5 timepieces at India Watch Weekend 2026 that inspired double takes

Lange. Double-wristing. Rexhep Rexhepi. Complication. Naoya Hida. These words may not mean much to most people, but they are now part of the growing vocabulary of the Indian watch enthusiast. The species, once largely restricted to tony pin codes and Facebook groups, where collecting was a shared but low-key pursuit, has since become more visible. Your colleague, or even your cousin, might be one. And the more affluent among them are splurging on watches that cost as much as premium cars.

The evidence is not just anecdotal. Swiss watch imports into India are rising year on year, angel investors such as Mithun Sacheti and Nikhil Kamath are backing homegrown luxury watch retailers and Indian microbrands, and luxury brands such as Grand Seiko and Breitling are now opening exclusive boutiques in our big cities. “Before Covid, a Grand Seiko was usually bought by 40- to 60-year-olds. Today, our main customer base is between 25 and 35. And we can’t seem to import enough watches,” says Niladri Mazumder, the head of Seiko in India.

Seiko was among the brands that participated in the second edition of India Watch Weekend at the Four Seasons in Mumbai this past weekend, a further sign of India’s growing interest in watches. It was joined by the likes of Panerai and Jaeger-LeCoultre, and, pleasantly, a clutch of less widely circulated names in India: German watchmakers Tutima and Moritz Grossmann; independents such as Laine and Urban Jürgensen; and Ming, the much-admired Malaysian brand. And as is often the case at events like these, there was as much pleasure in spotting what people wore on their wrists as in examining the watches on show.

Like Rudra Jog’s 1940s Universal Genève triple-calendar moonphase. Jog, 25, owns more than 40 watches today, ranging from modern sports pieces, including a Breitling Super Avenger and Seiko’s ‘Baby Tuna’, to vintage-leaning buys. This watch belonged to his great-grandfather, Padma Bhushan awardee Pandit VG Jog, the Hindustani classical violinist, and was passed on to him by his grandmother when he was in his teens. “It still runs robustly. I could wear it every day, but because of the history behind it you’ll only see it at watch events or on select evenings,” Jog said.

Between the more familiar Rolex and Cartier flexes, there was also a German presence: A Lange & Söhne’s pink-gold Zeitwerk, spotted on the wrist of Shaurya Bhargava, a 31-year-old textile professional. Revived after German reunification, A Lange & Söhne is the most widely revered of the Saxon watchmakers. “It’s the design, the finishing, the history,” Bhargava said. “And it’s one of the very few mechanical watches that tells the time digitally. There’s really no substitute for it.”

Krish Jain’s 40-year-old Patek Philippe Nautilus came from a time when there was no waiting list for it. At 38 mm, it is slimmer and far less conspicuous than today’s versions. Jain, 24, comes from a lineage of serious collectors and recently picked up a Baltic, an independent microbrand known for its vintage-leaning designs. “I have a small wrist,” he said, glancing down at the Patek. “This size just works.”

The Nautilus, though, wasn’t the only iconic watch in the room. At the other end of the spectrum was an HMT Janta on the wrist of Saif Sayyed, a Mumbai-based YouTube creator who focuses on affordable watches. The Janta, made by Indian watchmakers HMT, was new old stock—unused and carefully preserved—sourced from another collector. It was also a model famously worn by Indira Gandhi. Sayyed, dressed in an elegant shawl jacket, said he paid around ₹12,000 for it, a rounding error compared to the price of a vintage Patek. He added that he owns several HMT legacy pieces and enjoys unearthing Indian microbrands that offer original design and value.

Among the older collectors in the room, Sarosh Mody’s Daniel Roth stood out. Mody, who works in luxury watch servicing, wore an early-1990s Roth from a period when the brand was still closely identified with its watchmaker founder. Daniel Roth belonged to the earliest generation of modern independent watchmakers, long before “independent” became a category of its own. The double-ellipse case was unmistakably Roth. What made this example interesting for Mody was the way the display was arranged: the minutes moved conventionally around the dial, while the hour hand swept back to zero once it reached the end of its arc. “Usually, you see jumping hours with a retrograde minute,” Mody said. “This does the opposite.” On paper the watch measured about 45 mm, but the curved case softened its presence on the wrist. “The shape downplays the size.”