Still ticking: HMT watches are trending again with Varchas, a limited edition series

HMT watches are cherished heirlooms, passed down from one generation to the next. They began 60 years ago and are still ticking, symbolizing India’s industrial growth.

Narayanan Hariharan, an entrepreneur, narrates a recent incident involving him, which could have easily been a wristwatch advertisement. While making an important point at a meeting, he noticed the person he was talking to was staring at his left wrist. He ignored it a few times. But when the person continued, Narayanan paused and asked, “What is going on?”

“I never knew HMT made such good watches,” said the other person. Narayanan smiled. He was wearing a Tiffany blue Varchas, the latest limited-edition wristwatch collection in the HMT Stellar series, launched in June.

Varchas is the brainchild of two HMT aficionados from Bengaluru, Abhinand Rao and Rakesh Murthy. These childhood friends ventured into analogue wristwatch collecting five years ago and now collectively own around 120 watches from various brands (about half of them being HMT timepieces like Misuni, Rajat, Janata, Pilot, Jawan, and Jubilee).

Abhinand and Rakesh, both engineers, share a deep fascination for design and mechanics. At one point, they were into vehicles due to their intricate assembly of numerous moving parts, forming a cohesive whole. Wristwatches are not too different from automobiles in this regard. “Initially we were always fascinated by popular international brands like Rolex, Patek, Audemars and Seiko. But when we realised our home brand HMT is still running we ran towards it,” says Abhinand.

When the government, in 2016, closed HMT Watches Ltd, a division of Hindustan Machine Tools Limited, the duo, like many people in the country, mistakenly assumed they would not get HMT watches anymore. “Though HMT Ltd continued manufacturing and selling watches, many people still think that we have shut shop,” says an HMT Ltd official, who declined to be named.

However, the news of this closure, he admits, sparked renewed interest in the six-decade-old wristwatch brand. For instance, Abhinand and Rakesh are moderators of a 14-year-old HMT Watches Facebook group, with over 19,000 members.

In March 2022, the two friends planned to create a fresh and distinctive design for HMT as a tribute to their favourite brand. “We noticed comments on why the brand is not pursuing new-age designs. So, we wanted to create something new with an elegant teal blue colour, which has a cult following across multiple brands,” says Rakesh.