My “Indian Luxury Timepiece”

“How many wooden elephants is enough?” was not a question I ever thought I would have to consider, but from 2016-2017 when I traveled to India for work every few months it became an issue as my desk filled up with the carved pachyderms I bought as a memento from each trip.

My September 2017 trip was likely to be the last for a while (new company owners meant a new leadership team was imminent) and I wanted something unique to remember it by.

We had silk scarves, handmade quilts, hand carved wooden boxes, chess sets and, of course wooden elephants from seven previous trips piling up in our basement in Chagrin Falls, OH.  I had 15 hours on the flight from Newark to Mumbai to think of a fitting final memento and the watch ads in the in-flight magazine gave me an idea—a WATCH!

I had never heard anyone mention a “nice Indian watch”, so I had some research to do to keep me busy on the flight. 

The list of Indian watchmakers turned out to be very short: Titan and Jaipur Watch Company, and both fit my ₹20,000 (~$250) budget for a souvenir.  Jaipur Watch Company’s lineup featured brightly painted dials and Rupee coins, so Titan seemed like the place to start.

The World of Titan boutique in Pune, India was just a few blocks from my hotel, but I asked one of my Indian colleagues to join me (a westerner walking or shopping alone in India attracts every autorickshaw driver within miles with the promise of a special tour or the place with the best prices a for just ₹50). The boutique was a cross between an Apple Store and Sunglass Hut with hundreds of watches displayed on wooden wall racks and a handful of floor cases in the middle of the store.

World of Titan in Pune (JustDial.com)

Initially I was disappointed, I prefer traditional-looking watches, leather bands, and the engineering precision of a mechanical movement, but I was staring at wall after wall of modern-looking bright gold watches, with heavy metal bracelets and quartz movements priced around $35 (Fortunately, they all had price tags. Many Indian shops frequented by Westerners don’t display prices so they can dynamically increase the price based on what they think a customer can afford, so westerners pay 3-5x what a local would pay.)

There was a small display labeled “Luxury Collection” behind the checkout counter that featured a handful of watches, each in its own hard plastic display box, and one (and only one) caught my eye. Titan is a mass market company so even their Luxury Collection watches are identified by a model number, the watch that caught my eye, my first (and only) Luxury Indian Timepiece, was the Titan model HN90033SL01J:

The white dial with large, easy-to-read black Arabic numbers has the traditional look I prefer, the two black sub-dials, which show seconds and a 24-hour clock, give it a slightly modern touch. The stainless-steel case measures 42mm, which is right in that sweet spot for me of being big enough to stand out on my wrist but not so big it feels like I’m wearing a sundial. For its size, it’s on the heavy side, weighing in at 100 grams, 10 grams more than my similarly sized Omega Speedmaster.

When I took it out of the box, I was a surprised to find an exhibition back, making it easy to see the 21 Jewel Miyota automatic movement (the model number of the movement isn’t visible through the exhibition back but, based on subsequent research, it looks to be the Miyota Cal. 8219).

I didn’t think I’d make it back to the Titan boutique, so I told young man behind the counter I’d take it and he wrang up my ₹17,050 (just under $205) purchase.

I’ve had the Titan HN90033SL01J for almost 7 years and while I don’t wear it all that often, it is, by far, my most used memento from those trips to India.  Every time I put it on, I’m impressed it’s a $200 watch.

It also has some flaws that remind me it’s just a $200 watch.

The lack of luminous dial markers and hands makes it impossible to read at night. The date is unreadable except in the brightest, direct light.  The Butterfly Deployment Clasp seemed like a nice touch at first, but quickly felt like an unnecessary complication for an inexpensive leather strap.

In April of this year, I was back in India for the first time since 2017. I wore my Titan HN90033SL01J, and it was also the first trip halfway around the world that I didn’t feel the need to buy something to commemorate the trip. 

I definitely don’t need another $200 Indian Luxury watch but, with the Titan, I didn’t feel like I needed another wooden elephant, silk scarf or hand-carved chess set either.

—Casual Time #9 by Clarke Smith

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The Watch appears to have a new reference number: NH90033SL01J and sells for 10,230 Rupees, or $122 US.