A WORD FROM THE FOUNDER

BEGINNINGS

I am a software engineer by trade but one of my greatest passions is watches. Like many watch enthusiasts, my love for horology began with my father.

 

To celebrate the opening of his first business he bought his first Rolex in the early 1970's. I have fond memories of staring at my dad’s Rolex Oyster Date wondering what made him love it so much.

 

One of my other passions is travel, and my dad was a big influence on my love for traveling. He had great stories of eating exotic food in Asia and other places. My dad would bring home different watches for me as souvenirs from his business trips. I've always wanted to know how things worked so I used to tinker with watches to learn how the movements worked. I had the watch culture instilled in me from a young age. After my dad’s passing, I inherited some of his watches, beginning my journey into the world of collecting.

 

From left: Dad and me 1984;  Dad with his Rolex;  The Rolex Oyster Date that started it all.

TRAVEL

I've lived in a few places over the years. Beginning in Bangladesh, to finishing high school in Dubai. At 17, I moved to the US to attend San Jose State University in California and graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering. I've worked in Silicon Valley and Chicago, and now I'm in New York City working in Financial Technologies.

 

I've traveled to quite a few countries around the world such as: Japan, Singapore, China, England, France, Oman, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Mexico. I love the Caribbean Islands. I’ve spent time in St Thomas, St Croix, St John, Guadeloupe, Grand Cayman and Tortola to name a few.  I am a certified scuba diver.  I enjoy going overlanding in my Jeep and I'm currently taking flight lessons. Travel and adventure are never far away, and are constant inspirations for my watch designs.

 

From left: Japan;  Diving in Mexico;  Taking flight lessons.

FOLIOT

While taking some Movement and Escapement Theory courses at the Horological Society of New York, I was reminded of an old clock escapement called "verge and foliot". This was the predecessor to what we now know as the "balance wheel and pallet fork" escapement in wrist watches. I named the company FOLIOT™ (pronounced /foˈlio/) after this foundational mechanism. 

 

The logo of the company is derived from the physical appearance of the “verge and foliot” escapement 

 

Over the years, I’ve found that most tool watches by the “well-known” brands are becoming more and more unattainable. They’re often hard to get due to high demand and limited supply, and they are too overpriced. After more than a decade of researching watches and gaining knowledge, I decided to create my own company to fill this gap.

 

As an engineer, my design philosophy has always been “form follows function”. With that in mind, our mission is simple and clear: create American assembled, feature-filled, beautiful timepieces that excel in quality. Designing and assembling our timepieces in the USA gives us complete oversight of our quality control, enabling us to deliver products you can be confident will last a lifetime with proper care.

 

Together, we can continue the tradition of passing on our precious timepieces for generations to come.

Founder,

Izzy Alsafa