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.

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

Monsoon woes and HMT watches – How to maintain your HMT watches during monsoon.

It’s that time of the year again when both plant and animal kingdom feel rejuvenated. Monsoon is at the doorstep of India. This is a testing time for the lovers of HMT mechanical watches. I know of many HMT watch fans who switch to HMT quartz watches to ensure the safety of their mechanical watches during this time. To those of you who are new to HMT mechanical watches and wonder what’s all this fuss about rains and saving mechanical watches from it. I can understand your amusement.  Most of you might have might have been keeping time so far, using quartz or modern mechanical watches. Such watches offer high level of water resistance as compared to the HMT mechanical watches. Your next question might be “Hey!, but my HMT has water resistant printed on it and I am not doing deep sea diving with these watches in any case. The least that I expect is for it to withstand the rain.” I agree with you, it does have water resistant etched on its case back but water resistance in the context of HMT watches means that it can withstand a few accidental splashes of water and it can resist water on it for those few seconds before water is wiped off using a soft and clean, dry cotton cloth. It cannot survive inside water even if the depth is a few centimetres.

Watches with higher level of water resistance have few characteristic features which are not available in HMT watches. A threaded crown and case back secured with gaskets made out of rubber, Teflon or nylon. Majority of these watches are hermetically or vacuum sealed and have thick watch crystals. Such features are absent in HMT mechanical watches which result in lower water resistance.

I remember this person who was new to HMT watches. He told me that he washed his HMT watch in the kitchen sink using dishwashing soap and scrubber as the watch case was not clean to his satisfaction. This incident had happened a day before he met me. I explained the horror of the possible outcome and urged him to rush the watch to a reliable watch repairer. He told me in our next meeting that the repair person was in splits when he explained his act of cleaning the watch. Luckily, nothing much happened to his watch but it was a very close call. 

  

HMT watch division has made quality watches ever since it’s beginning that offer resistance to most of the adverse conditions of Indian climate with minimum maintenance.  The problem with quality, especially water resistance is more evident these days as majority of watches brought and sold are brought from sources other than HMT watches themselves. We will concentrate on the water resistance aspect in this blog and understand what HMT does to make its watches withstand the damage water/moisture can possibly do to its watches. HMT ensured water resistance in small but effective manner in its watches. A few noteworthy features are mentioned below

• Crown-stem tube this extends from the end of crown tunnel to the crown covering the crown stem. It’s visible once the crown is pulled out to set time. In most of the second hand watches brought from resellers these are cut off as it’s a hassle for average watch repairers to set the crown length through the tube while assembling the watch if it’s a Franken watch.
• Crystal holder ring it’s that shiny metal ring often seen on HMT watches with flat crystals. It holds the watch crystal firmly to its place preventing external exposure to the watch from the crystal side. Average watch makers mistake this ring for an ornamental feature and either get rid of it or cut it to make it easy to fit on the dial.
• Rubber Gasket. It is inside the case back and seals seepage of moisture inside the watch from the case back end. This has to be replaced every time the watch is serviced but this change of rubber gasket is often neglected which makes it ineffective.
• Movement holder ring and the rubber gasket inside it These have to be intact as they are essential to water resistance and well being of the movement. In most of the second hand watches the movement ring is cut and the rubber gasket is missing. This leads the movement being shaky and normally is the reason when the dial shakes a bit every time the crown is moved or pulled out to adjust time.
• A sealant which is applied across the watch stem entry point inside the watch. This greasy sealant would dry off quickly once applied protecting it from the hazards of external atmosphere.

These days, most of the HMT watches bought by watch enthusiasts are either repaired or assembled using parts salvaged from old used watches and therefore none or most of the above mentioned quality features related to water resistance are present. We should now understand the damage that can be caused due to exposure to moisture and the precautionary steps that can be taken to protect watches. Water/moisture seeps inside watches from three entry points – Crystal, Crown and Case-backs. If any of these three Cs are faulty or does not have the aforementioned features, moisture will seep inside the watch and damage it. There are two types of damages that are done on a watch – visible and the invisible damage. Visible damage is flaking, peeling or discolouring of dial; discolouring of hands; rusting or discolouring or fungal deposit on the case, crown. Invisible damage is the damage which happens to the insides of the watch and is not visible unless the case back is opened. It includes rusting of different watch parts which at times damages the movement beyond repair.

Precautions

So what should you do to save your watch from the assault of moisture this monsoon? The first step is to buy a quality HMT watch, check the watch thoroughly and ask all possible questions before you buy a watch if you are buying them from any source other than HMT watches. Best is to buy it directly from HMT watches before they shut down completely. Let’s now talk about the watches you may already have. Here are a couple of options:

A watch Pouch

• The easiest way is to switch to a quartz watch for the monsoon season, if you want to enjoy the rains with a watch on your wrist. HMT quartz watches offer better (not fully waterproof) water resistance as compared with a mechanical watch. I suggest you to give your daily beater mechanical watch for service before you give it the monsoon rest. Upon return from the service centre wear the watch for a couple of days to ensure that it has been regulated properly. This would also ensure that the lubrication oil applied on the watch movement spreads evenly across the movement parts. Post this; watch can be stored inside a watch pouch or in the plastic box in which it came originally from the company with a few silica gel sachets. If you don’t have either of these two then you can put it in any plastic box with silica gel sachets in a cool dry place where it’s not moved around a lot. I therefore suggest, not storing them in drawers that are used daily and the stuff is sifted through regularly. Make sure you wind the watch once a week. This will ensure that the watch is up and running to the optimum accuracy levels for regular use post monsoon.
• If you wish to use your mechanical watch during monsoon, I suggest you to check your watch crystal once in a while to check for cracks in the crystal as these are an open invitation to moisture. Get the crystal changed immediately and ask your watch repairer to check for the gaskets and other aforementioned features to ensure the optimum water resistance of the watch. If at any time you see tiny droplets inside the crystal or fogging of crystal, take your watch immediately to a good watch repairer. Easiest way to save watches whenever you are caught in rains is by keeping a zip pouch handy. Slip the watch inside it once the first drop of rain falls from the sky. But before you put the watch inside ensure that you wipe off all the water using a clean dry cotton cloth (example a handkerchief). Even if you get drenched the watch will be safe inside the sealed zip pouch. The only problem with this option is that you would have no watch on your wrist each time it rains.
  
        Remember, prevention is better than cure. The information shared in this blog is from my own personal experiences and the ones that i have learnt from the experiences of other watch enthusiasts, repairers and friendly staff members of HMT watches. 

I hope you find this blog useful, as always would love to know your thoughts.

Enjoy the rains

  

Rubies in the dust

I was trying to restore an Old Janata watch which i found lying neglected in a toolbox at a friend’s house. I had talked about it in one of my earlier blog (http://hmtwatches.blogspot.in/2014/03/the-case-of-hmt-watch-in-tool-box.html). I was looking for a crown that matched its age and this quest of mine kept me busy during most of the weekends. On one such weekend, I made a trip to an old watch repair shop. After making the required inquiries I decided to move on and continue with my search. As I started from the shop an old gentleman whom I had seen at the shop approached me and asked:

Old Man - “Saab, ghadi kharidte kya ?” (Sir,do you want to buy watches ?).

Me - “Kaun si ghadi hai tumhare paas” (which watch do you have?)

Old Man - “pachhas ghadi hai…chaabi waala hai aur shell wala hai” (I have 50 watches some of them are winding watches others are quartz)

Me – “Tumhare paas kahan se aayi…chori ka hai kya” (How did you get them..were these stolen from somewhere”)

Old Man – “Nahin Saab, mera khud ka hai..mai gaurmant department mein kaam karta tha…abi retire ho gaya…paisa chaiye iske liye ghadi bechne ko shop pe aaya tha..wo kum daam bola..socha tum ko hona to pura lot le lo..accha daam me de dunga”. (No sir, they are mine..i used to work in a government department..now I am retired..i am in need of money so came to the shop to sell the watches..he is giving me a bad deal…I saw you and thought you might be interested and decided to offer you the entire lot”)

Me – “Bade miyan..mai apne shauk ko pura karne ki liye ghadi kharidta hu…bechne ke liye nahi…pachaas ghadi ka mai kya karunga..aur mujhe quartz watch nahi chahihye..hmt ka koi watch hai kya ?” (Old chap…I buy watches for my collection..and not for selling…what would I do with fifty watches..and I am not interested in quartz watches...do you have any HMT watches?)

Old Man – “do char hain..mere ghar chalkar dekh lo..mai idhar paas mein rehta hu” (I have three-four of them…come to my house and take a look..i stay close by)

Me – “Mera paas tumhare ghar jaane ka time nahi hai..idhar hi ghadi le aao (I don’t have the time to visit your house bring here your watches and we’ll see)

Old man – “Paas mein hi hai saab..aadhe ghante mein aa jayenge…tumko jame to lena varna koi baat nai” (My house is closeby sir..take whatever you like and its ok if you don’t like them”)

So we took an auto rickshaw and started the journey to his home. During the journey he told me that he used to work in the secretariat and got these watches as gifts from his bosses or visitors. As we talked the auto took us through the by lanes of old Bangalore until we stopped at a place from where we started walking through a maze of narrow lanes till we finally reached his home. It was a small house with beautiful rangolis made at the gate.

Me – “Mai yahin hu..tum ghadi le aao” (I stay here go bring the watches)

Old Man – “accha saab” (Ok sir)

He returned with a tin box in his hand and two chairs. He opened the box and handed it over to me. The box was full of watches . Most of them were quartz watches from unknown companies. He also had some old Seiko and citizen watches, which i did not fancy. Then in the box I found four HMT watches. These were really nice watches –HMT Rohini (manual winding), HMT Samrat, Kanchan and Kanchan deluxe(automatics). These watches were aged and it was quite apparent that they had stood the test of time. I checked and found that all of them were working fine. After a few rounds of negotiations we agreed on a price acceptable to both of us.I was quite happy to add HMT Samrat and Rohini to my collection.These are quite rare watches and I have been searching them for some time.

As I handed over the money to him he said “Saab, mujhe bahut khushi hai ki mai aapko ye ghaadi diya…dukanwala iska purja nikal kar spare mein bech dalta tha..tumhare paas ye ghadi salamat rahega” (Sir, I am very happy that you are taking these watches…the guy at the shop would have dismantled them and sold them as spares..with you these watches will be safe).

I thanked him and let my contact details with him. After that my old friend helped me get a few more watches that his friends had, but let’s keep those stories for some other day.

A bus ride to rare HMT watches

I believe the best way to explore Bangalore is to take a ride on an early morning or late evening BMTC bus. I often do this on a Sunday morning. I travel across the city in almost empty buses enjoying the cool breeze and old Hindi film songs played on the radio. A few weeks back I was enjoying my routine bus journey. While my headphones were crooning “main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya” a Mohd. Rafi classic, I received a gentle tap om my shoulder. An elderly gentleman was standing next to my seat  I shifted closer to the window to give him enough seat space. He tapped my shoulder again. I removed my headphones unwillingly darting a questioning glance in his direction. “May I ask you a question ?” –Said the man. “Please tell me” was my response. “Can you show me your watch” He enquired. I projected my left wrist towards him in answer. “That’s a nice watch you have their young man”. A conversation began immediately and after a few minutes the gentleman said – “I have HMTs too and have fond memories attached to them. Those were the glorious days, when HMT was the watch of Indians. Would you like to see my watches ?”. “Yes, of course” was my answer. After a couple of bus-stops passed we got down from the bus and headed towards his home. It was a simple and elegantly decorated drawing room of a upper middle class house. Mr. Kumar (name changed on request) introduced me to Mrs. Kumar who bought us our coffees. Mr. Kumar is a retired HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) employee . Over a hot cup of coffee our conversation continued. Presently, Mr. Kumar went inside and bought out his HMT watches. He had a couple of Black Jawahars, a commemorative Kohinoor watch, A Janata and a very special pilot watch. I was mesmerized by the beauty of these watches, the rare pilot with broad indices in particular. He showed me his watches with a lot of pride – “I got it on my service anniversary” he said looking at the Pilot watch. I have worn these watches very rarely and kept them inside my safe box. As we talked more, he learnt more about my HMT watch madness and heard my stories with interest. He shared quite a few instances and stories that he had heard and his experiences related to HMT watches.  

After enjoying his company and his HMT watches for sometime, I decided to take his leave. “Prashant, we are leaving for the US of A in the next few weeks to live with our son and family. We stay alone here and he is always concerned about our well being .We have stayed all our life in Bangalore but since my son is adamant and what he says makes practical sense…we are relocating.” I went silent for a minute and then said “ I have made a lot of friends, thanks to HMT watches. Today is probably the first time I have made and lost a friend in a day”. “No..No we are still here for a few weeks..you must meet us before we leave Bangalore”. I promised to do so.

I received a call from Mr. Kumar after a couple of weeks. “Prashant, we are leaving for the US this weekend. Let’s catch up over a cup of coffee”. I met Mr. and Mrs. Kumar at their house. I updated him on the watches I had added to my collection in the last two weeks and promised to meet him upon his return. Since their flight was early next morning I decided it was time for me to conclude my visit. As I got up to take a leave he said – “Here this is for you” and handed over a packet to me. “This is a small gift for you. Open it once you reach home”. I had to visit a few more places and reached home a little late at night. After having my dinner I opened the packet. I was dumbfounded – for the packet contained Mr. Kumar’s HMT watches and small note that said “please accept them as a gift from me…..let the made in India stay in India J”.

It was too late to disturb them in the night and I have not been able to reach Mr. Kumar since that day. Friends, It’s just amazing how a wrist watch can turn two perfect strangers into friends. I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kumar through this blog…Thank you Kumar Sir..thanks a lot”

Mr. Kumar's Broad Indices pilot watch which he received on his 15th service anniversary 

Case back of his Pilot watch with the etching celebrating his 15 years of association with HAL

The beautiful Jawahar watches

His Kohinoor watch which he received from his organization HAL during his service

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