Stories from Annaberg
Wisdom from Germany, by Arjun Sagar
Übung
macht
den Meister.
In this small east german village there were few outsiders.
We overheard an elderly german couple at the local cafe "Why do these foreigners sit next to us" (in German).
We felt disheartened by their hatred.
We had to stay there for next 2 years to understand the intricacy of handmade eyewear from Matthias.
To create the most ingenious eyewear brand from India. To also set an example for our future generations.
The Indian renaissance. Where India, again, makes the best luxury products of the world.
We focused on the positives like the punctuality, discipline in the work place, no shortcuts and finding long term solutions to problems.
In one instance we were working on a frame when Matthias spoke in detail about just the "feeling of smoothness" in the movement of the hinge.
Adding a drop of oil to the hinge during the service.
How he had been using the same frame for the last 40 years and it still looks great!
He always said - "The feeling on the nose and ears is as important as the vision itself"
Aiming for Small improvements in the product and service everyday like the weight distribution of the arms vs the front.
Another instance of German hardworking folk was the baker.
The local baker lived next door to us. We smelt great bread every morning at 4am and everything was sold out by 8am!
We learnt this the hard way. We went to him at 9am hoping to buy bread for breakfast and he had nothing left. We resorted to cold plain cereal that morning :(