Know Your City: Inside Bengaluru shops keeping vintage HMT watches, clocks ticking

Mehmood works exclusively with mechanical timepieces, such as mechanical wristwatches, pocket watches of the kind that were fashionable before World War II, and larger pieces like grandfather and cuckoo clocks. The great “quartz revolution” of battery-powered watches did drive many watchmakers out of business in the 70s and 80s. Ironically, that has provided a resource of spare parts for many modern watch repair businesses.

Mehmood explained, “Some people sell junk clocks or watches just for spares. We buy those and keep them. Whenever we need a spare part, we take some out.” The clocks, however, are the real historical relics that he comes across. Some of the younger pieces might be around 50 years old, but the oldest might not be out of place in museums, dating back to a time when Switzerland was not yet a world power in the timekeeping industry.

Mehmood said, “I have worked on some German and French clocks. The oldest one I have worked on dates back to 1780. In those days, the clocks had a different type of mechanical ‘escapement’. That helps us tell whether a clock is of a particular period.”

Depending on how complex his customers’ clocks are, repair might take from one to three days. Mechanisms such as cuckoo clocks are often more mechanically complicated.

A Rajendran at his Chamundeswari Watch Works. (Photo by Arnav Chandrasekhar)

Nostalgic interest in HMT watches

Another veteran of the trade in the area is A Rajendran of Chamundeswari Watch Works, which has been operating for around 70 years. Rajendran took over the store from his father—from whom he learned the trade—and has been running it for around 40 years.

Walk into his store, and you will see him at a desk with the tools of the trade, including a watchmakers’ lathe that allows him to fabricate any spare parts that might be impossible to source. He also sells vintage watches to customers. According to him, there has been a revival of nostalgic interest in HMT watches among today’s collectors.

Recalling how he got into the business, Rajendran said, “I like to do this work; it was like a passion for me. I keep doing it since it is a business my father started, and I have been in it since a young age.” This legacy is visible in a quick glance around the store, which includes a mix of clocks that are part of Rajendran’s personal collection and those for sale. These are a true collection of watchmaking history, including intricately made wall clocks from England and the Netherlands, including one dating back to 1879.

But will another generation of watchmakers take over the field in the future, keeping antique watches and clocks alive? While Rajendran’s son, an engineer, is not entering the field, there are still those who wish to learn the trade—a small group of youngsters being trained by Rajendran.