She-change for Xylys

Titan is planning a women’s line.

The Swiss watch market in India is growing at around 25 per cent a year – to Rs 365 crore this year (January-August imports) from Rs 297 crore in the same period last year.

So Titan’s multi-crore ad blitz featuring film director and actor Farhan Akhtar for its premium Swiss brand, Xylys, is hardly a surprise.

Sensing a great opportunity in the women’s segment, Xylys is also planning to introduce a women’s line. In the pipeline is a fusion of sporty dress watches using ceramics for both men and women.

The Swiss watches are categorised into three segments: premium, affordable luxury and exclusive luxury, and Xylys, with its collection of 75-80 models, plays in the premium band of Swiss watches.

“Xylys sells in the premium range of Rs 10,000 – Rs 25,000,” says Harish Bhat, COO, Titan Industries. The watch has got Swiss movements, uses sapphire crystal glass, surgical stainless steel and highly precision engineering, he adds.

After its launch in 2006, Titan Xylys now holds the second position with 20 per cent market share in its category. For the record, though, it’s two and a half times behind market leader Tissot.

Xylys has been created in collaboration with renowned Swiss designer Laurent Rufenacht and Titan’s very own design advisor Michael Foley. It is manufactured in a state-of-the-art factory in Switzerland, which has a heritage of 80 years in the art of watch making.

“You will fall in love with the watch at first sight. The buyer is generally aged 28-plus and wants to define himself with Xylys and thinks that style speaks better than words,” says Suparna Mitra, Global Marketing Head, Titan.

Formerly, actor Rahul Bose, international supermodel Saira Mohan and tennis star Carlos Moya were the faces of Xylys. Why Farhan Akhtar this year? Mitra says Titan chose Farhan for his “aesthetic values, cutting edge skills and easy going persona”.

The classic, contemporary and sports collection offer more than 75 models and the highly precision engineered watch offers metal and leather options for its strap.

“Titan brings the trust factor among consumers and the design makes Xylys stand out,” says Mitra.

Titan recently appointed global advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy for making ads for Xylys.

Xylys is targeting to sell around Rs 24 crore of worth of watches, i.e. around 18,000-19,000 pieces in this financial year (FY 2011-12) Mitra says the finesse with which Xylys is made, “makes it the ultimate fashion accessory for formal wear”. The watch is painstakingly crafted with carefully selected materials.