That Indians are price conscious is hardly a secret. By and large, Indians are conservative and look for high security and resale value when considering a high value purchase. However, when it comes to watches, there is an added dimension of social status too that becomes part of the purchase consideration.
Traditionally known to be fond of gold, Indians are seen to be opting more for steel, platinum and white gold. One reason for the changing preference could be the recent economic and political events. Since mid 2016, the Indian government has made Permanent Account Number (PAN) card identification mandatory for transactions above INR 2 lakh (approx. 3000 US dollars). This has had a direct impact on the luxury watch business. The demonetization of high value currency was another blow to luxury watch retailers, who were already reeling under the impact of the PAN Card rule.
Talking of the current trends, a quick survey of retailers here reveals the more popular high-end watch brands in India are Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Breguet, Ulysee Nardin, Hublot, Cartier, Panerai, IWC, Bvlgari, Omega and Breitling. Among the hot-selling models we have Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore, Rolex Datejust & Daytona, Breguet Reine De Naples, Bulgari Serpenti, Breitling, Super Ocean, Breitling Super Avenger, Omega Constellation, Cartier Ballon Bleu, Panerai Luminor, IWC Portofino and Portuguese. Discreet watch collectors are always on the lookout for limited editions of Audemars Piguet, Breguet and Hublot. These collectors are happy to indulge in skeleton watches as well.
Another finding is that women are buying more watches than men. Indian women like diamonds in their watches. They are attracted to either steel or two tone watches in steel and gold; and they tend to pick pink gold over the yellow or white variety. These watches go well with the Indian women’s style, since they are fond of jewellery. This explains the success of models such as the Serpenti, Reine De Naples and Millenary in this part of the world.
Spinning once every 24 hours, the world has a hand over it that suggests either another time zone or could be set for a synchronized 24-hour hand. The hand and the world can move independently, and that’s obviously part of the inherent complexity of this machine. Moving the 24-hour GMT hand over the globe is where more interesting pleasure comes in, as it is linked to the “double drum” reference town selector placed just over the globe system. This is perhaps one of my favorite complications in the Bovet Recital 18 Shooting Star.When you press at the crown, the mention city advances. To get all 24 major time zones, there is a drum that sits inside of the outer drum. This makes more sense once you see it in operation – and it is super cool. I have always enjoyed rolling drum-style screens, but they are quite uncommon. Christophe Claret is a particular fan of them and made such drums into Jean Dunand watches (lastest one here), as well as all the present timepieces from Maîtres du Temps. In the Bovet Recital 18 Shooting Star, Bovet designed these carefully transferring drums to function along with the indicator arrow to signify that the second time zone in conjunction with the GMT hand which moves across the globe. It works surprisingly well and is elegant in its implementation in addition to that. Moreover, playing with the machine by pressing in the crown is most likely just too temping a means of overworking the movement and possibly prematurely breaking something, since whoever owns a Recital 18 will probably be playing with this complication a long time.
The Indian youth, on the other hand, prefers automatic watches in steel or with rubber straps, which is why Hublot is a favourite for this segment of buyers. The mature customer prefers quartz watches due to convenience of usage, while those in their 40s and 50s prefer a complicated watch in steel or white gold.
