WORLDTEMPUS - 5 April 2011
Elizabeth Doerr
Baselworld is always a place to expect the unexpected. However, running into Michael Kobold as he brought two pie-eyed Sherpas into the busy halls of Baselworld has to be one of the biggest yet.
Kobold was only 19 when he founded his company in 1998, which specializes in watches for adventurers. Additionally, Kobold Watch Company was the first to sell its products exclusively through the Internet in mail-order fashion. Now 31, Kobold has not lost his taste for adventure and continues to expand his own life horizons along with those of his Pittsburgh-based company by the day.
In 2009 and 2010, Kobold scaled Mount Everest in support of the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund – an accomplishment that was largely inspired by the company's ambassador, Guinness World Record-holding explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Namgel Sherpa and Thundu Sherpa accompanied Kobold's party, saving the entrepreneur's life a total of three times.
Big thanks
Kobold is a man who knows how to show his gratitude, and thus he decided to found a new business in Nepal, a place he holds in the highest regard. Kobold has laid the groundwork for a retail store in Kathmandu, which is expected to open in August. The two former high-altitude mountain guides from Nepal's Himalaya region will begin learning how to assemble mechanical wristwatches this month in Pittsburgh. The one-year-long program also includes a basic course on business management. But first, they took the time to visit Baselworld.
After successfully completing the program at Kobold's Pittsburgh facilities, the Nepalese citizens will return to their native Mount Everest region to assemble Kobold watches. The average annual income for a Nepalese is $447 according to the Asian Development Bank. The two Sherpas will earn about 40 times this amount when they have finished their training. Kobold expects to train an average of two to three Nepalese citizens every year.
“By training relatively unskilled Nepalese workers how to make high-end watches, we provide them with a vastly increased level of competitiveness,” Kobold explained at the busy fair before going on to talk about what this connection means to his company.
“Manufacturing and marketing watches that say ‘Made in Nepal' is good business for a small company that specializes in adventure watches,” Kobold continued. “Nepal is a destination for thousands of Western mountaineers each year, and a watch handmade by Sherpas of the Khumbu is the perfect token to commemorate a successful summit bid.”
