So finally Bio and I took out some time to visit one of the two HMT showrooms in the city. We've been in quest for the ever-popular HMT Pilot and after a lot of searching, managed to locate a dealer who had three of them in stock!
After an hour long journey and some near misses on the highway (seriously, it was crazy out there on the roads today), we managed to locate the showroom. Now this place was really small, smaller than our living room (and no our living room isn't that big). Its the one marked in read (the board was really dusty).
On entering this place we immediately inquired if they still had the Pilot... they did! :)
Now I know this may sound a lil silly, but my heart actually did beat a lil faster when the lady behind the counter was about to show us the watch. I had heard so much about how rare it was to find and all the hype, that I just couldn't wait to see what it was all about. And then it appeared, something so simple like the manufacturer itself, nothing glamorous, but there was something about it that made it so beautiful and special that I felt as if I have discovered something amazing. I looked at Bio and could see that he too felt the same way.
We also picked up a Sona and a Kohinoor
Now we come to the interesting part. When we were having a look at the Pilot, I casually asked if they had a white one in stock because I had heard its very rare to find one and guess what the lady there told us? HMT NEVER manufactured a white Pilot!! So, apparently all the white Pilots are fake!
Another gentleman behind the counter then told us about how the company was not doing so well with their mechanical watches and therefore is concentrating on increasing production of their quartz watches. It wasn't hard to see that he was a lil upset with this state of the company and wish people could appreciate mechanical watches more. He also mentioned that most of the mechanical watches are bought either by watch lovers or foreigners at which point he asked wondered where we were from. I then looked at all the other watches still there in the display case and a part of me wished that I could buy them all.
After an hour long journey and some near misses on the highway (seriously, it was crazy out there on the roads today), we managed to locate the showroom. Now this place was really small, smaller than our living room (and no our living room isn't that big). Its the one marked in read (the board was really dusty).
On entering this place we immediately inquired if they still had the Pilot... they did! :)
Now I know this may sound a lil silly, but my heart actually did beat a lil faster when the lady behind the counter was about to show us the watch. I had heard so much about how rare it was to find and all the hype, that I just couldn't wait to see what it was all about. And then it appeared, something so simple like the manufacturer itself, nothing glamorous, but there was something about it that made it so beautiful and special that I felt as if I have discovered something amazing. I looked at Bio and could see that he too felt the same way.
We also picked up a Sona and a Kohinoor
Now we come to the interesting part. When we were having a look at the Pilot, I casually asked if they had a white one in stock because I had heard its very rare to find one and guess what the lady there told us? HMT NEVER manufactured a white Pilot!! So, apparently all the white Pilots are fake!
Another gentleman behind the counter then told us about how the company was not doing so well with their mechanical watches and therefore is concentrating on increasing production of their quartz watches. It wasn't hard to see that he was a lil upset with this state of the company and wish people could appreciate mechanical watches more. He also mentioned that most of the mechanical watches are bought either by watch lovers or foreigners at which point he asked wondered where we were from. I then looked at all the other watches still there in the display case and a part of me wished that I could buy them all.
4 comments:
It is said to hear that HMT's mechanical movements do not catch on. When I first laid my hands on them two years ago, I was rather impressed by the craftsmenship going into them.
What I love about about the watches is their simplicity and incredible value for money. I'll be glad if we can generate any sort of interest amongst us WISs ;)
where is this place? address? Thanks
Hi, this showroom is in Ghatkopar. The address is:
7 Ratan Mahal, Shradhanand Road, Ghatkopar West,
Mumbai - 400086
Ph: +(91)-(22)-25132464
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