Swatch eyes 80% of Indian luxury watch pie in 2 years

Indian luxury watch segment expected to touch Rs 1,000 crore in couple of years

The $3.2-billion Swatch group expects to carve out for itself an 80 per cent share of the Indian luxury watch market in the next two years. The Indian luxury watch segment is around Rs 600 crore now and is expected to touch Rs 1,000 crore in a couple of years.

Launching Longines 'evidenza' collection in the city at Meena Jewellers here on Thursday, Gopalratnam Kannan, country manager of Swatch Group India Private Limited, said that the rising disposal incomes and high aspirations of the youth, especially women, were driving the market for luxury watches in the country.

"With the launch of the Longines evidenza range, we bring to our Hyderabad patrons a tradition of Swiss craftsmanship complemented with unmistakable elegance of Longines watches," he said.

Meena Jewellers presented the new range of Longines through a thematic presentation and fashion show.

The new range is made of high quality materials, polished steel or 18 karat yellow or pink gold. They come with details such as domed, scratch-resistant sapphire crystals, underscoring the elegance of overall design. Fitted with a silver or black dial, they are priced upwards of Rs 44,000.

Kannan said the Longines collection was available at 36 showrooms across the country. Longines is one of the 18 brands of Swatch group.

So far, five brands "� Omega, Tissot, Swatch, Rado and Longines "� of Swatch have been introduced in the country. The Swatch group was planning to launch a few more brands during this year, he said.