#OnThisDay Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) was incorporated in 1953 by the Government of India as a machine tool manufacturing company. A watch division came up in Bengaluru in 1961.

A thread by @nandyellidli about HMT.

If you suffer from #CollectibleLust, the first HMT hand wound mechanical watch is probably the most wanted collectible watch in the mechanical watch collector community.

Trust me, there is a BIG community one in India!

It is said that Pt Jawaharlal Nehru (now blamed for all the problems that ail our country) dedicated the first batch of hand wound watches to the the people of India – and this the “Janata” line of watches was born!

Maybe true, maybe false…but makes for one heck of a story!

The demand for sturdy mechanical watches grew across India.

In 1972, Watch factory II was set up manufacture Automatic Day Date Watches with Japanese Technology.

Later, factories were also set up in Srinagar, Tumkur and Ranibagh.

Over the course of many years, HMT completely acquired the technology to build mechanical watched and was producing 100% components in-house.

Aatmanirbhar FTW!!

Frankly, this is a great achievement in Horology.

Almost all of the HMT factories have produced some iconic watches.

As an ode to Nehru, the Bangalore factory produced the HMT “Jawahar”. If you ask certain collectors (me, me, me!) this is the most stylish HMT watch ever made!

The HMT “Janata” that we met earlier was widely manufactured in the Tumkur factory and came in multiple designs.

The HMT Chinar that signified Kashmiri tree came from Srinagar, and Ranibagh factory came up with the much sought after Janata export variant that was sold in Japan

Which watch sold the most?

Govt - No data is available.

The popularity and sex appeal of the HMT pilot has endured. It is not officially known if these watches were actually issued to pilots in the IAF, but there were certainly sold to them in officer’s canteens across India

Similar to the Pilot, there are many stories about how HMT jawan and HMT Sainik were issued to the Indian soldiers in the Indian army!

All HMT hand wound movements use accurate, precise movements that are shock proof and one of the best value for money movements in the industry.

The purpose of creating an Indian company was to signal a self-reliant, robust, and hardworking Indian identity.

HMT was also known for creating watch lines based on popular names from India -Pradeep, Yashwanth, Kiran, Sanjay, Akbar, Prashant, Vijay, Sujata (the first ladies watch), Asha, Swarna…the list goes one. Across religion and across regions, HMT had covered the most popular names!

HMT also pioneered in creating unique designs like the HMT rakhee that incorporated different and complicated movements like a pointer date.

They also created a braille watch.

Automatic model HMT Kanchan was also known as the "dowry watch".

There are stories of people lining up outside HMT showrooms with letters from various political leaders recommending that a Kanchan watch be given to the bearer of the letter.

No Kanchan No marriage.

Though world over the quartz and digital revolution impacted mechanical watch manufacturers, HMT did come up with cool digital and quartz watches.

With economic liberalization, market competition, mismanagement, and complacency, HMT gradually declined and shut all its factories

Today, a company that has sold more than 100 million watches sells its watches only online https://www.hmtwatches.in/ 

If you actually are interested to know about its heritage and buy watches over-the-counter they have a museum in Bengaluru.

Before signing off: Hobbyists create creative custom dials for old HMTs and usually very proud about it. Here is a custom HMT created by the author. 10 points for guessing the city that it is paying a tribute to?

To end this thread, I believe that every Indian should own a HMT. Simply because it is a damn good watch for the price.

Also, HMT was aatmanirbhar before aatmanirbhar was cool!