Premium watch brand Seiko says its time has come



Premium watch brand Seiko says its time has come

Our Bureau Chennai, Oct. 19 The inventor of the popular quartz technology in watches and now a premium global luxury watch brand, Seiko, launched its first boutique in India at the Express Avenue mall, Chennai, in association with Zimson, a wrist watch retailing chain. Despite being present for only three years in the country, Seiko Watch India claims to have grown by 43 per cent for the year 2009-2010, and by 84 per cent in value in April-September 2010, according to Mr Tetsuji Ishi-maru, President, Seiko Watch India Pvt Ltd.	Addressing the media on the eve of the launch of its boutique, Mr Ishimaru said that the brand has positioned itself in the 'affordable luxury' category, with the prices of its watches ranging from Rs 5,000 to about Rs 2 lakh. Asked if Seiko, which was among the Japanese brands which were popular in India early on, had not conceded ground to the Swiss brands, Mr Ishimaru said that the time was now right as the retail environment had improved and it could open quality boutiques of the kind it has in Chennai. "So, we couldn't come ear-			such as the 40^th anniversary commemorative edition of the Seiko Quartz Astron, the world's first quartz watch. PRICES Mr Ishimaru said that as part of the brand's policy, the prices of the watches in India will be on par with global prices. In case local tax rates caused the prices to be higher, the company would absorb the increase, he said. Mr Ishimaru said that that the premium watch market in the country is between Rs 400 crore and Rs 600 crore and Seiko would be among the top three brands in the premium segment.
		lier; but now there is room for everyone to grow," he said. Apart from the bestselling collections in India such as	the Premier, Sportura and Seiko 5, the new boutique has an exclusive display of some Seiko's iconic watches, clocks and special editions