With cellphones, palmtops, e-readers, purses, bracelets, i-pods all flashing time of the day, who needs a plain old wristwatch. The ubiquitous wristwatch worn by the billionaire to the daily wager as more than an accessory is now being discarded for spanking new-age devices that double up as time keepers.Youngsters say conventional watches are an “extra burden” on their wrists.
Schoolgoers, however, continue to opt for the sporty and flashy models of well-known brands. This, they say, is just because mobile phones are banned in schools and examination halls.
“I wear a watch mostly during exams in school but have to take extra care not to break it while playing or exercising. For tuitions, I take along my mobile phone, which serves my purpose”, says Ritvik, a 17-year-old high schooler.
A shopkeeper, who retails watches in Delhi, says, “We are worried about our declining watch business due to the excessively growing demand for mobile phones that are getting cheaper by the day.”
Changing lifestyles and mindsets towards standard working hours has also led to the ever-growing irrelevance of the time machines. College students say they are least interested in buying a watch unless it adds to their style statement.
Die-hard loyalists, however, find it hard to justify the absence of the wristwatch. Jickson, a sophomore student, says, “I believe a person without a watch is a careless or carefree guy.
I just cannot leave my home without a watch.”
While the older generation is happy to flaunt their priced possessions like the HMT, younger counterparts prefer to flaunt the latest trendy designer look at the corporate level.
“I buy watches to match them with my clothes but for time keeping, there are other devices as well. Even overhead clocks at the metro station can do me that favour,” says Ritika, a young journalist.
Antique watches are still prized by many as good gifting options and collectors flaunt them at social gatherings but few use it for more than just an accessory for beautification. .
Amid all this, the utility and functionality of wristwatches has succumbed to the desire for new and latest designer models, which come with minor modifications and major price tags.
The New Lajpat Rai Market, the biggest wholesale hub of watches in Delhi encapsulates the 50-year-old journey of the wristwatch.
Watches of all kinds, shapes and models are sold in shops that are run by families through generations. The market for watches in India, which had gone through a slump during the Emergency in 1975, with imports from Switzerland and Japan being put on hold, took a few years to revive.
The woes of shopkeepers, already fighting a stiff battle with waning sales, are compounded with the influx of Chinese watches, which are being sold from showrooms to roadside vendors.
Even with all this, there is no dearth of endorsements of big brands by leading Bollywood and sports personalities.
A retail shopkeeper says, “People come to me and say they want a Dhoni or an Aamir Khan watch rather than the brands.” Even well-known Swiss watches depend on ambassadors like Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone to push up their sales.
Utility wise, the wrist watch may have given way to the cell phone and other gadgets that display time, but when it comes to making a style and fashion statement, watches still rule the market.
— PTI
