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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →India’s luxury-watch market has long-term potential, but the claim that it will be one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for Swiss watches is Yasho Saboo’s forecast—not an independently established market finding. In a February 2024 interview with MONOCHROME, the Ethos Watches chairman tied that outlook to rising incomes, a widening collector base and the growth of organized retail. He also argued that physical stores will remain central even as online media helps attract buyers.
What did Yasho Saboo say about India’s watch-market potential?
Saboo said India would become increasingly important for consumer goods and “will surely be among the fastest-growing markets for Swiss watches in the world.” He connected that view to anticipated per-capita income growth and an expanding population of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth consumers.
He also compared India’s position with China roughly 15–18 years earlier. That is Saboo’s analogy and outlook, not a measured comparison or independent forecast. He noted that India’s democratic process can make major economic decisions slower because they require discussion and negotiation.
In the interview, Saboo cited projected GDP growth of 6–8% for at least the coming decade. That figure is his stated expectation; the interview did not name an underlying study or establish it as a verified forecast. He likewise said Titan had sold over 10 million watches, a statement attributable to him rather than independently checked in the interview.
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Who is buying watches in India, according to Saboo?
Saboo described several customer groups rather than one uniform luxury-watch buyer:
- Collectors from wealthy families, as well as collectors across ages and price ranges. He put purchases by the collector group he discussed in a range of USD 3,000 to USD 300,000.
- Young professionals buying a first or second luxury watch, often starting with a well-known brand before developing broader interests.
- People buying watches for significant occasions, including weddings.
He said more than 95% of watches sold in India went to local residents, with tourism-based watch retail representing a small share. The interview gives no separate study or methodology for that percentage, so it should be read as Saboo’s account, not as an independently verified market statistic.
Why does he think physical watch retail still matters?
Saboo sees internet and social media as useful for telling brand stories and building interest in mechanical watches as collectibles. But he expects direct e-commerce to remain a small part of the overall business in India. That is his assessment, not a measured online-sales share.
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His case for stores is practical: a salesperson can explain complicated or distinctive watches, customers can handle them, and a multi-brand retailer can offer a broad selection alongside relationship-based service. Saboo summarized the point this way: “Customer relationships, customer experience and touch and feel will remain important.”
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How has organized retail changed the market?
Saboo’s account describes a shift from informal supply toward legal, professional retail. He said imported watches were not permitted until around 2000 and that Swiss watches had previously been available through smugglers. Ethos, he said, chose legal retail despite the perceived margin and convenience advantages of the grey market.
He identified 2005–2015 as a period when malls, better-designed stores, customer experience and professional staff helped make legitimate retail more attractive. In his telling, Swiss brands came to embrace legal channels and dismantle grey-market structures. He also described regulatory and tax changes between 2016 and 2020 as disruptive, and 2020 and 2021 as difficult years. These are Saboo’s retrospective explanations from the 2024 interview, not a separately verified market history.
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- DIAL: These men's watches feature a stainless steel case with a gold dial
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- WATER RESISTANT MENS WATCH: Up to 50m (165ft); Wearable while swimming in shallow water; 5 ATM
What is Ethos’s strategy beyond watches?
Saboo said Ethos’s brand portfolio consisted almost wholly of watches and that watches remained its main growth opportunity in India over the following decade. He described international branded jewellery as a possible complement in a large market he said was mainly served by traditional Indian jewellery brands, but expected that opportunity to take longer to develop.
He also pointed to travel as a specialized adjacent category, citing Ethos’s partnership with RIMOWA. Store brand allocations, he said, depend on the potential of each city and are finalized with the relevant brand. His stated approach was to explore opportunities beyond watches without shifting the company’s central focus away from them.
What did Saboo say about watch brands and collectors?
Saboo named Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, Richard Mille, F.P. Journe and A. Lange & Söhne as prominent haute-horology brands that were not then present in India, and expected them to establish a presence. That reflects the interview’s 2024 context; it does not establish their current availability or when any may have entered the market.
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- Water resistance for daily life, waterproof to 100 feet (30 m), generally resistant to splashing or brief submersion, but not suitable for swimming or bathing
He also pointed to growing attention to independent watchmakers, visible in collector discussion, auctions and the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. For collectors, his advice was to buy what they genuinely like, wear the watches and enjoy engaging with the timepieces and the people who make and appreciate them—not to buy primarily in expectation of appreciation or leave watches locked away.
What the interview can—and cannot—establish
The interview offers a retailer’s view of India’s opportunity: growing affluence, more collectors, a broader base of professional retail and continued value in in-person service. It does not provide an independent market-size study or third-party evidence that India is already the fastest-growing market for Swiss watches.
Some details were specific to the interview’s publication period. Saboo discussed Ethos duty-free stores in New Delhi and a planned Bengaluru location expected to open in the following months, and said the company intended to focus resources on India for at least the next few years while remaining open to opportunities elsewhere in South Asia, including Bangladesh. Those comments should not be treated as a current store directory or present-day expansion update.
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