CaratLane

Titan Company Limited is an Indian company that mainly manufactures fashion accessories such as jewellery, watches and eyewear. Part of the Tata Group and started as a joint venture with TIDCO, the company has its corporate headquarters in Electronic City, Bangalore, and registered office in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

Titan Company commenced operations in 1984 under the name Titan Watches Limited. In 1994, Titan diversified into jewellery with Tanishq and subsequently into eyewear with Titan Eyeplus. In 2005, it launched its youth fashion accessories brand Fastrack. Titan is the largest branded jewellery maker in India by value, with a 6% market share as of 2022. More than 80% of its total revenue comes from the jewellery segment. As of 2019, it is also the fifth-largest watch manufacturer in the world.

History

1984–1990

Titan Company Limited was inaugurated on 26 July 1984 under the name Titan Watches Limited in Chennai. A plant was set up to manufacture quartz analogue electronic watches in the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu industrial area at Hosur. In November 1986, Titan Company and Casio signed a MoU to manufacture 2 million digital and analog-digital watches.

1991–2010

In 1992, Timex entered the Indian market by establishing a joint venture with Titan Watches. Under the agreement, Timex manufactured lower-priced watches, which were marketed and sold in Titan stores alongside Titan's higher-end watches.

In September 1993, Titan Watches changed its name to Titan Industries as it ventured into products other than watches. In 1994, Titan launched its jewellery brand Tanishq.

In 1997, Titan and Timex terminated their partnership. In a bid to compete with Timex, Titan soon after launched a range of economy watches under Sonata, and a watch and accessories sub-brand, Fastrack, which was targeted at younger customers.

In 2004, Titan signed an agreement with the Murjani Group to market and distribute the latter's Tommy Hilfiger watches in India. 2004, Titan partnered with LVMH to service the latter's watches in India through its service centres.

In 2005, Fastrack was positioned as an independent accessory brand targeting the urban youth. To become a fashion brand, Fastrack launched sunglasses in the same year and launched bags, belts and wallets in 2009. In 2007, Titan established its prescription eyewear store chain called Titan Eyeplus. Titan launched a multi-brand luxury watch store format called Helios in 2009.

2011–present

Titan acquired Swiss watchmaker Favre-Leuba in 2011 for €2 million to enter the European market. In 2013, Titan entered the fragrances segment with the brand Skinn and helmets category under the Fastrack brand. In the same year, it changed its name to Titan Company Ltd. In 2014, it entered into a joint venture with Montblanc to establish its retail stores in India.

In 2016, Titan entered the wearable devices market by introducing its smartwatch, Juxt, made through a collaboration with Hewlett-Packard. In 2017, the company launched a fitness tracker, named Gesture Band under its youth accessories brand, Fastrack. In 2018, the company added new fitness tracker bands. The company had a 7.4% market share in the wearable devices market as of 2018.

In 2017, Titan started its women's ethnic wear retail chain named Taneira. In 2018, Titan merged its South India-focused jewellery brand Gold Plus with Tanishq.

In November 2020, Titan opened its first overseas Tanishq store in Dubai.

In 2023, Titan sold its subsidiary Favre-Leuba to Ethos.

Subsidiaries and affiliate companies

Titan Engineering & Automation Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Titan. It was formerly known as Titan-Precision Engineering Division. The company now deals in machine building, automation and component manufacturing.

In 2015, Titan entered a joint venture to sell products of the Swiss luxury brand Montblanc through its retail outlets. Titan's equity share in Montblanc India Retail Private Limited is 49% and Montblanc Services B.V. holds 51%.

In 2016, Titan acquired a 62% stake in CaratLane for . In 2023, Titan acquired another 27.18% stake in CaratLane from its founder and his family for in cash, following which its stake in the company increased to 98.28%. In 2024, Titan acquired the remaining stake in CaratLane.

References

External links

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Titan Watches India

{{BSE Sensex

Titan Company
Watchmaking conglomerates
Indian jewellery designers
Indian companies established in 1984
Manufacturing companies established in 1984
Watch brands
Indian brands
Watch manufacturing companies of India
Eyewear companies of India
Eyewear brands of India
Companies based in Bengaluru
NIFTY 50
BSE SENSEX
1984 establishments in Tamil Nadu
Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India
Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange