WATCHES- TIME TO OWN

Time for watches has changed considerably for good in recent years. In India, It is becoming a surprisingly serious trend to possess multiple watches, watches with different styles and functionality as a part of one's private collection.

If we look at past till about 150 years back only watches used were pocket watches but later CARTIER made arguably the first wrist watch which later became a prized possessions of extraordinary people in the society and was perceived to be a premium object which ordinary people could only see, admire and dream of possessing someday. Time has passed now world is an evolved place and people have numerous wrist watch option from different brands to choose from...Rolex, Cartier, Rado, Seiko, Citizen, Casio, Timex, Titan(India), Maxima(India) etc. Everyone is trying hard to attract people of different income segment to make their brands part of their collection.

If we look at the Indian market, it has witnessed remarkable upswing in last

few years especially since early Y2K. Until then the only branded watches

officially available in India were Maxima, Titan, HMT and few local

assembled watches. Indian market was hugely dominated by 3 brands TITAN,HMT and MAXIMA. Off Course Titan being a TATA Group brand had

resources to dominate the market in a big way. They were instrumental in

dislodging the govt. owned HMT watches from its top position although

faced tough competition from brand like maxima which forced them to launch another brand SONATA to sustain in the VFM/Economy segment of the market.

Those days premium segment was non-existent and if you wanted to buy an expensive watch you had to buy it overseas or may have to buy them from grey/smuggled market without any after sales services.

It all changed in early 2000 with a change in Indian import policy, international brands started to establish their presence in India, first through middlemen/agents and then by establishing their own companies but these brands struggled initially from grey market/smuggled market due to high import duties levied on them.

Indian Govt. gradually rationalised its import duties which became a huge booster for this market. Premium segment started growing with brands now started operating in an organised way. In last few years premium segment has seen the year on year growth of 15 to 16%.

Currently if we look at the Indian Market, we can see distinct categorization/classification of the brands.

Economy/Mass segment- (Price Rs.500/--2000/-)-

Maxima, Titan-Sonata, Q&Q, Fastrack etc.

Mid Segment(Rs.2000-10000) -

Titan, Casio, Fossil, etc.

Premium/luxury Segment(Rs. 10000 and above)

Rolex, Omega, Rado, Patek-Phillipe, Cartier etc.

Economy Segment still rules the market in India as price becoming major decisive factor at the point of purchase. India as if compared with world market may not be looking great at present but it definitely owns the future for these brands since India looks to be on a promising growth path.

Country leaders here at present working hard on making the nation more digital friendly which will drive further growth in

e-commerce in turn adding value to the overall watch industry irrespective of price segments. People here seem to have started spending more and more on upgrading their lifestyle and tend to believe in “ACHCHHE DIN AANE WALE HAIN” concept given by PM Narendra Modi.