Chapter oneAge six
The first watch
It was my birthday and my parents presented me with this amazing rubber-belted timepiece which had "woof woof" written in 3D on the belt and cute little cartoons of dogs.
It was not an everyday watch. Alanwar was only allowed to wear it when the family went out, so he lived for the weekends, when his mother would open the drawer and hand him his prized possession. Somewhere along the way the little watch was lost. Years passed, other watches came and went, and none of them ever felt the same. The feeling, though, never left.
Chapter twoUniversity
A market opens up
At USIU, studying business administration, Alanwar watched something new arrive in Kenya: people were starting to buy and sell online. He was already busy, running a small tour company, shooting weddings and writing a blog about inspiring Kenyans, but the idea of a shop that lived on a phone stayed with him. He simply did not have a product yet.
The product found him.
Chapter threeOne Saturday night
Twelve watches
A friend of his father had dropped off twelve Citron watches to be sold at the family shop. They were lying in the sitting room.
I just took a few pictures on my phone, edited them and sent them on WhatsApp to my friends. It was pretty late so I decided to call it a day.
I wake up the next morning to the sounds of WhatsApp messages hitting my inbox. By midday that day I had sold out all 12 pieces.
Okay, now this is interesting. A business had quietly started between friends, on a phone, overnight. Then, within days, it almost ended.
Chapter fourA few days later
The setback
While he was talking to the supplier about getting more pieces, a message came in: a belt had broken. Then another. Six of the twelve watches came back. Alanwar refunded every customer and very nearly gave up on the whole idea.
Instead, he made the decision that still defines SaaZone: never sell a watch he would not wear himself. He went back to the start and spent months researching brands, buying, wearing and testing, and burning through quite a few of them along the way.
Chapter fiveA few months later
The Casio Edifice
Then came the second timepiece he would fall shamelessly in love with.
It was a leather belt Casio Edifice with a square dial. I bought it for 14,000 shillings, which basically messed up my budget for the better part of the month, and I knew: Casio was the one I was going to introduce to the Kenyan market.
It had everything the Citron did not: proper build quality, a real guarantee, and a name he could put his own next to.
Chapter sixThe decision
Quality over the easy sale
Plenty of other entrepreneurs had the same idea of selling watches online, and most fell for the lure of cheap imports, the very brands Alanwar had already burnt through. He chose specialisation instead: genuine Casio, with a warranty, sold by someone who answers his own phone.
Family, friends and the first customers backed the vision. The first reviews arrived in 2014, and SaaZone stopped being a side project.
Chapter sevenToday
Still the same number
Casio remains the heart of the collection, joined over the years by Titan, Seiko, Zinvo and Continental Swiss, each stocked only because the team genuinely loves it. If we do not love it, we do not stock it. There is now a showroom at Our Mall on Magadi Road, free delivery to any doorstep in Kenya, battery and strap services, and the same personal WhatsApp number that answered those first twelve enquiries.
Casio is the only affordable timepiece maker that I assure and guarantee you, on my life, that you will hand over to the next generation.
Welcome to the SaaZone family.
The story continues on WhatsApp
