Clock Is Ticking for Indian Watch Company

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  • Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
  • HMT mechanical watches were once the height of fashion in India. But time may be running out for the half-century old company. Photo: Jesse Pesta/The Wall Street Journal
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Комментарии • 128

  • @arungulia9231
    @arungulia9231 Год назад +44

    This is an update from 2023 that HMT was brought back to life again and people are going crazy again for its watches

    • @imagery526
      @imagery526 4 дня назад

      But the brand doesn't seem to care about the hype

  • @bol7
    @bol7 5 лет назад +143

    I’m a Japanese. I started to like watches recently, and Now I learned that there’s a great mechanical watch company in India. It is ironic that every Japanese watch companies, which made a big Quartz Shock in 70s, now struggle in the Smartphone Shock and go back into producing mechanical watches. HMT better hold on a little bit more, because people around the world already have boring quartz watches and smartphone, we need lovely mechanical watches!

    • @journal_of_a_time_traveller
      @journal_of_a_time_traveller 3 года назад +4

      hmt has stopped producing watches from 2017.

    • @biharijivandana6894
      @biharijivandana6894 3 года назад +11

      India won't forget how citizen from Japan helped our HMT. There was a time when Seiko rejected to help HMT.
      Thank you Japan.
      With love from India.
      🇮🇳🇯🇵 Always together

    • @journal_of_a_time_traveller
      @journal_of_a_time_traveller 3 года назад +3

      @@biharijivandana6894
      Seiko is a Japanese watch manufacturer.

    • @biharijivandana6894
      @biharijivandana6894 3 года назад +2

      @@journal_of_a_time_traveller Really I thought they are from Honolulu. 🤣
      Seiko being a japanese brand once declined to help HMT.
      And later they regretted as HMT was doing very well so later. They were ready to help Allwyn of Hyderabad.

    • @leonidjoseph5483
      @leonidjoseph5483 3 года назад

      I have lots of casios, hmt, titan, orient. Hmts are the oldest some 30years old. They all run. Just like the japanese made 35year old casio I have.

  • @starfthegreat
    @starfthegreat 2 года назад +58

    As a watch enthusiast this is a really sad story, HMT watches were proof that quality mechanical watches didn't have to be expensive products

    • @a.k6839
      @a.k6839 2 года назад +1

      I do agree with this nowadays it’s all bout quartz titan I hope they revive it soon

    • @adevopus6587
      @adevopus6587 11 месяцев назад

      The company as of 2023 is up and running.
      They have reintroduced it into the market. It unlikely that they will capture the mass market, but can serve a niche. Nonetheless the heritage continues. 2:27 2:27

  • @raomance
    @raomance 9 лет назад +47

    :'( I remember my dad gifting me a HMT watch when I was a kid. Best thing that ever happened to me.

    • @RAPPOSIR
      @RAPPOSIR 7 лет назад

      hi

    • @umeshajnjnu621
      @umeshajnjnu621 6 лет назад

      Shweta Rao what a nice movement we also lot of memories with hmt

  • @rishikeshjadhav8651
    @rishikeshjadhav8651 6 лет назад +21

    It already had heritage , all it needed was to give it a new lease of life by providing them nice factory, higher quality material , introduction of new models like dress watch , diver watch , gym watch and every day casual watch and few nice shops in higher end malls .
    Indians would have proudly purchased their OG INDIAN FIRST WRIST WATCH .

  • @a.k6839
    @a.k6839 2 года назад +14

    My grandfather told me numerous stories about hmt also his watch collection has been passed down to me which has a rare omega and Rolex but I don’t know why he still used hmt janata and rajat so here’s the story hmt wanted to start their first winding watch company to which they asked seiko for help but Japanese brand said no as they wanted to establish plant in india also citizen helped hmt during initial years providing them the knowledge and hence the first hmt was created known as janta as named by `Jawaharlal Nehru ‘the tagline holds (For the people ,by the people) a lot of people still holds hmt not because of the cheap price but because of emotion and history attached to it i still proudly wear janta it’s my everyday watch and has been with us for 50 years and i still have the original document and case with it. I hope I don’t lose it. Cheers to all hmt owners sadly the company has been shut because of funding but we still hope to bring it back.

  • @erwinabcd
    @erwinabcd 5 лет назад +20

    HMT product also well known in my country, Indonesia. its a shame if theyre ended up closed

    • @ksmanjuksmanju6739
      @ksmanjuksmanju6739 3 года назад +3

      In ur Country its well known but in india they praise the quality of these watches but they buy other watches... And now they ask hmt to be opened again...

  • @guslakis
    @guslakis 5 лет назад +40

    As an American, seeing this makes me sad, HMT allowed workers to have a decent life and to be proud of their work. I bought an HMT watch online recently and will be getting it soon.

    • @countdracula2695
      @countdracula2695 3 года назад +1

      How's it?

    • @guslakis
      @guslakis 3 года назад +4

      @@countdracula2695 , I still have it, enjoy it often.

    • @spadbob24
      @spadbob24 4 месяца назад

      Where can I buy it in US ?

  • @alongthebluff
    @alongthebluff 7 лет назад +18

    That is freaking sad, I really hope that HMT will rise again one day.

  • @adevopus6587
    @adevopus6587 11 месяцев назад +3

    I am in the watch trade (B2B), based in Bangalore.
    The company as of 2023 is up and running.
    They have re introduced it into the market. It unlikely that they will capture the mass market, but can serve a niche. Nonetheless the heritage continues.
    Am happy to be doing business with them again.

    • @leslinnnn
      @leslinnnn 8 месяцев назад

      Where is the company? I saw the jalahalli factory was shut and full of debris

    • @avinavrohan7761
      @avinavrohan7761 5 месяцев назад

      Hey dude, can you help me in getting a factory made original HMT Pilot (Black Dial) if you are doing business with them?

  • @ajitbiswas9473
    @ajitbiswas9473 5 лет назад +7

    I am from Bangladesh and I have a hmt watch.Its hurt me a lot when I heard that hmt shut down.Its break my heart.When next time I visit India I will buy couple of these classic watch...sorry for my english

  • @basedorientcoyote8883
    @basedorientcoyote8883 5 лет назад +14

    Please bring back HMT.. this brand was authentic, made great design , in house movement and at a good price.
    I'm not Indian but I love HMT watches and its honestly painful to see such a great heritage for India disapearing..

  • @kmathew5712
    @kmathew5712 8 лет назад +62

    Mr Narendra Modi...pls bring HMT back.....it is our heritage and an Indian legend....

    • @pstamaria
      @pstamaria 5 лет назад +8

      Yes dude I agree. I'm not Indian but I love the 2 HMT watches I have. They need to update their designs and SOPs. It's an Indian iconic heritage and should not be lost

    • @vla8398
      @vla8398 4 года назад

      Bro the design is iconic I have 5 HMT watches & you need to under that these are dress watches & will wear small but that's the uniqueness of these watches. HMT made so many watches but janata & pilot are the most iconic. The company became to this condition is because Indian people that the HMT watches were inferior to the flashier Titan & imported brands. Our own people killed our brand.

    • @kedarpuranik2350
      @kedarpuranik2350 3 года назад

      @@vla8398 private players are always productive, Chinese and japanese companies actually killed indian watch industry . but we cannot blame as darwin has said " survival of fittest ".

  • @quark31
    @quark31 3 года назад +8

    Please note the original HMT watch company was started in Bangalore in 1953, specializing in precision tools , the watch division set up in collaboration with Citizen Watch Co,Japan in 1961. Ranibagh was the last manufacturing division to be added.

  • @abinashmohapatra5152
    @abinashmohapatra5152 Год назад +4

    There is something special about owning a HMT watch. Fortunately I have been able to purchase 3 of them till now, very old, unsold stock from very old watch shops.

  • @kellykitkat40
    @kellykitkat40 6 лет назад +11

    Odd that they never thought to market them internationally - like the Swatch company did. Batteries are convenient, but the sound mechanical wind up watches make, may be more pleasant to many than the sound quartz automatics make. .. Or maybe they realized that they simply will not be able to employ as many persons as robots and AI computers takeover? Still "hand crafted" can be marketed more easily at higher prices. "Would you pay more to save a tuna fish?"

  • @marktuyet
    @marktuyet 8 лет назад +13

    what a shame . I would love to have a new HMT but all of the ones I have purchased from eBay have been horribly rebuilt . good luck to the people in the plant .

    • @04rit
      @04rit 8 лет назад +9

      Don't buy from eBay.
      Go for the online sale at the company's website.
      They still have some left and luckily I got mine in January.

    • @raviperi3749
      @raviperi3749 5 лет назад +4

      Pls buy from www.hmtwatches.in

  • @kellykitkat40
    @kellykitkat40 6 лет назад +6

    They should have simply raised prices. It is paradoxical, but sometimes raising prices results in higher demand, because people perceive it to be not the same product as before. "High price? - It's luxury" versus "It's cheap, therefore low class". But strictly speaking, Giffen goods according to economists do not exist.. well, maybe gasoline, in the sense that it is hoarded when the price goes up for fear that the price will increase even further. But in the absence of price expectations and seeing a product for what it is, and not inferring from a prive tag what it might be, there may be no such thing as a giffen good. See, wikipedia.

  • @ksmanjuksmanju6739
    @ksmanjuksmanju6739 3 года назад +2

    Hmt watches r gaining more demand while the company is closed now in india but we showed our back to it while it existed

  • @sreekumar7173
    @sreekumar7173 5 лет назад +3

    Thanks to my great mechanic I continue exhibitting my good old Janatha. Sure as a sign of subtle vanity...

  • @sumitgenzyme
    @sumitgenzyme Год назад +1

    The best of the bests.
    I am having 5 of them. 3 handwind and 2 automatic

  • @NirajMhatre08
    @NirajMhatre08 5 месяцев назад +1

    HMT never goes out of fashion

  • @sachinsingh-rh6fq
    @sachinsingh-rh6fq 3 года назад +1

    I still had my mother's 1984 hmt roshan watch ...

  • @gregorydsouza1330
    @gregorydsouza1330 Год назад +1

    Wonderful watches. Wish you all the success 👍👍👍👍🌄👍👍👍👍👍👍🌄

  • @rajendertkr
    @rajendertkr 6 лет назад +3

    I want to own a automatic watch pls continue the production nd improve it

  • @RikthDcruze
    @RikthDcruze 4 года назад +1

    My HMT watch is arriving soon!!

  • @anandad4965
    @anandad4965 2 года назад

    HMT watch is emotion of India.
    Save HMT....!!!!
    Live Long HMT....❤️🙏🙏🙏

  • @dracovenit9549
    @dracovenit9549 5 лет назад +2

    MAKE INDIA GREAT AGAIN!!!!!!!

  • @nayanvashistha5844
    @nayanvashistha5844 4 года назад

    Thankyou team wall street for making this video

  • @pabitrapratikdas6225
    @pabitrapratikdas6225 5 лет назад +1

    Ab bhi production chalu hay. Market chahiye. Uploder please tell us where there is the link of online purchases. Please

  • @AA-hi6os
    @AA-hi6os 2 года назад

    HMT needs to make a comeback!

  • @actube10
    @actube10 8 месяцев назад

    Great video thanks

  • @jgyasu
    @jgyasu Год назад +2

    HMT is back again, y'all!

    • @srashtasaha3150
      @srashtasaha3150 11 месяцев назад

      Ya just ordered a hmt Kohinoor from the website

  • @adityabhor8935
    @adityabhor8935 Год назад +1

    the company is not producing any mechanical watches these days. Good days will only come back if they market their products

  • @harshdhakad6798
    @harshdhakad6798 5 лет назад +2

    save hmt

  • @Narweeboy
    @Narweeboy 4 года назад +1

    Rather sad. Most mechanical watches today sell because of their heritage. Here is a company that has heritage and yet cannot survive.

  • @shinchan-n7g
    @shinchan-n7g 5 лет назад

    Love you hmt

  • @ShubhankarDolas
    @ShubhankarDolas Год назад

    i didnt know of this until very recently
    now im gonna get janata 17 jewels and few other finds

  • @kevink81
    @kevink81 3 года назад

    They are doing exactly the opposite of Japan. Japan stopped manufacturing arms and ammunition and moved to watches and other electronics. Today they are the best manufacturer of electronics and even watches.

  • @sailajasankarsadangi56
    @sailajasankarsadangi56 3 года назад

    It's the best mechanical watch company.... 🙏🙏

  • @user-jc1yz4qn2z
    @user-jc1yz4qn2z 2 года назад +1

    Hmt can be revived just like royal Enfield.

  • @bhavikshah5016
    @bhavikshah5016 5 лет назад

    very sad to see HMT in this state.. true heritage... dont let it die...

  • @gaganb6181
    @gaganb6181 4 года назад

    Let collaborate seiko with HMT and give it to Private company. HMT surely will be successful brand ... make in India. Wearing a watch of classic brand & classic style and just of simple design... it self gives a wonderful feeling. We have to walk on, ground even keeping our big dreams in mind

  • @NetworkGulf
    @NetworkGulf 5 лет назад

    Did not update design

  • @1994srinathable
    @1994srinathable 3 года назад

    I want one!

  • @mathewschacko3384
    @mathewschacko3384 4 года назад

    Try to do something to reborn Hmt....

  • @babuphanuel6656
    @babuphanuel6656 3 года назад

    I want HMT Pilot Dial& jantha Dials and glasses, Hands.

  • @Olive_Chap
    @Olive_Chap 6 лет назад

    Things get shut down in era of boom in buyers mean there is something flaw in product.. its ok if you want to keep retro design but you need to up game in quality.. sure it ll work only if indian private sector jump & buys the company.. with good management good orders & frugle r&d is only way forward for this or other companies

  • @aniruddhadas1385
    @aniruddhadas1385 4 года назад

    Please reopen HMT watches 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 ..

  • @RANA-tr6lf
    @RANA-tr6lf 3 года назад

    #wanthmtback

  • @starrdub
    @starrdub 2 года назад

    Anyone knows what happened in the time after the video was made?

    • @Aryanthakur-yt9bc
      @Aryanthakur-yt9bc Год назад +1

      hmt was shut down but group of workers started it again and they are having good sales and demand but they are always out of stock and you need to keep looking for it when it would be available

  • @praveendm
    @praveendm 4 года назад +1

    Government of India ...shameless ...has closed down many such government companies

    • @siddharthbhargava3459
      @siddharthbhargava3459 3 года назад +2

      During 2012-13, the company had losses of Rs 242 crore on revenues of only Rs 11 crore.

  • @thesinghchauhan2634
    @thesinghchauhan2634 3 года назад +2

    While the rest of the world makes watches, perfumes, great art, fashion, fine instruments and other great things. We Indians gloat over our past glories from centuries ago. India of the present times only produces humans to go overseas and work like slaves. Things are changing but the pace is incredibly slow. We need be like the Americans of the 1900s, Europe of the 1600s and Japan of the 1950s. India has the potential to be the next Glashutte or the next Detroit or Wetzlar. We're more than a mere Middle Class bubble that sacrifices on true glory for temporary safety of a job for yet another PWC or Microsoft. Nothing wrong with that, but true power is in production and creation. Why can't we make the next Mont Blanc or the next Leica or even the next Seiko ?

    • @satyabratamishra4670
      @satyabratamishra4670 9 месяцев назад

      got goosebumps reading that for you are so correct. indians must realise the value of their potential as we can be much better than this. we cannot let our potentials be wasted working for other countries. unfortunately we live in a divided country and most people want to get away from a toxic environment. there has hardly been unity among the citizens and we all have been overwhelmingly selfish beyond belief and then we end up complaining about india not advancing as a country. we were much better off than japan and china and we had all the support of the world during our independence and they are now among the most developed and powerful nations in the world while we seem to have not made a hint of progress.

  • @nagato8152
    @nagato8152 5 лет назад

    i have hmt chethan watch

  • @ogvintagelover1
    @ogvintagelover1 3 года назад

    Hmt is watch great

  • @shivashankarmaddhuri1001
    @shivashankarmaddhuri1001 2 года назад

    tata PLEASE save this company..

  • @joyspencer4203
    @joyspencer4203 3 года назад

    I seriously think HMT need to have some good designers may be as the Company still holds a good reputation in the country I too have a watch but the designs are pretty basic comparing from today's trend.

  • @madhurisingh2221
    @madhurisingh2221 7 лет назад +1

    antique HMT watch ko sell krna Ho to kahaa karen

  • @gaurav0883
    @gaurav0883 5 лет назад +1

    😭😭

  • @animeshcdac
    @animeshcdac 2 года назад

    Very sad to see 😭

  • @fromzerotospyro
    @fromzerotospyro 5 лет назад

    I hope the suggestion to repurpose the factory to make ammunition was a joke

  • @Yashcky_
    @Yashcky_ Год назад

    Its sad...

  • @vedantchorge304
    @vedantchorge304 Год назад

    Iam going to buy a hmt tocontribute in increasing demand

  • @jkd4725
    @jkd4725 4 года назад

    I have 10 hmt watch.

  • @unnikrishnan5007
    @unnikrishnan5007 Год назад

    people who worked in HMT show very rigid mindset and not known the truth that world has changed a lot with watch making and need of the new generation customers
    Sales department is poorly learned competition outside, though they make watches for others but not realized that time moved ahead

  • @TheNikhilduggal
    @TheNikhilduggal Год назад

    Hmt janta is very old.

  • @ashwinkumars1727
    @ashwinkumars1727 6 лет назад

    I plan to buy in paytm for 599

  • @sayyedadil9355
    @sayyedadil9355 3 года назад

    मुझे पूरी उम्मीद है हमारे अच्छे दिन लौटेंगे 2:10

  • @faisuhaneef5951
    @faisuhaneef5951 Месяц назад

    U

  • @deepakkadam8801
    @deepakkadam8801 5 лет назад

    Bas Naam Hi Kafi Hai Galli Se Lekar Dilli Chote Se Lekar Bade Tak Har Koi Naam Janata Hai H M T Ka Old Is Gold Aap Log Nirash Na Ho Bhagavan Ke Ghar Der Hai Par Andher Nahi Mai Aap Logo Ke Liye Bhagavan Se Prathana Karunga Aap Ki Har Eccha Manokamana Puri Ho Bure Din Jayege Acche Din Jarur Aayege Ye Mera Visvas Hai

  • @syedakbar77
    @syedakbar77 4 года назад

    Such irony, there is such huge market for hand made Mechanical watches and we lost it. This is short sight and anti socialist mindset

  • @Amp1771
    @Amp1771 5 лет назад

    India needs to save this. Modi claims to make india self reliant so why ain't he helping this company? He just cares more about electricity and gas and phone companies. I'm buying 2 today!

    • @siddharthbhargava3459
      @siddharthbhargava3459 3 года назад +1

      During 2012-13, the company had losses of Rs 242 crore on revenues of only Rs 11 crore.

  • @faheemahmadkhan2933
    @faheemahmadkhan2933 3 года назад

    आप लोग एच एम टी घडी कयो नहीं बनाते हैं

  • @aaryansmarty23
    @aaryansmarty23 6 лет назад

    I am a Designer.
    I design watches are accessories. Ian having unique concept watches.
    please give me a chance to work with HMT.

    • @rishikeshjadhav8651
      @rishikeshjadhav8651 6 лет назад

      Arjun Sharma First learn to speak ,read and write in eng language.

  • @kellykitkat40
    @kellykitkat40 6 лет назад +3

    My guess they produced too much variety and thus diluted the brand. .. Like Levi's Jeans... too many number models to choose from now, that few remember "the 501". ... You say Porsche, who does not think, "911"... HMT .. Pilot, Janata, Sona (but not "real sona".. only "sona-plated".. not cool). But HMT Pilot is still cool. It looks Timex 50s American, but few in America, and many in India too have never heard of HMT - awful marketing. The engineering though, is stunning.

    • @roogty
      @roogty 6 лет назад

      Kelly KitKat
      Your insight is stunning..

  • @partinagwar3650
    @partinagwar3650 2 года назад

    Jobhi.
    .is .coment
    Ko .dakhrahoe.hmt. warldfemashcompani.,tha..hindustan,..
    Ithni..bheekhari..hogaya..HMT..watch
    Bandho..hogaya..hmtkelie..apsose
    HMT..ko..tata...leletokuchh...hojaye

  • @adityamodak2189
    @adityamodak2189 Год назад

    i am longing to buy one 🥲