benefits for Nako Timepieces in that collaboration, Brand Nako envisioned sourcing 100% leather, diamonds and glass from Botswana, and bringing manufacturing and assembly to Botswana. Furthermore, Mothibedi pointed out that every year, the country produced more than 20 million diamond carats (World Population Review: Diamond Production by Country, 2024). He added that while those precious stones were highly sought after in the jewelry and watchmaking industries, Botswana remained an exporter of rough diamonds, with minimal efforts on value addition. He said as a result, the country did not benefit from those precious stones as finished products. As a recovery measure, he said the design innovation stands as an alternative development strategy as many governments were focusing on strengthening their efforts to harness local design capabilities. He pointed out that both a framework and an artifact design contribute enormous strategies, services, systems, products and applied research activities, to gain a competitive advantage.
“In essence, our approach via design innovation is to highlight that to develop Botswana’s diamond value chain and to increase her global competitiveness, Design innovation stands as an alternative strategy. For Nako Timepieces, this presents infinite opportunities for entrepreneurial growth and diversity, particularly in the watchmaking and jewelry design sectors. It offers immense opportunities to create innovation networks, to build business ecologies, collaborations, partnerships to enhance Botswana’s diamond value chain, to develop her product and service industries and increase her manufacturing pulse,” he explained.
