There was a time when getting your hands on an HMT watch meant putting your name on a waitlist and waiting months. On August 15 this year, something eerily similar played out outside HMT's outlet in Bengaluru, except this time, people didn't wait months. They queued for hours, in a line that stretched nearly two kilometres.
By the end of Independence Day, HMT sold watches worth over ₹35 lakh in a single day. Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, HD Kumaraswamy, broke the news himself, speaking to reporters in Hassan. More than 2,000 limited-edition pieces flew off the counters within hours, with the Gandaberunda edition, named after Karnataka's mythical two-headed bird emblem, reportedly the first to sell out completely. For a brand that shut down its watchmaking unit less than a decade ago, this is no small thing.
