Ambika: Welcome to the world of Titan where creativity meets commerce. Today I'm in conversation with two design powerhouses at Titan. Garima who defines the design narrative in jewelry and Mahendra who is the design lead for watches. I am so curious with the increasing prices of gold and silver how has your design philosophy altered?
Garima: So Ambika yes the increasing prices of gold are very worrisome for a category like jewelry but at Tanishq we also see it as a great opportunity because of the changing mindset of the new consumer who's possibly more hooked on to great design and it's a great opportunity because we can work with very advanced technology create great modern form language which can take the narrative away from the price of gold and can take towards the value of the piece that you own which is very personal.
Ambika: Okay. Titan has been a brand we've all grown up with. take us through some of the most iconic pieces or creations across your different segments. >>
Mahendra: So so Titan started almost 40 years ago. So it is a journey of four decades. so and every decade has given us something very phenomenal you know many many years back I think around 20 years back we have incepted a brand called edge that was world's slimmest watch back then where the movement thickness the mechanism which drives the watch was just 1.1 mm thick so if you probably take a a 2B pencil and draw a line that thickness of that line would eventually create that movement it was that that thin So edge was a edge was a master brand 20 years ago.
Mahendra: And it is still continuing to draft a newer design narratives but we have launched after many years we launched Raga which is India's most loved womencentric brand. I think one of the brand which has such a high recall value with Indian women designed with women's sensibility. Few years later we have launched a brand called fasttrack which is which is built on the whole philosophy of Genzi their preferences their liking their edgginess. so Titan is always evolving as consumers are evolving. So it was edge raga fasttrack and now you would see stellar which we launched few years ago. It is shaping a new design narratives creating a due new form morphology with respect to watches.
Ambika: Is that the ultras slim that you wearing?
Mahendra: Oh yeah this is this is quite new. This is launched two months back.
Ambika: This is the edge ultras slim.
Mahendra: This is edge ultras slim.
Ambika: Tell us more about it and the engineering process and the research behind it.
Mahendra: So u so if you are a music director I'm just giving you analogy u then designing an ultras slim would be like composing silence it is it is almost playing with negligible thicknesses impossible thicknesses and still creating a watch which is beautiful to look at you know you won't believe amika u many of those watch components are less than 1 mm. You know you we have a the beautiful dial or the hand of the watch which is.1 mm one tenth of just 1 mm.
Mahendra: It it is that thinness it is that kind of thinness which have defined edge ultra slim and it is a new narrative. It is single hand crafted crafted with best of the materials and it also pushes us to see time differently. You know in today's world when everyone is looking for you know seconds and every second matters. This watch helps you to pause reflect because there's no second hand there's no minute hand it's just hour hand and you could see time at 10 minutes of interval. So it really reflects you to see time differently to pause and enjoy time while still pushing the boundaries of design engineering and creativity.
Ambika: I'm so curious why didn't you put a minute hand and without a minute hand will this awards do well?
Mahendra: So I think these are the these are the really I would say pathbreaking moves which we do risk which we take in pushing the boundaries of design and as I was explaining you in a very stressful world where every second people do count this is a refreshingly new break you know to just enjoy the time give a moment give a pause and reflect upon various things and and hence we removed the minute we we just played with our hand to create a beautiful watch.
Ambika: So this is the latest edge ultras slim.
Mahendra: This is edge ultra slim which is just 3.3 mm thick.
Ambika: And how is it different from the previous variant?
Mahendra: So we had edge watches
Ambika: That also didn't have a minute hand.
Mahendra: No. So we have edge watches which are which are there from last 20- 22 years and many of these watches have thickness of 4 mm 4.5 mm. We played with very unique materials. We played with carbon fiber grade five titanium because edge as a platform is a platform which is built on innovation because you have such a thin thicknesses to play with. So we need to choose our materials quite appropriately. We need to choose materials which are really strong have a very good structural strength like titanium carbon fiber and that has become canvas of our imagination.
Ambika: All right. Now the Titan's design excellence center is a heartbeat of Titan. tell us about how do you nurture thoughts and creativity that's timeless yet futuristic.
Garima: So Ambika the design excellence center has a great mix of minds where young and including very very seasoned experts and there some bit of the answer does lie. But what is even more wonderful is all the different brands like eyewear, jewelry, watches, the excellence center is one. It's all under one umbrella. And hence there's a huge bouncing of ideas and collaboration between very different kind of lifestyle products that keeps us very very attuned to the global trends. It keeps it ensures that we are thinking new and futuristic and also we have de in-depth research which kind of keeps us grounded under the overall values of titan where we keep it timeless.
Ambika: Lovely. I'm loving this watch called wandering eyes. Is it wandering hours?
Mahendra: It is wandering. Yeah.
Ambika: It's beautiful. Tell me a bit about the materials used and the engineering behind it.
Mahendra: So wandering hour is our quite quite a new launch last launched last month itself.
Ambika: Wow.
Mahendra: So it is part of a stellar collection but for us wandering hour is not just a complex mechanism. It is it is a metaphor of motion planetary motion. So it was part of a stellar line and stellar is built on the whole core philosophy of really celebrating beauty of our deep infinite mysterious cosmos you know a world which we don't inhabit a world beyond earth but it celebrates that beauty of that cosmos beauty of that infinite galaxy so while we were scanning multiple inspiration and you know really figuring out what should be the next path breaking product in stellar. We were stuck by this whole concept of planetary orbits and the planetary motion which led to this movement creation which is called wandering hourr. And just like as I would say planets move in perfect symmetry in perfect precision. In this watch, the hour hand not just rotates, it wanders across the dial along a minute arc to show you time. And it is a fairly complex mechanism.
Ambika: So, it's pretty very hard to read the time. You mean
Mahendra: No, it is very easy. It is a fairly complex mechanism. But if you go one step deeper, the dial is so beautiful. You know, you would have beautiful texture. It is encased in crystallized titanium. that that material is a very very very new material. It's called crystallized titanium where particles of titanium were fused in very high temperature to create a create a alloy which is really really robust and of course it is beautifully integrated with FKM straps. So it is a pieceof horology which probably India has created first you know it is one of those pieces a real masterpiece of horology.
Ambika: All right. now Garamia tell me about this new collection of jewelry called Mirganka. What was the thought behind that? What are the different processes and craftsmanships involved in that?
Garima: So become Mirganka was inspired by a mythical world, a world which is beyond our realm and we we really wanted to take the our dear consumer away from the typical jewelry that they have seen in gold because that's where we wanted to craft a narrative which feels more like a fantasy which feels more mythical yet it's very connected to the roots. So if you see there is there is a world where it is believed in Indian mythology that nothing exquisite precious and beautiful in this world truly becomes extinct. It gets preserved in this space in this magical realm where it awaits the turn of the wheel of time to really come back and take you know exist and it it is something that gives us great joy hope and that truly was our inspiration and truly so I could say for the consumer sentiment that you see what's happening across the globe geographically there are wars and you really needed to give something, give a story to this consumer that helps you kind of escape from this world and believe believe in the goodness.
Garima: That was our starting thought. But yes, it was really beautiful because we were able to look at such beautiful mythical creatures like the garud, the matsya motive which is a fresh and we translated it in reality. There were these magical mystical palaces which in a way are floating above clouds and all that suralism of the world was converted into exquisite pieces of jewelry with the help of our kariger's very very expert skills and craftsmanship. So really celebrates the craft and the design story. And if you look into jewelry, there are many techniques which are so beautiful but not being used at a scale. And really we looked at settings like badroom setting in the Kundan work, Russarava very very fine work which which is a certain skill that can actually if not used will not exist for the next coming generation. And we wanted to also marry and preserve that with a beautiful narrative for the modern Indian woman.
Ambika: And what are the different pieces? Is it earrings, neck pieces, tikas? What all does it include?
Garima: This collection is a very occasion collection. Very festive. We have necklaces, we have earrings, we have beautiful bangles, we have some exquisite finger rings. We've we've expand the collection across all categories. So not to you know disappoint our admirer who possibly does not want to only engage in a very beautiful large heavy gold piece but we also have someone who can buy a slice of Mriganka as a beautiful fingering and
Ambika: sounds absolutely gorgeous. now collaborations are the new design currency in the world of watches as well as jewelry. how does Titan approach collaborations? Because you are such an old company and you can collaborate with pretty much anybody. So how do you choose your collaborations? How do you do it?
Garima: So from the context of jewelry Ambika we look at we look at the collaboration which can truly celebrate the Titan values and its legacy and we look for something very meaningful and deep and something that can really add on to the legacy in jewelry that's been created by this brand for the last 30 years and build on it with a very innovative take to enthral and amuse lose and surprise our customers with something that they have not seen. So,
Mahendra: So u with respect to watches and I would I would slightly broadly paint this picture of collaboration where according to me there are three fundamental roots of collaboration u and and that's what most of the brands follow you know one is about really imagining the creative stretch of the brand till what time brand can stretch without losing without compromising its score identity and design language. you know the Louis Vuitton with the Supreme you know that collaboration was one of those you know one is Parisian hotkatu brand and second was American streetear but still they have collaborated and created something if both of them were really figuring out what was the max creative stretch these brands can take. The other could be the creative depth where you remain in your zone but you go deeper.
Mahendra: You collaborate with experts and you collaborate with someone who can really enhance your product. You and it can add value to your product without really moving out from your creative DNA. For us the the Tourbillon
which we have done with the master artist Shaki Ali which was a miniature painting collaboration was one of those you know I'm wearing this watch. This is one of those collaboration which was about creative depth. It was part of a nebula which was anyway celebrating Indian art Indian craft. We have identified a newer category which is a miniature painting and we dwelt deeper into it and Shakiri collaboration emerged. The third viewpoint would be essentially to get a newer consumer cohorts which probably never existed in your domain. You know probably those kind of consumers they they they never eye towards your brand but just by doing this collaboration you know you pop their eyeballs and they start seeing you. So there are various approaches to these collaboration and Titan we keep playing it but mostly we do it with cult with to to have a creative depth to go into deeper into the category and really learn from those collaboration.
Ambika: Now you spoke about the Jalsa Tourbillon which you're wearing. It is such a a beautiful time piece. It's a coming together Swiss precision miniature paintings and regal aesthetics. How long did it really take for the watch to come together to look like this finally? How long how many versions of it did it go through? How did the idea of it start?
Mahendra: So I think it's it's a beautiful collaboration and beautiful Tourbillon I would say that the entire project took close to three and a half years of constantly figuring out what we should do how can we improve the Tourbillon so Tourbillon is a engineering marvel which which actually help us to negate effect of gravity on watch timekeeping you know because gravity pulls the various components and reduces the the accuracy of the time. tubular as a mechanism negates that effect. So it is very very very complex mechanism. So Titan has mastered this. This is Tourbillon is all designed inhouse. I would say 80% of the components are produced in house except balance field and the escapement that module has come from Swiss but 80% of those components are produced inhouse decorated inhouse and of course designed inhouse. So but this whole journey of creating our own Tourbillon took close to three and a half to four years. and this was quite a phenomenal journey to really push boundaries of u hotology in that way creating a piece which is you know phenomenally impossible to achieve. because Titan has no history like most of the Swiss companies you know it was not a it is not a legacy brand of 200 year old history but we have learned those skills we have created everything from scratch and created this beautiful piece and of course we have first tubular was in collaboration with Swiss but this second Tourbillon which is part of this is done everything in house.
Ambika: I believe there are only 10 of these watches available And each one of them costs over 40 lakh rupees. Watch lovers would want to know whom is a Tourbillon certified by.
Mahendra: So it is it is our own Tourbillon. It is certified internally by title and it is it is designed engineered by us. It is still not having any external certification till now.
Ambika: Are you looking for external certification?
Mahendra: Yeah, eventually eventually it might happen in future. Yes.
Ambika: Okay. And you made 10 watches. Out of them, how many have gone? Just curious.
Mahendra: Everything.
Ambika: They've all gone.
Mahendra: So, see, it is I think it's it's also about creating pieces which are so unique that people start queuing behind these products you know and in this case because it was a miniature painting. and you know Tourbillon is also art of miniature engineering and the way we have beautifully composed it metaphorically with the miniature painting which is also art of you know painting it with with hand. It was combination of two different worlds coming together and it has created a piece unique like this where Jaipur was a muse you know and what better place to get inspired than you know Jaipur which is a perfect melting pot of design culture craftsmanship and because we've created such a amazing piece
Ambika: lovely
Mahendra: it was a long queue to get this yeah
Ambika: excellent and they've gone so it's great I'm so curious We had Cardi B wearing a piece of your jewelry. what does it really mean for your brand when international celebrities wear your jewelry?
Garima: So with Cardi B was wearing our jewelry and the kind of appreciation we got on a global platform. India for centuries have been shaping the narratives in luxury by you know right from being present in the the be best European aelers and our own Maharajas being such brand ambassadors it's just bringing that back to that global platform and getting appreciated for it I really feel it's really the moment for India so there is a huge pride in our customers our consumers when they see a brand which is a homegrown Indian brand which is going to couture and presenting their pieces and it really does give them I mean they feel the world is connected is global and local right so just seeing that this brand is so fashion forward and is present in these kind of forums it also give them gives them great pride and confidence to carry especiallyTanishq diamonds which have made way you know to the global runways And this woman really appreciates the craftsmanship and the way with such technique and precision we've crafted the brilliance of diamonds in these pieces which makes it we we we're a brand which is also wanting to create for this discerning woman who currently not many people are addressing to in India. So it does give us a whole new set of admirers and buyers for the organization.
Ambika: And tell us a bit about the conversations. How did the jewelry piece reach Cardi B? I mean what happened? Give us a masala behind it.
Garima: That's really interesting. And
Ambika: Did you guys reach out to the stylist or like what happened?
Garima: It was throughation. All right. was through. We were actually there meeting Cardi B for her presence in the show with a celebrated designer whom we had collaborated with. For while the stylist and Cardi B herself looked at the jewelry, they were so stunned and they really appreciated the design and they wanted to they just used it for their most recent release of the music video and she actually wore it for that video.in fact the fun part was the the stylist was so amused that in India we have a brand which is producing such great exquisite craft. He asked me ah do you have a small shop in LA and as a titanian I was very proud to say that no we don't have one but we have 10 in the USA. So we are a brand which is now very nicely foring into the global market and move creating a mark there.
Ambika: I'm so curious Tanishq is such an old jewelry brand for Indians. which parts of the world are you located in and after India where does your second highest revenue come from?
Garima: So we are a brand which is having now increasingly a large global footprint and under our international business division. We are present in the Middle East in a very big way. We have store in Singapore and we have a very good presence in America and we have about 10 stores there and the acceptance and the brand love is unbelievable. So I think all of our markets we're doing very very well.
Ambika: All right., in an era of influencer tie-ups and short-term drops, how do you ensure that all your collaborations are timeless and not momentary?
Garima: So, when we collaborate with any designer and especially I'll talk about our recent collaboration with Tarun Tahelani for Rivia, which is the wedding portfolio of Tanishq. it was something where we were we were appreciating his own legacy, his own belief in the craft, how Tarun had taken the craft of India in weaving and embroideries to such a global stage that really resonates with the brand Tanishq because that is precisely what we are doing in jewelry space and it felt like a perfect marriage of two great brands in the country and it al whatso helped us is we ended up really reaching out to this discerning consumer, this bride, T, the Tanishq bride, who was also exploring many fashion brands, many fashion and luxury designers in the costumes. But we did not have possibly the right language to reach out to her.
Garima: And through this collaboration, Tarun brought his vision, his take on the styling of jewelry and with the Tanishq deep knowledge and product expertise, we were able to convert his thoughts into precious metal. So if if I talk about what this marriage was, there was some very beautiful chickenkari zardosi tilawar which is something very signature with him and he had ideas where he wanted to create them in gold but if you see the materials are so different thread which is so pliable and we're talking about precious gold that's where our karigers our whole community our backbone of Tanishq with really with our design guidance they were able to convert embroidery like
Ambika: wow
Garima: Techniques into real jewelry. So we have some beautiful pieces which literally look like the sequin backing stacking which is used in garments and we've been able to translate that with pearls which is again very signature with tarun and they look super spectacular.
Ambika: The collection does look beautiful. How long did it actually take from table to stores?
Garima: This collection with Tarun Tahelani took us two years from his ideas getting his vision and also you know aligning it with the Tanishq vision so that we make just the right product to appeal to the consumer that we currently have and also to reach out to the consumer who's possibly waiting for Tanishq to venture into this category.
Ambika: So which was the most difficult piece to create out of the collection? Diva
Garima: There is this one particular piece where Tarun has coiled. It's literally the ducka work that you know of which is the coiled go you know thread work which is stacked together. It was so challenging to convert that into jewelry. We had many many many many pieces that were melted before we arrived at something which had the right precision, right? And it was a 3D modulation of duta with the pearls which looks just like fabric in gold and I think that's a great great piece.
Ambika: It sounds beautiful. I'm headed to your store this weekend to check it out in detail. now at Titan, how do you measure success? Is it through sales? Is it through brand love or is it just through cultural resonance?
Mahendra: So I I think success for us is quite multi-dimensional. I would say that
we strongly believe that and as a culture you know that's the culture in design team that we are we are not sitting in Eiffel tower creating something a piece of beauty for our self expression just like an artist. We are creating something which should have a market. We should sell in the market. we strongly believe that good design is good business. I think that synergy is very very important within the design community which we need. So I think for us success is also commercial value. how much money the collection is doing eventually. But in some way the creativity leads commerce. It is it is the genesis of success starts from creativity starts from design starts from the craftsmanship what we create and then success eventually come in various forms u in various collections like Tourbillon or various horthology collection. We also feel that measure of success is slightly different here. The emotional outcome how people feel wearing those watches. what is the projection which they give in social media and how how they react and what kind of sense of pride which they own while wearing the watch. what kind of feeling they they really enjoy while wearing the watch which is the emotional outcome often outweighs the commercial metric. So it is both but I would still say that you know they are they are not sequential they are quite intertwined you know
Ambika: Taking you from what he said you just spoke about Rihiva and Tarun Tahelani collaborative collection which currently in 2025 values between 15 to 70 lakh rupees.how did you decide that this piece or who decides that that this piece would do well or that would do well because there's just so many options. and he said commerce obviously is important because you can't sit on stock.
Garima: So in a collection and as a brand we have a very robust process while consumer insights, market reads, they all keep us sensitized and grounded. So it it does it's like a pillar where you keep coming back to. You have a huge area surrounding that pillar to roam around, experiment with, but there has to be something that's tying in the design language to the Titan ethos to the consumer to the woman that you are wanting to you know impress and surprise and I think it's also the kind of expertise that we do have in the system where all the other stakeholders marketing, merchandising, design work very very collaboratively. to to choose but of course I mean
Ambika: If you know the mental DNA of the Indianconsumer what they want
Garima: I think in these three decades we can pretty much say that
Ambika: Please share examples for watches which is one of the boldest design risk that converted into the biggest commercial weight.
Mahendra: Oh, I I think I would start with ultras slim, you know, which a watch which has no second hand, no minute hand and just hour hand. It is such a bold statement of timekeeping you know and at a price which is really pushing the boundaries of what edge is I think these are the things in which
Ambika: How much is it for
Mahendra: This is at around 80 85,000 rupees which is really pushing the the the brand to the next level a quartz watch which is so beautifully designed at the price so in fact most of the design decisions bold design decisions which we have taken in last few years has given us a large commercial benefit. the watch which you're wearing the wandering hour and when you said it's slightly complex to read the time but the just the sheer mechanism just
sheer beauty the poetic motion of those those hands has created such a strong emotional impact that it often you know breach that parameter and you know people buy it just for the love of the love of the horology love of the material the way we craft our watches so we keep pushing the boundaries we keep taking larger risk because we strongly believe that the more you do a creative stretch consumers would still love you more. So you would have a of course mainline collections but you would also have collections which really push the boundaries take bolder risk wandering hour is one edge ultras slim is one Tourbillon is also one of those you know where we have used nonhorological materials it has agate stone which is which is very non machine stone people don't use it in such a high precision watches so we keep pushing this but still we get commercial success
Ambika: And any particular vertical in jewelry?
Garima: In in jewelry I would say we have
Ambika: Really well
Garima: In jewelry we have many I mean I can give you many examples of what kind of collections have done really well for us but there was this one particular piece I recall from our last year's or maybe a recent festive launch wherein we used a very risky color conventional code of the jewel tones that are known in the industry are deep reds and you know deep greens And we went ahead with a collection where we showcased exquisite craftsmanship but we went very bold with the silhouette and the color. We used the color turquoise and that was one of our very known ad variants.
Garima: As a team we were we were thinking that this piece is going to give us a lot of brand love and great image for the brand. may not do so well in numbers but we were really surprised that became one of the best sellers of the collection. We had calls because we did not have this particular piece stocked in in our stores and it was so loved by the customer. So I just believe that creatively in a process bold risks are an important part of design because as a brand and the kind of legacy Titan and Tanishq have established if we don't take those risks who who else will and who else will give this consumer something that she desires but possibly cannot think of and that's where the risk taking is essential. Shoot for.
