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India appears to be undergoing a horological renaissance at the moment. An emerging breed of young consumers are on the hunt for new and experimental timepieces, some of which are home-grown, and others that operate outside the Swiss watch industrial complex. This is the window into which Herbelin, the French watchmaker with a 75-year lineage, steps with the confidence of a maison that knows exactly who it is, and who it’s catering to. Founded in Charquemont, France in 1947, Herbelin never chased volume or overinflated luxury cues. It has instead built a reputation on design purity, proportion, and an almost stubborn refusal to be loud. That restraint is now becoming the very thing Indian buyers find refreshing. Export Sales Director and Partner Benjamin Theurillat sees a shift. “India is a very promising market for Herbelin,” he says. “Over the past two years, we’ve seen growing curiosity among consumers for refined, high-quality timepieces that combine craftsmanship with style.” The Indian customer in 2025 is discerning and unshackled by the rules of the past. Heritage matters – but not heritage weaponised into hype culture. Theurillat puts it simply: “Our clients value understated luxury, elegant design, and the precision of a family-owned French brand with over 75 years of heritage.” Herbelin leans into the French spirit where emotion sits alongside precision, and where a watch is a design object first, a flex second. “French watchmaking is deeply rooted in design and artistry,” Theurillat explains. “The French approach emphasizes refinement and emotion, while the Swiss approach emphasizes precision and mastery.” In an era of increasingly maximalist dials and technical one-upmanship, Herbelin’s aesthetic reads almost subversive. That aesthetic also has breadth. Globally, the brand is quietly dominant in women’s watchmaking – a segment many legacy brands treat as an afterthought. “In France, one out of every two women’s watches sold between €300 (INR 30,500) and €750 (INR 76404) is a Herbelin,” Theurillat points out. It’s not hard to see why. The maison understands femininity without condescension: clean lines, harmonious proportions, and genuinely thoughtful jewelry-adjacent design language. In a market like India – where women are rapidly developing independent luxury buying power – this could be Herbelin’s not-so-secret ace. Herbelin is playing a long game. “For us, it’s not about ‘cashing in,’ but about building a lasting presence,” says Theurillat. That means measured expansion through trusted retail partners like Helios, and a keen emphasis on storytelling. Part of that placement strategy involves catering to mechanical appetite. As Indian collectors graduate from quartz, there’s rising romance around automatics – the rotor’s swing, the escapement’s heartbeat. Herbelin is leaning into the moment. “Automatic watches are central to our collection,” Theurillat says. The Cap Camarat and Inspiration lines have already landed, and the maison plans to widen that portfolio. The response so far? Strong, fueled by buyers who want artistry and familiarity. At the same time, the brand isn’t tone-deaf to India’s own blossoming independent watchmaking scene. There’s no defensiveness, only respect. “We truly admire the creativity emerging from Indian watchmaking – it shows that the market is evolving,” Theurillat says. More importantly, the maison understands that India’s luxury consumption is no longer aspirational in the traditional sense. Buyers aren’t looking for Rolex substitutes or budget-APs. They’re looking for personality. The brand’s DNA – assembled and inspected in France, crafted with savoir-faire rather than industrial repetition – is built for that buyer. As Indian wrists evolve, so too will their appetite for nuance. And when nuance becomes the new flex, don’t be surprised if the watch doing the flexing spells its name with a distinctly French accent.
