The Indian Swiss Watch. Review on Xylys Watches

An honest confession first. I don't own a Xylys but whatever little knowledge I have about the brand I am putting it across this review. Xylys is the brain child of India's biggest and World's 6th biggest watchmaker Titan.

It was the year 2006 that Titan realized that it has to upgrade its range so as to attract Swiss watch enthusiasts and the result was launch of Xylys.Xylys was created in collaboration with Swiss designer Laurent Rufenacht and Titan's very own design advisor Michael Foley.

Made in Switzerland Xylys majorly featuresSwiss Rhonda movement which is different from the most popular Swiss ETA movement which was developed by Swatch. Swiss Rhonda movement is being patronized by the likes of Invicta while ETA is the most popular one finding place in almost all high end Swiss watches.There are some Xylys model which features ETA movement also. An example being Men Classic Collection 9119, Men Sports Collection 9121 SM 01 and Ladies Contemporary Collection.

Coming to their range, Xylys has broadly divided itself into 3 categories:-

1. The Classic Collection:-Basically formal watches with exquisite designs specially geometrical symmetric designs running all across the dials. They are usually 50 m Water Resistant and are available in both leather straps and steel bracelets.Further subdivisions are in the form of Ladies and Men collections with a range between 6500-19000 INR.

2. The Contemporary Collection:- They are also formal watches with add ons like Two Tone Designs, Dual Time, etc. They are also 50 m WR while some of the models are 100 m WR.There are Ladies and Men collections under this range. The price varies between 8500-24000 INR.

3. The Sports Collection:- This collection is only for Men. The watches have features like Chronograph, Alarm, Power Reserve, Dual Time. There are leather straps complemented or stainless steel bracelet or integrated calf leather strapped with plastic inserts. The price varies from 13000-22000 INR.

Analyzing the collection gives me an idea that Titan has made a genuine attempt to cater Swiss Watch lovers. But the point is as there are so many Swiss brands already available in India, is Xylys really able to make its presence after a period of more than 3 years of its existence. The answer is partially Yes. Titan has an advantage of large number of World of Titan showrooms all over the country which helps it to distribute Xylys effectively and the designs are good enough to lure potential buyers. The factors which are against Xylys are stiff competition from the established Swiss brand names. For example Xylys Classic and Xylys Contemporary collection are in direct competition from the large Swatch group products especially Tissot which has quite a few offerings in that range. Another competition is from Swiss Military, Swiss Eagle and Wenger watches which challenges the Sports Collection of Xylys. Even Tissot is challenging Sports Collection though it is priced higher than Xylys but have a much bigger Brand image.

To promote the Xylys range, Titan does offer some lucrative schemes time and then. Most prominent one is during Rakshabandhan in which they generally offer a free mobile with the purchase every Xylys watch. Last year they gave a free Sony Ericsson W200i mobile with Xylys and a year before it was a Motorola phone. So, the best time for Xylys purchase is the festive season. Just keep hooked to Xylys website https://xylyswatches.com for being up to date with their offers and you might get lucky to have a Xylys purchase during their promotional schemes.

Xylys overall is a very brave attempt from the house of Titan to confront the onslaught of Swiss brands having a grand brand equity in the Global Watch world. This especially looks brave when we keep in mind that Titan's venture into the luxury watches was a disaster in Europe. India being the native market of Titan is a different cup of tea though and one can always hope of Titan's victory in its homeland over much powerful rivals boosted by world class Titan service.