"Maybe next year, I will create some special watches just for the Indian market," Italo Fontana, founder and owner of Italian luxury watchmaker U-Boat, said during the brand's debut in India last month.
Fontana's statement is a nod to the country's growing appetite for luxury watches, as China - the world's biggest luxury consumer market - continues to witness a downturn.
According to a recent Deloitte report, India is emerging as a lucrative market for premium watches, a trend primarily led by the young generation, which prefers discretionary spending.
About 78 per cent of Indian consumers said they would like to buy a watch for themselves, the report titled 'Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Insights 2024: Spotlight on India' stated. This has prompted global luxury watchmakers to make a beeline for India in the last few months.
"We are excited to introduce our watches to this vibrant market through this partnership. Among our priority markets, we see India coming in the top three, after the United States and West Asia, in some years. It will be a major player within our strategy for the future," Fontana said at the brand's launch, which has tied up with Helios from the house of Titan to retail in India.
This story is from the October 10, 2024 edition of Business Standard.
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This story is from the October 10, 2024 edition of Business Standard.
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