Emirates Man
A man sits and reflects on his lifetime of travels, which have seen him visit 109 countries, each of which has given him precious memories and unforgettable moments. As well as an experienced traveller this man is also a collector and keeps a memento of each country. Now in possession of 109 small objects, he wants to store them carefully and artfully. So he contacts Trunks Company Jaipur in India, the masters of contemporary leather trunk making. Founder Paritosh Mehta listens to the man’s request and works with his team of 35 artisans in Jaipur to craft a bespoke trunk.
“The client wanted to treasure these pieces he had collected so we envisioned a trunk that could hold all his emotions, passions and experiences,” smiles Paritosh. Measuring seven feet high and three feet wide, the trunk had 109 compartments, each of which displayed a key and a nameplate engraved with the country where the artefact was acquired. “We also designed a crest for him and placed it on the top of the trunk. Eighty per cent of our clients become emotional when they receive their trunk.”
As well as pleasing his vast number of global customers, many of whom are Middle Eastern royalty, Paritosh is passionate about three things: looking after his team, preserving craftsmanship, and his home city of Jaipur. Money means nothing to him. “I’ve lost the charm of making money,” he says. “My love for this work is like a bond between a mother and a son, it’s not for putting money in my pocket.”
Born in Jaipur to a father who worked for the government and a mother who dabbled in jewellery making, Paritosh founded Trunks Company Jaipur in 2012. “There’s a lot of nostalgia, intrigue and mystery around trunks,” he says. “Jaipur was built and developed around crafts. It was divided into nine blocks and every block was dedicated to a craft such as jewellery, textiles, block printing, embroidery and stonework. Some of these crafts have been lost and I have a mission to try and preserve and also evolve these crafts.”
Hand Crafted
The atelier in Jaipur comprises five micro workshops specialising in wood, metal, leather, stone, and LED lighting. A medium sized trunk takes more than 2,500 man hours but some trunks require more than 4,000 hours of painstaking skill. “We are pushing our limits and improving ourselves every day,” says Paritosh, 42. “We are on a quest to show the world the best of what we can do.”
Cricket heroes, Bollywood stars and major industrialists have ordered bespoke trunks from Paritosh in the past and the waiting list stands at around 18 months. Right now, the team is working on a $165,000 trunk commission by a member of an important royal family in the Middle East. Measuring seven feet high and four feet wide when closed, it will be the company’s biggest ever trunk.
Paritosh cannot complete his mission without his team. He ensures they work in good conditions and insists on paying excellent salaries. “Last year we started a conscious effort to not only touch the lives of the people who are working with us, but also the lives of their families,” he explains. “Work is underway on a new 100,000 square feet facility which will open in 2027. But it’s not a workshop, it’s a cultural space.”
Jaipur was founded in 1797 and will soon celebrate its 300th birthday. “The city has awakened,” says Paritosh proudly. “I see Jaipur becoming the cultural capital of the world in the next five years because the city has enormous heritage and a story. Jaipur’s culture and heritage are part of my DNA and I want to glorify the city’s incredible crafts.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: emirateswoman.com
