The Pukka Boys
Our background
All three of us come from very different backgrounds. Max was born and grew up in Berlin, Taj in Nairobi and Aalay in Bombay. All three of us come from different family backgrounds and equally different cultures. The spectrum ranges from a family business in the jewelry industry spanning four generations, to an architectural and business background, to the third generation of a fully vertically integrated textile and apparel manufacturer and a spirits distribution company in East Africa. This diversity makes us innovative, so we constantly surprise each other with new ideas.
Why are three business students starting a jewelry company?
It started when we met during our Masters in Warwick, in the middle of nowhere in the English Midlands. We discovered similar concepts of modern minimalist design and what a fair business meant to us. Over the course of the university year we came closer to a shared idea of a new concept for a lifestyle brand. We then started our journey towards Pukka because of the possibilities of Aalay's family business. After a few years of collecting samples and planning the implementation, we founded Pukka Berlin. So what was our inspiration? We guess the combination of our origins, our design concepts, the lack of an existing solution, and most importantly our complementary skills.
Aalay
It starts and ends with a cup of coffee and in between there are tons of video calls. We live on three different continents, so video calls were commonplace for us even before Corona.
Max
The same goes for me, the day starts with a good espresso and some time to think. Then I work either from my desk or in the store to meet customers for appointments. These meetings, especially for engagement and wedding rings, are the highlight of my day. Otherwise, I like to play soccer, do some yoga or music in the evenings, do things with my wife or meet up with friends whenever possible.
Taj
I wake up at around 7:00 am and go to work at 8:30 am. My working day usually lasts until 6pm. After work, I go to the gym for an hour and then I'm usually asleep by 10pm. I juggle Pukka between the duties of my family business and running my own spirits distribution company, completing the work I do in a typical day. When I get out of the office, I meet up with friends and relax with a nice glass of wine. If you have more questions about us or our ideas, feel free to contact us.
