VARIUS is an independent, family owned and operated watch company located in Columbus, Ohio (USA). Our small staff includes Ken Mitchell (founder/Chief Designer), Jane Mitchell (marketing and sales/customer service), and Joe Mitchell (photography/social media manager).

The VARIUS journey began during the COVID pandemic, and the accompanying mandatory six-week hiatus. My business of over 20 years was forced to temporarily shut down. During this time I re-discovered my passion for watches and watch design which gave me a creative outlet from the stress of the pandemic. I started designing watches on my laptop and quickly found out that my outlet had grown into an obsession. It also gave me time to think about my future.

To make a long story short, during the break, I ultimately (with much support from my wife) decided to sell my successful business that I had spent nearly half of my life building and maintaining to take the leap of faith and bring my watch designs to life.

 Building any business from the ground up can be incredibly rewarding, even though nothing ever seems to go as planned. Having been through the ups and downs of the startup journey in the past with my previous business, I've learned a few lessons along the way, but nothing could compare to starting a watch company.

AS COVID was normalizing and people were getting back to work, I decided to move forward with one of my fully custom designs and purchase some working prototype's. Because upfront costs are so expensive, not only for a watch company but realistically for any new company, I decided to give crowdfunding (KICKSTARTER) a try. Because there really is no shortage of watch brands out there with what seems to be an overflowing amount of offerings, I thought by bringing something to the table that was different or that stood out would equal to success, WRONG. Despite my excitement and hard work, my debut model, the P.7 Pilot under the brand name PANCERNA, didn't reach it's KICKSTARTER campaign funding goal (check out PANCERNA watches here).  

Needless to say, I (and everyone that was involved) were a little bummed out, but instead of focusing my energy on the negatives and being depressed or even angry about the situation, I focused my energy on taking all of the lessons that I learned through my past mistakes to pave the way for smoother growth and success.  Even though this setback occurred, I wouldn't change a thing because it taught me invaluable lessons. It has also motivated me and everyone around me to push forward to create a watch brand that could be something special. Someone once said 'Tis a lesson you should head, try, try again. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. 

I have decided to scrap the original name PANCERNA along with it's strictly military design esthetic and start over with a new name and a whole new design catalog which currently has over 140 designs!  We will engage with our audience and ask for feedback in selecting dial colors along with overall opinions. We can't wait to share our next watch with you!

I started this watch company because I wanted to be around like-minded people and to dedicate my time and energy towards something that I absolutely love. I don't play golf or pickleball in my spare time, I obsess over watches and watch design. I am a true watch NERD!

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Check out just a few of my mods and builds @khmitchelljr