Hyderabad has been a massive market for luxury: Gaurav Bhatia, Director & Co-Founder, Art Of Time

Gaurav Bhatia, Director & Co-Founder of Art of Time India, stands at the forefront of a new era in Indian luxury retail, one that prioritises experience as much as acquisition. A passionate horology enthusiast turned entrepreneur, Bhatia along with Bharat Kapoor, co-founded Art of Time in 2015 with the vision of creating a space that goes beyond transactional retail. The focus was instead on immersing clients in the craftsmanship, heritage, and storytelling behind the world’s finest watchmaking maisons. 

Last year, Art of Time celebrated its 10th anniversary, and within a decade, the retailer has established a strong presence in the country expanding across key metropolitan cities. 

In a conversation with GMT India, Bhatia shares his insights on the Indian watch landscape and growing retail ecosystem. 

‍

India’s luxury watch market has long been described as ‘emerging’. From your vantage point, what has changed in the last five years?

‍

The ‘emerging’ label still applies very much, we have a long way to go. In terms of physical retail, Mumbai has definitely reached the level where there are a lot of beautiful stores across the city. However, India as a whole, there is a huge gap that has to be bridged. In Hyderabad, we are bringing in a new concept with TimeVallée. And we'd like to do the same in other cities across India. 

‍

In the last five years, we have seen a massive shift in the experience that has been offered to a customer. The stores have changed, boutiques are more conceptual and experiential, newer brands and even independents are launching. We’ve also started preparing for the next decade – in terms of expansion of stores. But, I think we have a long way to go. We’re maybe another five to ten years away from really hitting our peak – the earlier the better! 

⁠With Art of Time bringing TimeVallée to Hyderabad, what makes this market ready for a multi-brand, experience-led format now?

Hyderabad has been a massive market for luxury. We have been planning to open this boutique since 2021, before we started our whole expansion process. Bharat and I visited Hyderabad for the first time to look at locations in 2021, during COVID-19; things were very slow at the time and we just wanted to start exploring the market. We found the market very engaging. We already had a few customers from there. Our market research also showed that the spending power in the city is extremely high – next after New Delhi in the country. 

⁠How would you describe the Indian collector today? Are they motivated by brands or are they moving towards a more informed, movement-first approach?

Most clients are motivated by complications and movements now. Obviously everyone wants a top brand in their part of their collection, but we have seen a rise in the demand for complications. The younger generation is especially keen on exploring different complications, which is very interesting. There is a good percentage of collectors who really want something special, not just a regular automatic watch that's all over Instagram or a watch that a celebrity is wearing. For example, the minute repeater – a complication that has very little utility in today’s age – is extremely popular amongst collectors. The number of minute repeaters we have sold in the last financial year is crazy, the demand for top-level complications is just shockingly high. 

What does ‘experience-led retail’ actually mean in practice for watches?

With TimeVallée, all our boutiques have a ‘Time Café’, for which we are also planning to do exclusive coffee blends. We are also exploring pop-ups with independent watch brands, where we bring in these brands for, say, the Diwali season in India. However, we don't restrict our experiences only to our stores. Beyond in‑store interactions, we curate experiences outside as well – taking clients for manufacture visits, exclusive brand experiences, etc. Our commitment is to deliver a distinct and one-of-a-kind experience with each new point of sale.

‍