The Bengaluru campus of Titan Company Ltd. feels more like a modern tech hub than the headquarters of India’s biggest watch and jewelry brand. Over 3,000 employees move between sleek buildings, sipping tea or coffee in open spaces, while overseeing the design and production of nearly 15 million watches each year most of them for the Indian market.
“We have no trouble finding talent,” says Himanish Mukherjee, Titan’s Head of Product, as he walks past a small lake dotted with swans and ducks outside the company’s three main buildings. Bengaluru formerly Bangalore is India’s technology capital, home to about 14 million people and a major driver of the country’s IT exports.
Founded in 1984 as a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, Titan was created to make watches for the Indian consumer. The company began with quartz-powered models, working with France Ebauches, Seiko, and Citizen to produce stylish, affordable timepieces. Four decades later, for many Indians, their first watch was a Titan.
Today, Titan makes 50,000–60,000 watches daily. It’s the world’s fifth-largest watchmaker by volume and one of India’s most recognizable homegrown brands. While the company has expanded into bags, eyewear, saris, and especially jewelry its Tanishq brand now brings in over 80% of sales watchmaking remains a core strength. Titan controls around 60% of India’s traditional watch market and 27% of the overall market, thanks to more than 3,000 stores nationwide, including its Helios chain.
Quartz watches are still the heart of Titan’s business 95% of production. Out of 15 million watches a year, only about 120,000 are mechanical. “India is a country of contrasts,” says Kalplana Rangamani, Titan’s Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for premium watches. “Quartz is still very relevant here, especially in the fashion watch segment.”
That doesn’t mean Titan lacks innovation. Its Edge series, launched in 2002, remains one of the world’s thinnest quartz watches just 3.5 mm thick thanks to an in-house movement design that integrates the caseback into the mainplate. The Edge has since expanded into mechanical versions, reflecting a growing interest in traditional timepieces among younger Indians who once favored wearables.
The premium push is working. In Titan’s most recent quarter, watches and wearables sales rose 24%, analog watch sales jumped 28%, and profit margins climbed 23%.
A short drive from Bengaluru is Hosur, home to Titan’s first and largest watch factory. The sprawling site produces both entry-level and high-end watches. In one building, rows of workers assemble movements and attach hands to dials. In another, under tight security, gold bracelets and cases for Titan’s Nebula line are crafted.
Nebula is Titan’s luxury brand, always in precious metals. In 2024, Titan made its first mechanical tourbillon an in-house design refined with help from Swiss partners. Only four were made, and while technically impressive, it didn’t reflect Indian heritage.
The new Jalsa, unveiled in July, changes that. Three years in the making, it’s housed in 18k rose gold with a band of red agate. The star is its hand-painted marble dial, created by Padma Shri award-winning miniature artist Shakir Ali. Each of the ten pieces depicts Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal on its 225th anniversary, complete with the royal procession of Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. The detail from elephant skin to embroidered silk is extraordinary.
A sapphire magnifier on the minute hand sweeps across the dial, zooming in on the art or the flying tourbillon, which is visible through a cutout. The hand-wound movement, built in-house with Swiss input, has 144 parts and 14 jewels, runs at 3 Hz, and offers a 48-hour power reserve. Even the movement bridges are made from the same red agate as the case.
At 43.5 mm wide, 14.5 mm thick, and priced at ₹40.5 lakhs (about €45,000), the Jalsa is aimed at India’s wealthy elite. “This is more than a watch,” says Titan CEO C.K. Venkataraman. “It’s a cultural artefact.” Titan has entered it in the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in the Artistic Crafts category, where it will compete against the likes of Louis Vuitton and Piaget.
With India’s $10 billion luxury market growing faster than France’s and bigger than Switzerland’s, Titan believes its blend of Indian art and high-end watchmaking has a ready audience at home and perhaps, soon, abroad.
