The rise of accessible luxury: Inside Helios Luxe’s India expansion with Auguste Reymond

For years, conversations in India about luxury watches have largely revolved around recognisable logos and milestone purchases. But quietly, something has begun to shift. Buyers are increasingly posing fewer questions regarding price, such as “How much does it cost?” and instead are more inclined to ask, “What’s the story behind it?” 

As a result, factors such as craftsmanship, provenance, and mechanical romance are starting to matter as much as status, sometimes more.

Helios Luxe, Titan's premium watch retail arm, is expanding its focus beyond the familiar heavyweights in response to this changing consumer mindset. With plans to scale its footprint and double its turnover over the next few years, the brand is betting on a growing Indian appetite for independent, heritage-led watchmaking. 

Its latest move, the India debut of 127-year-old Swiss watchmaker Auguste Reymond, signals a push towards discovery-led luxury, where watches are less about flex and more about fascination.

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According to Rahul Shukla, vice president and chief sales & marketing officer, Watches Division, Titan Company Ltd., this is precisely the space Helios Luxe aims to occupy.

“Helios Luxe operates at the intersection of three things: deep design aesthetics, high horology and worth,” he says. “Worth is critical today. Consumers are looking for value that goes far beyond the price they pay.”

The rise of accessible luxury and why timing matters

If market trends are any indication, Helios Luxe’s timing makes sense. India’s so-called “accessible luxury” watch category is typically defined as watches priced in the Rs 15,000–Rs 100,000+ range.

Around Rs 12,000 crore is spent on lower-priced luxury watches, compared with Rs 7,000 crore in the Rs 100,000+ to Rs 500,000+ range, and just Rs 1,000 crore on watches above Rs 500,000.

The growth is even more telling. The accessible luxury segment is growing at twice the rate of the non-luxury watch category.

“This skew clearly tells you where the opportunity lies,” says Shukla. Rising affluence, faster upward mobility, and a younger earning demographic have changed the profile of luxury consumption. 

“People are earning affluence far earlier than previous generations. They’re evaluative, progressive, and less impressed by logos. Purpose and substance matter more.”

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In that context, Auguste Reymond fits as an aspirational choice for buyers. The brand, founded in 1898, offers hand-assembled, individually numbered mechanical watches powered by the Unitas movement. Celestial designs include the Origin Lunar, featuring a laser-etched moon-textured dial, Super-LumiNova bezel, sapphire glass, and multiple complications.

Prices range from Rs 130,000 to Rs 750,000. The India launch introduces 23 limited-edition timepieces across four collections – Origin, Unity, Heritage 1898, and Magellan – exclusively available at Helios Luxe.

Beyond Titan and Helios Luxe, India’s accessible luxury watch market is already crowded with established global players. Swiss brands such as Rado, Tissot and Longines dominate the segment, offering heritage-led mechanical watches typically starting between Rs 25,000 and Rs 100,000. 

Rado continues to find strong traction in India, aided by its long-standing focus on ceramic design, while Tissot’s Powermatic-powered models, including the widely popular PRX, have become default entry points for first-time Swiss watch buyers.

Longines caters to a more classic consumer through collections like Conquest, even as Japanese brands such as Seiko Presage expand their footprint, adding to competitive pressure.

Watches as identity markers, not just status symbols

Over the past two to three years, the Indian luxury watch ecosystem has quietly evolved. Analogue watches are no longer instruments to tell time; they’re instruments to tell stories.

“You can tell a lot about a person from the watch they wear,” Shukla notes. “It reflects how they’ve moved up in life, what inspires them, and what they value.”

This storytelling impulse is especially strong among consumers aged 30–45, Helios Luxe’s core audience. While Gen Z plays a smaller role for now, millennials and older Gen Z buyers are increasingly drawn to craftsmanship, provenance, and mechanical depth rather than external validation.

Gifting has emerged as a powerful accelerator. Nearly 65% of Helios’ sales are driven by gifting, with watches becoming a preferred medium to mark milestones from weddings and anniversaries to personal wins. Festive periods amplify this further, but the category is now seeing consistent month-on-month demand driven by life events.

Offline still wins, but digital does the convincing

Despite digital discovery becoming the first touchpoint, luxury watch buying in India remains decisively offline. Around 90% of Helios’ sales come from physical stores, even though nearly 75% of discovery happens online.

The reason is trust and experience. “In a market flooded with fakes, trust becomes a huge differentiator,” says Shukla.

Being backed by Titan and the Tata legacy plays a critical role here. Add to that robust after-sales service – nearly a quarter of store purchases come from customers who originally walked in for servicing – and the stores become relationship hubs rather than transactional spaces.

Expansion beyond metros, and why Goa made sense

By the end of this year, Helios will operate over 300 stores across 100+ cities, with 20 Helios Luxe boutiques in key markets such as  Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Goa. The plan is ambitious: 100 Helios Luxe stores by FY30.

While the initial focus remains on India’s top 10 cities, Helios Luxe is already testing assumptions around Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Allahabad, for instance, is on the radar because of visible high-value demand patterns.

Goa, too, plays a strategic role. Despite being labelled Tier 2, its heavy tourist influx and airport retail dynamics make it a strong luxury consumption hub. “Airports behave very differently from city stores,” Shukla points out. “Even with lower conversion rates, absolute volumes are powerful.”

No celebrity noise, just watch-led storytelling

Interestingly, Helios Luxe is consciously avoiding celebrity endorsements for Auguste Reymond. Instead, the focus is on watch collectors, enthusiasts, and storytelling-led influencer engagement.

“For heritage brands like these, the watch is the hero,” says Shukla. Marketing spends are increasingly digital-first, supplemented by hyperlocal campaigns and in-store experiential launches, while traditional media takes a back seat.

Premiumisation is no longer niche

The numbers back this strategy. During the latest festive season, Helios grew 29% overall. The fashion watch segment grew at 21%, but accessible luxury surged ahead at 52%. In just three years, accessible luxury’s share of Helios’ business has grown from 35% to 55%—a clear signal of premiumisation underway.

Looking ahead, Helios Luxe’s ambition is clear: scale aggressively, deepen its portfolio of independent heritage brands and build long-term consumer trust. Or as Shukla puts it, “Our future ambitions shape what we do today, and we’re pressing all pedals.”