born out of necessity

Many people are fascinated when the learn that I initally did not intend for Ianos to be a viable, recognizable brand and for the Avyssos to even see the light of day. But it is the truth.

Around 2015 and after suffering years of gnawing, compelling thoughts about creating a high-quality watch inspired by Greek history, tradition and legacy, I chose to take a leap of faith and see what I could do. As any crazy person would say, this leap was fuelled primarily by an unhealthy obsession and relentless curiosity to try out my competence and an persistent, egoistical belief that I could be the first in doing something no one had ever done before, at least the way I thought about going about it.

To me, as a very unknowledgeable watch fan, Greece, despite being rich in history and mechanical invention tradition was and still is grossly underrepresented in the watch industry, a field that combines all the arts that ancient Greeks practiced and were infatuated with. Design, architecture, mechanics, precision, timekeeping and beauty. Because what is a watch, an otherwise completely useless accessory meant to convey in the 2020s if not beauty, feeling and a sense of wonder?

Contrary to what someone would think, I did not go about creating a brand – I did not settle on a main case design, I did not map out concepts for inspiration, did no market research, made no business plan, prepared no marketing strategy.

I just started designing the watch I wanted to wear that conveyed a story. A completely and indisputably Greek story, represented on a superbly designed, high quality watch that I would be proud to wear. With that notion in mind I dove into diving history and the more I dove into it, the more the history revealed itself and the design of the watch started revealing itself to me.

After a very long gestation period filled with inspiration, passion, long hours, frustration, a multitude of setbacks and self-doubt, I decided to dive even further into the watchmaking abyss and launched the Avyssos which, to my amazement even today, birthed Ianos as a brand.