Like Father Like Daughter

When my daughter was born, i was the happiest man on earth. My joy knew no bounds. I always wanted a daughter and i already had a name in my mind - Kaveri. The lifeline of Karnataka and Tamil nadu. I really loved the name but when it came to the naming ceremony i was severely opposed by majority and i could not name my own daughter. This was much before my fascination of HMT watches. Years passed and i became enamored with HMT watches. I was surprised when i came to know that i have a namesake watch from HMT and after alot of legging around, i acquired one. Much later i was going through the HMT pricelist one day and i came across HMT Kaveri. My daughter was sitting next to me and she knew how I wanted to name her Kaveri. She requested me to get that watch for her. Within a few days i bought one for her. When I bought it, we were surprised to see the striking resemblance it has with HMT Prashanth. Though HMT Prashanth is an automatic watch and Kaveri a hand winding watch they do look inspired by eachother. I couldn't name my daughter Kaveri but HMT created a watch so similar to the one her dad owns now. My daughter is too young to wear an HMT Kaveri now but one day i am sure she will wear it with a lot of pride.

HMT Kaveri on my daughter's wristth automatic- My Namesake

HMT Kaveri on my Daughter's wrist

HMT Skeleton watches

Through this blog I share information about the HMT Skeleton watches. HMT released four different types of skeleton watches since the 1990s :

1. Hand winding Skeleton  watches
2. Quartz Skeleton watches
3. Jhalak - Semi skeleton watches
4. Automatic Skeleton watches

Out of these the first two were arguably a failure at the time of release and were made in limited quantities and thus have become very rare to come across and even rarer to collect. Let me take you through their journey one by one.

1. Hand winding Skeleton  watches. This watch was released in the early 90s and is popularly known as Sona skeleton watch as it is in a gold plated case and has a gold plated 0231 hand winding movement. The case is relatively thin and the dial has an inner bezel with Roman numeral marking the hour and minutes. The exposed gold plated movement plate has design markings on it adding to its charm and has black color stick hands.These watches came on both leather and gold plated steel bracelets. This watch was released in the 1990s and were not well received by its customer as most of the public attention was towards quartz watches.This is one watch that can be termed super rare and is on the wish list of every HMT watch collector. The same treatment was received there competitor Allwyn's skeleton watches. These Sona skeleton watches became the base for the semi skeleton Jhalak watches 

   

   HMT Hand winding skeleton watch from an HMT watch brochure

   
   

   

   HMT Skeleton watch in person

2. HMT Quartz skeleton watches.These watches were released in 1990s and have HMT 2150 quartz movement with non decorated movement. The inner bezel that acts as a dial had baton/stick/jewel indices and black colored stick hands. These watches also did not appeal the customers because of its looks as more appealing quartz watches were available in the market.This watch is so rare that i am yet to see one in person. Most of the HMT watch collectors are not even aware of its presence.

   

   Skeleton quartz watch

3. HMT Jhalak - Semi skeleton watches. These watches never got their dues from the customers and its only much later that its fan following increased and has now reached a cult status among HMT watch collectors. These watches were released with three dial color variants - White, Yellow and black. These have a pie shaped cavity on the dial between 8 and 10 hour markers through which one can see the decorated gold plated movement plate with the escape wheel in motion. These came on attractive leather straps and just like other HMT skeleton watches came with black colored stick hands.
   
   
   

   

   Picture Courtesy Raja Sekhar

   
   
   
4. HMT Automatic skeleton watches - This is the most expensive automatic watch from the house of HMT. It was released in the year 2013 and was priced at INR 9500 for the gold plated version and INR 9250 for the stainless steel version. Later in the year 2015 its prices were increased to INR 10500 and now they are listed at INR 12440.The versions released in 2013 and 2015 came in two case variants.Golden version came with a fluted bezel and gold plated 8N24 movement and mirror finish golden inner ring and a golden dial.Steel one came with a polished plain bezel and stainless steel movement and a steel mirror finish golden ring and white dial. 8N24 is the skeleton 8205 movement. These had painted blue hands and mineral crystal on top.The dials further came in two variants one with arabic numerals and the other one with studded crystals. The one that has been released in 2018 has polished golden case with white/golden dial and studded crystals along with gold plated 8N24 movement and painted blue hands.The 2018 version is currently listed on the www.hmtwatches.in although i must warn you that these get sold out in seconds.

   

   2013-2015 Crystal studded HMT Automatic skeleton watch Pic courtesy Jayatirtha Karunam

   
   

   

   Arabic numeral Gold plated variant. 2013/2015 issue .Pic courtesy Gaurav Mehta
   

   
   

   

   Arabic numeral stainless steel case version 2013/2015 issue

   
   

   

   2018 issue pic courtesy HMT ltd

   
   

   

   2018 issue pic courtesy HMT

   
   

   

   HMT packaging for 2018 issue . Pic courtesy Ravee C Kuppuswamy 

   
   

   

   HMT packaging for 2018 issue . Pic courtesy Ravee C Kuppuswamy 

   
   

   

   HMT packaging for 2018 issue . Pic courtesy Ravee C Kuppuswamy 

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

I thank you for reading this long block. As always your feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Dard ka Rishta - HMT Kanchan.

Due to a physical ailment ailment, I have to attend physiotherapy sessions. During the sessions, amidst the casual chitchat, I usually keep gazing at my watch admiring it's beauty. A few days back, I had this HMT Kanchan watch on my wrist, the physiotherapist said, "My father used to wear an HMT Kanchan watch too. He got it for his marriage and used to wear it every day." "Really, that's great..would love to see it", - I asked. "It must be still with him, he was buried with his watch on his wrist, his beloved watch......". I murmured an apology and a stony silence resumed between us for the rest of the session. "Can you please wear this watch tomorrow as well?" - She requested. From that day, I wear this watch every day to the session. She loves looking at it and sharing fond memories of her father and how badly she misses him, but now in a more cheerful manner.In a way, these sessions help both of us in getting relieved of our pains. I am amazed by how a familiar watch could connect two unfamiliar people. In our case, we are connected by a Dard ka Rishta (Related by pain) thanks to the HMT Kanchan watch. I intend to gift her this watch on the last day of our session, will update all of you on her reaction.

(Edited for sharing an update) I am required to continue with physiotherapy for a few more weeks but luckily i got an option to attend the session at my office during the working hours itself. I updated my physiotherapist at the hospital about this development. I told her, how much i appreciate her sharing the dear memories of her late father and that i would want her to keep the watch as a parting gift. To my dismay, she politely refused to accept my request. She said her organization does not allow her to accept gifts from customers, it would be unethical on her part to accept the watch from me. I decided not to pester her as i could not ask her to do anything that can be interpreted unethical. She thanked me for the offer and said that she enjoyed and would always remember our discussions. I told her, that though i would have been much happier, had she accepted the watch as a gift. Nonetheless, i understand and appreciate her decision and that every time i would wear this watch, it would remind me of her and her father .

Dear friends,not every story has an ending as we expect it to be, but then, that's life and who knows, there might be another story which is getting unfolded waiting for an audience.    

A Curtain Call – Closing down of the HMT Lucknow Showroom

HMT watch showroom, Lucknow

My Association with HMT watch showroom,Lucknow started with my purchase of HMT Jawan watch from it. I had asked my co-brother to do me the favor of purchasing the watch and sending it to me in Bangalore.The generous staff members kept the showroom opened beyond the working hours and gave the necessary directions to my co-brother on phone as his driver sped through the lanes of lalbagh to help me get my watch. I ended up picking a Vijay lume and Janata deluxe as well along with Jawan. I visited Lucknow earlier this year and met with the other members of HMT watch collectors at the showroom . The showroom was at the verge of closure and it was sad to experience their state of affairs. 

A fellow HMT watch enthusiast and friend,Ashutosh Anand, from Lucknow who has been a regular at the showroom shares his experiences of his association with the showroom,below:

My family association with HMT Lucknow showroom goes back to 1991 when my Late Grandfather bought a HMT Quartz watch from HMT showroom, then located at the centre of the city i.e. M.G. Road, Lucknow.

I still have that watch in working condition, its original bill, box and warranty card booklet containing instructions and addresses of HMT showrooms and service centres across the country.
With time, as sales went down, HMT could not afford the rent of the showroom at MG Road and they had to be shifted to BN Road, Lalbagh area.

My association with HMT Lucknow Lalbagh showroom goes back to March 2012 when I visited Lucknow during my holidays. I did not know about the shifting of the showroom and searched its telephone number on yellow pages to check if it was open,called them and came to know about its new location and nearest landmark "Noor Manzil".It took me about an hour by auto and then cycle rickshaw to reach there, as the location was unknown to me.

The first appearance of the showroom, it had a big board, displaying HMT Company Watch Showroom -  a subsidiary of HMT Limited, a Government. of India undertaking which appeared painted more than a decade ago.When I entered, it appeared like an old hall or a government building, with high roofs, old window fittings near roof for natural light, wooden partitions for showroom, service centre and regional office.

I found 5 showcases with different categories of watches being displayed along with posters of prestigious HMT watches and one of Mahatma Gandhi on partition walls.The person there (who was the manager) asked me - what can I do for you. I said -  I am the same person who called up,our conversation thus started. Along with the manager, the other HMT employees there too who joined the conversation.As they rarely found people interested in HMT Watches, they were surprised to see my interest in and our conversation lasted for about two plus hours which was about watches, their experiences of golden days of HMT, their training days along with some tea and snacks.

I asked them if HMT Janata 12-3-6-9 was there in stock. (At that time I did not know it was known as Art Deco variant). I already had the Devanagri "Janata" printed variant. As the watch was not in showcase, the manager was kind enough to get searched it in the stocks and found one Tumkur made art deco Janata for me.I was really happy. He then showed me a series of ADSL automatic watches along with a newly released ADSL04. He recommended me ADSL04 and I bought that too along with the classic Janata.He prepared the bills and warranty cards for both watches and I came back with wishing them, thanks and "Fir Milenge" (till we meet again.)

After that, I could visit them only in 2014 when I had to get my grandfather's watch serviced and I bought a black dial Jhalak on this visit. The manager recognized me and this time too we again had a long chat. I used to tell them that I write my suggestions to HMT management to either start online shopping and deliver watches via India Post or to tally up with leading e-commerce websites and they used recognize my efforts with their inputs on it.

In September 2014 the news of shut down came. After which, I started visiting various HMT showrooms frequently, because I felt only a few days are left for the showroom to exist. I even had an opportunity to meet the General Manager of WFR while he was on visit there.

We were lucky to have organized, HMT Watch Collectors meet at Lucknow showroom this year before it closed. It was a nice time to meet Prashant, Vardhan along with HMT staff.
Unfortunately, HMT Lucknow showroom was in the list of showrooms to be phased out first as it could not generate enough revenue to survive on its own, the showroom was closed down in mid of April 2015.
 

Left to Right - Prashant Pandey, A Customer, Mr. Mathur (HMT Staff), Ashutosh Anand and Vardhan Mittal 

In my last few visits, I saw the managers and staff packing up all the watches in stocks, preparing inventory lists as they had to send them back to HMT, as last part of their duties. Finally, they had to close down the showroom cum office they were associated with for a long time.The service engineer who was on contractual wages became unemployed.It was a sad day for both the HMT staff as well as watch collectors like me.

I wish HMT management had taken steps to improve HMT watches presence and existence in market, their online presence, sales on e-commerce, I believe HMT employees would have not to see such a day...

A Curtain Call – Closing down of the HMT Bangalore Unity Building Showroom

HMT Showroom Unity Building

HMT company showroom in the Unity buildings, J.C.Road was one of the oldest HMT showroom in India. This showroom was opened in the early 70s and had visitors from all across the country and world. My association with the showroom started with a phone call to enquire about the availability of HMT Pilot watches. Soon, the showroom became my favourite hang out.I met many interesting people at the showroom and learnt from their experiences.I shared some of these experiences through my blogs Link blog 1 , Link Blog 2 . Few months back,HMT watch company decided to close its showroom in a phased manner and this showroom was one of them.After the closure of the showroom, Mr Bhagavan has taken up the charge of the new HMT showroom in Bangalore at first floor of Barton Center , M G Road Bangalore.I shall be posting a blog soon on my first visit to the showroom.

A fellow collector,blogger and friend Varun Iyengar was at the showroom on the day of closure and below is an eye witness account from him.

My journey with HMT has been since 2009 where I used to visit showrooms just to see the vast collection of HMT watches wich I never used to buy. I always used to consider myself an enthusiast rather than a collector of sorts. Incidentally my first watch was a Janata art deco variant followed by a couple of Pilots and Sonas.

Some of the HMTs that I purchased initially were from either the two showrooms in Bangalore one in Unity Building and other being Jalahalli (CSD). I used to prefer the Jalahalli showroom during my initial years since it was near to my place of work. Later as time passed I shifted to Unity Building due to its location. I used to spend my Saturday afternoons at the Unity building showroom looking at the red velvet steps in the showroom filled with an array of watches from the HMT stables. All these are history today.

Sometime in mid 2010 I had for the first time visited the Unity Building in search of a Janata for my classmate/colleague who was pestering me for a long time. Though I did not get one but got introduced to Mr. Bhagavan who introduced himself first and later I introduced myself saying I am an academician (and a student of sorts). He also gave me his visiting card. This meeting still reverberates in my mind whenever I here Unity Building from someone. In the same visit I also happen to pick up HMT Pilot which I gave it to one of my friend later. I have never tried to ask technical questions to Mr. Bhagavan all these years but have never failed to ask for watches that I can pick up. I also remember asking him a HMT Jawan for which his reply was try hard you will find it and I don’t have it. Later in years to come I have picked numerous watches from this showroom starting from the very basic HMT Vijays and Varuns to the classy Chronograph. I have also left a series of watches like HMT Sweekars thinking that I will have time to pick up later (which was a mistake that I made). The Unity Building has now become hotspot for all the HMT watch collectors and enthusiasts to meet, exchange notes and impart knowledge. For the last few years it had become a routine to meet some fantastic people and learn something new. But the sad part is the showroom is gone for ever.

Last year in the month of September the news of HMT closure shattered the hearts of many HMT collectors and enthusiasts. Then the news trickled saying all the showrooms would be closed. The first one to bite the dust in Bangalore was the Unity Building showroom. I got to know they would close on a certain day, and was not prepared to go and meet Mr. Bhagavan there because I was not ready to confront a disappointment. But one of my friend (a HMT collector) forced me to come to meet him at Unity Building which turned the tables. That was the last day of the showroom. I just entered the showroom and saw Mr. Bhagavan was arranging the watches in boxes and the tables were shifted to the corners. I spoke with him regarding the imminent closure and wished him all the best. I also in the meantime asked Mr. Bhagavan’s permission to take a picture of him to which his reply was a stern no but later he obliged for the same. I thanked him for all the help and also thanked him for helping out people all these years. After a long chat with Mr. Bhagavan finally the time had arrived for me to depart with a heavy heart. I bid good bye for one final time to the HMT showroom and head back home. Thank you HMT and its professionals for all what you have done for these many years and good bye. Here are some pictures from the last day of HMT Unity Building Showroom.

Mr. Bhagavan from Unity Building

 

The Final Journey for the Showroom Begins

 

Empty Racks in One of the Oldest Showrooms in Karnataka

  

The Final Hurrah - Showroom on the Last Day 

A Curtain Call – Closing down of the HMT Chennai Showroom

The Curtain Call – The closing down of the HMT Chennai Showroom

HMT Chennai Showroom

My association with HMT Chennai showroom goes back to the year 2013. It began with a phone call, asking them if they had any of my favourite HMT watches in stock. This was followed by an overnight bus journey over the week end. The visit helped me tick-off a dozen HMT watches from my wish list. I made some good friends at the showroom who helped me a lot in my journey as a collector and enthusiast.

In the last few months, HMT watches have started closing off their showrooms in major cities of India and a few days back their showroom in Chennai closed its operations. The news of its closure brought back so many memories. It’s been quite a while that I could visit them and now it’s too late. Below is an eyewitness account from my friend Jaideep Ramdas, an HMT watch collector and enthusiast from Chennai

  

I had visited my favourite showroom one fine Friday, a couple of weeks back. It had been a while since I had been there, owing to work and other commitments. I was in for a shock when I saw the state of the showroom. It was completely rearranged and seemed different. The display shelves were moved to a corner and their red velvet steps empty. These were the same shelves that I use to keep gazing at longingly. Once packed with HMT watches, they were now bare. Huge steel cupboards, the Godrej almirahs, the staple of every Indian household and offices were all lined up together. It was always a pleasure when Mr. Govindaraj opened these. You could always expect a surprise, a grey dial Sameer or a nice HMT watch strap. There were packed cardboard boxes everywhere and some heavy vintage pedestal fans.

Mr. Govindaraj, seeing the expression on my face, explained to me that they had started the process of closing down the showroom. All the things were getting packed and being sent to HMT Bangalore. Apart from that, some old cupboards and fans would be auctioned internally. Though I knew the showroom was going to close, seeing it happen was very sad. The Chennai Showroom was and will always be very special to me. A majority of my collection were purchased from this showroom. It was from the Chennai showroom (at a different location) that I started on my watch journey after reading that famous post on HMT Pilot watch by Frans Mattez. My first purchase was a Janata and a Sona.

For the last four years, a visit to this showroom and long chats with Mr. Govindaraj and other members of this team was my routine on Saturdays. The knowledge and the rich experience these people possessed was amazing and they were willing to share it. Our discussions were quite informative and enjoyable Mr. Govindarajan, Mr.Natraj , Mr.Nagaraj and Ms. Divya were a huge support in my watch collecting journey. I consider it my good fortune to have met them, learnt from them and also am guided by them in this endeavour. The Chennai showroom was also a meeting point of other watch collectors who later became friends. It was great to meet another person who had an interest in HMT watches and chat. Every visit to the showroom would be a surprise because

you never knew what you were going to get, whom you were going to meet or what you were going to learn.

Last Saturday, when I visited the showroom, it was in the final stages of closure. Though I was mentally prepared, I still felt sad. One of the most iconic brands was shutting down its presence in my city. The highlight of the day was meeting Mr. Muhamad Bakhar, a former employee and one of the senior most technicians. It was great talking to him about watches and his experiences with the company. As I bid bye to the HMT showroom and the team, I could not help thinking of them. These people along with the other HMT staff represent a breed of committed professionals and are the unsung heroes of brand HMT. They have kept the flag of HMT watches flying high inspite of the circumstances.

Hats off to you gentlemen! Here’s wishing you all success.

L to R - Mr. Nagraj, Mr Natraj, Mr Govindaraj, Mr.Jaideep

L to R - Mr. Muhamad Bakhar,Mr. Nagraj, Mr Natraj, Mr Govindaraj,Mr.Shekar

The Great Indian Marriages and HMT Kanchan Watches

In India, marriage is not just a ceremony, it’s a carnival, a festival full of glitters, lights, pomp and show!. Traditionally a wrist watch is one of the many gifts that a groom would get in his marriage. It was an integral part of the most of the engagement ceremonies. I always wondered what could be the significance of this gift. My take on this is that the family wishes the couple to have a good time and a good watch would bring them luck. It’s a natural human tendency to draw parallels between similar events. Often in the marriages that I have attended I hear the earlier generations remember their marriages and the good old days with a lot of fondness. During my discussions with those who got married in the late 70's and the 80's a few things were pretty common in the marriage ceremonies, the groom cherished a brand new Bajaj scooter, a two-in-one stereo music system and a good watch. The most sought after watch and a favorite with the grooms at that time was the HMT Kanchan automatic watch. The demand for this watch would spike specially during the marriage season i.e. auspicious days to get married as per the Hindu calendar. People would queue in front of HMT showrooms before the opening time to ensure that they get the watch before it got sold out but had to often return empty handed for the demand was always more than the supply of these watches. People would book a Kanchan watch in advance to ensure its availability on the right time. Some also brought letters of recommendations from ministers to skip the waiting list for a Kanchan watch. Times changed in late 80's and early 90's when Titan started producing quartz watches and replaced the Kanchan watch which as the most sought after watch of an Indian wedding.

Kanchan means “Gold/Golden” in Hindi and true to its name the watch looks as if it was made of gold - case, dial, hands, indices, bracelet and even the days in the watch were all gold plated. Gold is the most auspicious metal for Indians especially Hindus and thus the watch provided the required auspiciousness and glitter to the marriage ceremony. Also, An HMT Kanchan automatic watch looks quite similar to the Rado diastar watches and thus became the next best thing to the expensive Rado watches. Therefore Kanchan Automatic became an integral part of the Indian weddings.

HMT also issued Kedar automatic watch which also shared a striking similarity to the Rado Diastar watches. HMT Kanchan is also one of the most serviced watch in HMT service centres indicating the huge number of Kanchan watches sold at one time by HMT and it being the symbol of the fond memories for its owners who want to keep the watch running.

HMT Kanchan watch had a reliable day and date HMT 6500 in-house movement with a screw-off watch back. The dial size was 35-36 mm and inserted gold plated indices marking the hours on its dial. Normally with 6500 movement the days would be in grey color but in this watch they were in golden colour which made it quite different from the other HMT automatic watches with the 6500 movement. This watch was available with option of a gold polished steel bracelet or a leather strap.

Later on HMT stopped the manufacturing of Kanchan automatic and released the HMT Kanchan Premium automatic series. This watch was released in white, black and golden dial with an 8205 movement. The dial was similar to the earlier Kanchan watch at 35-36mm diameter. It had a guilloche/graphic dial as compared to the plain dial of HMT Kanchan watch. This watch was available with option of a gold polished steel bracelet or a leather strap.

With time HMT stopped the production of HMT Kanchan automatic and released the Kanchan supreme watches. It has a bigger dial around 43-46mm and is currently produced at the HMT Bangalore factory. This watch has an 8205 movement and comes in white, golden and black dial variants. The dial and hands of this watch is quite different from the earlier models. This watch is currently available in HMT showrooms across India. 

Recent visit to HMT Watches Tumkur showroom

“Ok…will meet you at 9 am tomorrow at Majestic bus stand” said Raaj confirming his participation in the HMT Watch Hunt at Tumkur. In my earlier blog I have mentioned about my HMT Hunting trips. This Trip to Tumkur was one such trip and was quite eventful. Next day I left my house at eight in the morning and boarded one of the Vajra- red buses to reach Majestic Bus station. Being a Saturday morning the roads were vacant and so were the seats in my bus.

“Give me a ticket to majestic bus station. Please” I requested. “That would be Rs. 50” Replied the polite bus conductor. I gave him the money and he handed me my ticket. “That is an interesting watch on your wrist” I said. He gave me a surprised look and said “It’s an HMT watch”. “How long have you been wearing this watch” I asked. “Since 1992 after I joined the BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation)” replied the conductor. “That’s a long time..you never thought of moving to a quartz watch” I probed further. “Yes,21 years is a long time sir....but you see..It’s an automatic watch…It does not require a battery…I like this watch and I don’t want a quartz watch that might conk off and leave me stranded because of a dead battery..In 21 years I took my watch only once to the repair shop to repair its case” was his proud answer.

I reached my destination on time. We took the bus to Tumkur and spent the journey sharing our experiences in life and of course discussed about HMT watches.

We reached Tumkur at around 10 AM. I bought the HMT Sweekar and the HMT Sanjay from the showroom along with an Astra digital that a friend wanted.I had been searching for both Sweekar and Sanjay watches for a long time. The search finally ended in Tumkur. 

We also saw a very old Shakti Quartz watch which had come for getting serviced at the showroom. It was quite a beautiful watch. HMT had produced quite a few mechanical and quartz watches in the Shakti series of watches.

I was talking to the sales manager asking him when he would get the next stock of watches when Raaj called out to me “Prashant, you need to see this”. There on the counter was a Golden dial Sona watch. “This watch belonged to my father and I have re-conditioned it and have kept it safe in the memory of my late father” Replied the gentleman behind the counter. I inspected the watch and yes it was an Old Sona watch. The leather strap on the watch was replaced by a golden bracelet. You might might find it interesting to know that the Older HMT watches have their second’s hand shorter than a minute hand and longer than the hour’s hand.

I could sense the pride with which the son showed off his father’s memory and with that we left the showroom to start our Journey back. As I was travelling back to Bangalore, memories of the day lingered on my mind and I said to myself – these watches are not only tools of precision but also emotions.

HMT Rajat – A complete review.

HMT Rajat has been one of the most iconic watches from the HMT watch company. This watch has seen the evolution of automatic watch movements and has adorned the wrists of generations.

(Click on this link to check my YouTube video review on HMT Rajat watches and how to decode their case codes HMT Rajat Automatic full review )

Initially HMT released its automatic watches in 1974 . These were watches with day and date functions/complications and a with a bi-directional automatic watch movement. These were released in three case variants stainless steel,Gold Plated case and anodized aluminium cases. These later became HMT Rajat, HMT Kanchan and HMT Kajal respectively. From 1974-78 HMT used imported movements and parts from Citizen watch company,Japan and assembled watches in India.HMT Rajat was initially released in two variants one as HMT Automatic Day-Date and another one as HMT automatic on the dial and after a few years it was renamed as Rajat but the HMT Automatic and HMT Automatic Day-Date were still in production along with Rajat till the time HMT became capable of making everything in house or through ancillary units in India.These used Bidirectional movements 6906 and and 6901 respectively. 

White Dial HMT Automatic Day-Date Model

HMT Automatic White Dial 

HMT Automatic Day-Date Watch 

HMT Automatic Black Star Dist effect dial

In 1978 factory no 2 was made which made most of HMT Watch components with only a few imported from Citizen watch Company Japan. From 1978 onwards HMT started using 6902 unidirectional movement in its watches with "U" mentioned on their dials near the six o'clock position.

Guilloche pattern HMT Rajat- Unidirectional movement 

Milky white version 

One with exposure to Sun patina/natural color effect 

Off-white dial version 

Different original case variants

Black dial broad indices with red stripes.

 Black dial with different calligraphy of Rajat variant

 Sunburst dial with lumed markers and hands

Lumed indices and hands variant

In the 80s HMT Rajat started getting manufactured with 6500 Bidirectional movement. 

Silver Dial stick indices

Black Dial Stick indices Version

The 6500 got phased out in the early 90sand introduced 8205 bi directional movement. This had a quick set day and date unlike the earlier movements which had only quick set date and non quick.set day movement. These movements were used in Sujay, Dilip, Kailash etc. HMT used an imported 8205 movement for a much refined and bigger in size as Rajat Supreme. The traditional Rajat watch was 36mm in size while Rajat Supreme is 40mm. 

Rajat Supreme

HMT Rajat were also made for institutional orders. I share here ome such model

Service anniversary Rajat watch made for MICO

Let us also understand a bit about an automatic watch movement. An Automatic watch also known as a self-winding watch has its main spring winded by the movement of the wearer’s wrist. The watch has a weight on its back called rotor(Oscillating Masses - The technical Term) which swings like a pendulum. The rotation of this weight by the movement of the wearer’s wrist winds the main spring of the watch movement. The main springs releases this power by uncoiling in a regulated manner to the gears in the movement making the hands and the day/date wheels move in the watch.

In a Uni-Directional watch movement the watch is winded when the rotor moves in one direction only. This direction can be clockwise or counter-clockwise depending upon the calibre. However In a Bi-Directional watch movement the winding happens irrespective of the clockwise and counter-clockwise movement of the wearer’s wrist. The winding of bi-directional watches happens more easily as the rotor would wind the main spring with even a slight movement of the wrist.

The Uni-Directional movement is used more in sports automatic watches as the movement of the wearer’s wrist is more than that of a person sitting on his desk. Thus those who lead a less active life would prefer wearing a dress watch that would use a Bi-Directional watch movement. Also Uni-Directional watch movement are less complicated as compared to a Bi-Directional watch automatic movement.

As I conclude this blog I share with you some vintage Rajat and Automatic advertisements

Image Courtesy - Gangadharan Subramanian

Image courtesy -Internet

Image Courtesy - Srikant Shirodkar

Image Courtesy - Internet