Boom time for luxury watch brands

India’s luxury watch market is booming as Indians are acquainted with higher life and don’t

hesitate in splurging. High-end watches cost anywhere between Rs 15,000 and Rs 50,000. There are some limited editions that cost up to Rs 5 crores. Price notwithstanding, people are splurging on these time pieces and keeping the buying capacity of Indian consumers in mind, international brands like Rolex, Bvlgari, Omega, Tissot and Longines are expanding business in India.

However, they do face a challenge in the Indian market due to infrastructure and logistics issues. Finding the right location is tough. For a long time the brands were retailed through hotel lobbies and shopping arcades. With the opening of luxury malls luxury brand stores and boutiques have increased manifold. In metros like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, malls are serving as an ideal platform to promote luxury watches but steep rents play spoilsport.

With growing middle-class incomes, luxury watches have found an eruption in demand in the post-economic slowdown era. In the past two years, high-end luxury watch brands have grown 20 to 22 per cent as against 7 to 8 per cent growth in low-end watches. Over the past nine months, low-end consumers are upgrading watches to price points between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000. The Rs 10,000 crores watch industry share has been classified in two parts. The low range sector, with a price range of Rs 500 to Rs 3,999, dominates, with over 60 per cent of market share. The Rs 4,000 to Rs 17,000 range constitutes 30 to 35 per cent and the rest is with super high-end products.