THIS started as a hobby,u201d says Abhishek Basak, founder of Absynthe Design, who repurposes watches and radios to create womenu2019s jewellery, menu2019s accessories and sculptural pieces. A fashion designer by degree, he started to miss the art of working with his own hands. u201c I was interested in watches and their minute gearsu2026 I felt the history and innovation of watches brought together the best of human abilities in science and art. It used to pain me to see timepieces with intricate movements scrapped away because we had technologically advanced,u201d he says.
By reinventing the old and repurposing the broken, Basak looks at creating keepsakes that the next generation can enjoy, value and pass on as inheritance. u201c The first piece I worked on was my mumu2019s watch, which was gifted to her by my grandfather. It had stopped working a long time ago, but since her father was no more, she treasured it. Like all sentimental pieces, it was being preserved in the corner of a drawer. I asked her if I could have it, and modelled it into a pendant.
The joy I saw her experience was very personal. Three generations of her family came together in that one moment.u201d Significant pieces Basak has restored include an old radio inherited by a Kashmiri Pandit from her grandparents. At the time of being displaced, all they could save was the radio, which in its time, travelled from Srinagar to Delhi before finally making its way to Mumbai; and a radiogram that travelled to Delhi with a family that had moved from Karachi during Partition.
u201c These pieces were not valuable in terms of money, but rich in pride and pain. My designs, while being updated and contemporary, are still timelessu2014 they tell the story of struggle and life through design.u201d When a client visits him with a keepsake, his priority is to restore it. u201c If, for some reason, it cannot be, I discuss new ideas to see what they will allow to make it wearable again,u201d he explains.
Time spent on each piece depends on the design, antiquity, restoration and intricacy of the work. u201c I donu2019t set a timelineu2014 if Iu2019m working on a piece and get creatively stuck, I start on another and come back to the first, once I have a better idea of what to do with it.u201d Aware of the present need for conscious consumerism, Basak focuses on the responsibility of being ecologically sustainable, while keeping every piece unique, using handcrafted techniques. u201c I always use non- virgin metal, such as reused silver and gold. Ninety- five per cent of the materials we use are recycled, whether watch parts or pieces of wood from discarded furniture. The idea of passing something down the generations celebrates the values of sustainability.u201d smdmail@ mid- day. com Ela Das accessories using antique watch parts, like in constructed out of them; Basak working on the Sea art, this brooch was a sellout
