Originally established by Bill Brown and Jock Watson in 1953, Brown & Watson International Pty Ltd is an 'old' Australian trading company with a long and colourful history.

Over the years the company has been involved in a range of enterprises ranging from manufacturing transport equipment, toy wholesaling, furniture and acting as a manufacturers representative. This last business activity exposed BWI to the automotive industry and its wholesale distribution channels in the early 1960's.

Early in the 1980's the company commenced importing lighting products from a company called NARVA located in Plauen, East Germany. The main products were incandescent and halogen globes and NARVA, East Germany still manufacture many of the globes marketed today.

The first NARVA catalogue was produced in 1984. It extended to 10 pages in glorious black and white, detailing a total of 58 part numbers. This is a far cry from today's 2008-10 NARVA catalogue with its 376 pages, featuring over 4,000 part numbers in 12 colour coded product sections. This entire catalogue can be accessed from the NARVA website and its content clearly illustrates the enormous growth of the NARVA program over the last 24 years.

Today, NARVA products are sourced from leading manufacturers around the world. Carefully chosen strategic partners provide access to the latest in technology and product design. Over recent years NARVA has invested in the design and development of products for sale not just within Australia but across the globe.

From the company's modern 8,400 sq metre head office and factory based in Knoxfield, Melbourne, Victoria, the extensive range of products are assembled, packed and reprocessed to cater for the expanding Australasian market.

Outside the Narva brand, BWI produces many custom made products for large OEM companies such as Kenworth, Mack, Daimler, HSV, Honda to name just a few. Other brands include the highly successful Projecta battery maintenance and power products. The growth of both brands has lead to extensive expansion with BWI now owning two additional warehouse facilities and the recently opened 6,000sq metre production facility.

The company is certified to ISO 9002 standard and has sales offices and presentation in all states of Australia plus the office and distribution centre of NARVA NZ Ltd located in Auckland, New Zealand.

Today the company is principally owned by the current management. Its slogan 'Safety through Technology' is strongly promoted to ensure NARVA products live up to customers' expectations and further enhance the NARVA name.