Rado to set up exclusive outlet in Hyderabad

Rado, the Swiss watch company that is part of the world's largest watch manufacturing conglomerate, Swatch Group, is planning to set up an exclusive outlet in Hyderabad. This apart, it also plans to launch the world's hardest watch next month.

"Hyderabad is a major market for us. So we will be setting up an exclusive outlet in this city in 2005," Pradeep Bhanot, brand manager of Swatch Group, said. Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata are the other cities where the group plans to set up exclusive outlets next year. So far, it had set up exclusive outlets only in Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

"India is a significant market for watches and every seventh customer of Rado is an Indian. We, therefore, plan to expand our operations in the country," Bhanot said.

The price of Rado watches in India starts from Rs 15,000 and goes to around Rs 1,35,000. Speaking on the price-range, Bhanot said that the company does not plan to reduce the prices as they do not want to compromise on product designs and materials used.

He, however, added that he hoped for a reduction in duties on watches, to five or six per cent from the current 20 per cent, to bring it on par with other Asean countries.

On December 16, 2004, the company is also planning to launch in India, V10K - the world's hardest watch. "It will be priced at Rs 1,93,000 and will be coated with hi-tech diamonds," Bhanot said.

V10K stands for Vickers 10,000. Vickers is a measure of hardness and 10,000 Vickers is the ultimate hardness that only diamonds can attain. It, therefore, means that diamond is the only material that will be able to scratch the upper surface of V10K.

"Rado has been growing at a rate of around 20 per cent and by far, it is the most successful Swiss watch company in the country. Among our products, Sintra, Ceramica and Integral have been doing quite well with the Indians," Bhanot said.

Rado had started its operations in India about 25 years back and it currently has about 100 retailers across the country, with three being in Andhra Pradesh.