Watches come second after ladies footwear in fashion segment

More and more young people are buying fancy wrist watches, catapulting them to the second place after ladies footwear in the fashion market.This was stated by Nilanjan Bhattacharya, Vice-President (Sales) of the watch company Timex Group of India Limited.Bhattacharya told reporters last evening that the wrist watch market had a huge growth potential as youths, specially in the 24-35 age group, are increasingly rooting for them to make a fashion statement.Quoting the report of a study conducted by reputed market research company 'Technopak', Bhattacharya said the watch market, which had emerged as the second largest growth market after women’s footwear in the fashion segment, would grow by seven to eight per cent.Bhattacharya, who also launched a new sub-brand of Timex “Aura” here, said the company had aggressive growth and diversification plans to tap markets in various parts of the country including the Eastern region."We have good presence in West Bengal and North-Eastern states, but we are concentrating more on states like Jharkhand and Bihar where there were enough opportunities for growth," Bhattacharya said.The company has at present a strong market presence at 29% in southern India, he said.The company has a plan to launch a luxury global brand 'Versace' in the country by the year-end targeting high-end buyers. The range of the watches would be between Rs20,000 and Rs1 lakh.Out of a total 12 brands present globally, four are in India namely Timex, Nautica, Mark Ecko and Ferragamo. The last named is a luxury brand.