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Time of India
13-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Chief of Titan's watches division Suparna Mitra steps down
Mumbai: Suparna Mitra, the long-serving chief of Titan Company's Watches & Wearables Division, is stepping down. In a stock exchange filing on May 13, the Tata Group firm said Mitra had submitted her resignation, citing personal reasons. She will leave the company on August 12. A successor has not yet been named. Mitra's departure marks the end of a long association with the maker of India's best-known watch brands. She first joined Titan in 1994 and, after a stint at Hindustan Unilever, returned in 2006. In her most recent role—held since 2020—she oversaw the company's efforts to reposition its watch business, improve design and materials, and expand retail presence. Under her leadership, Titan not only revived legacy brands like Raga but also introduced new ones such as Octane and Zoop. The company's ambitious foray into premium watchmaking included the launch of India's first indigenously produced Flying Tourbillon watch in 2024. Mitra holds an electrical engineering degree from Jadavpur University and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. Known for her customer-centric approach and attention to innovation, she is widely credited with steering the division through a phase of aggressive growth and international recognition—including Titan's nomination at the prestigious Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève. Last year, she joined food delivery giant Swiggy as an independent director before its IPO. That appointment, and her departure now, suggest that more independent or board-level roles may lie ahead. Her exit comes at a time when India's consumer goods sector is undergoing rapid transformation, with discretionary spending shifting toward premium and digital-first products. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
South China Morning Post
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Jewellers as watchmakers: Chanel, Hermès, Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels are venturing further into the hallowed halls of horology, bringing artistry – as well as flowers and feathers
Walking through the Palexpo in Geneva during the annual Watches and Wonders event is a veritable sensory overload. There are just so many booths, and so many watches. A visit to the Van Cleef & Arpels booth is something of a reprieve. As though you've wandered into a magical forest. As the then chief executive of the French maison Nicolas Bos (now chief executive of Richemont) once told me, at Watches and Wonders you're surrounded by boys and their toys – cars, boats – and 'here we are with our fairies and our butterflies'. Those fairies and butterflies that flit across the dials of the maison's novelties, however, come with serious horological prowess. Advertisement Lady Arpels Heures Florales Cerisier watch from Van Cleef & Arpels. Photo: Handout Unlike many of the other watch brands you see at the annual trade show though, Van Cleef & Arpels prefers to keep its technical wizardry hidden – not a spinning tourbillon to be seen. It's something Rainer Bernard, head of research and development for watchmaking at Van Cleef & Arpels, has likened to an opera: you see the beauty of the performance, but none of the unsightly rigging behind the scenes. Several of the maison's watches this year scooped prizes at the 'watch Oscars'– aka the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). Further proof of just how serious these timepieces are. Bernard calls the mechanisms behind the maison's timepieces 'poetic complications', and says these give the watches 'a fourth dimension'. Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux watch by Van Cleef & Arpels. Photo: Handout 'The movement of elements plays an important role in the story. It can be the movement of two lovers towards each other on a bridge in Paris who meet for a kiss at midnight. … It can be flowers, indicating the hours by being open or not, changing the visual aspect of the garden over time. Often, you must learn how to read the time, as the indication is part of the poetic story – a unique way of reading the time while instilling emotion,' he says. 'Our Poetic Complications invite you always to 'take the time to read the time', which is also a poetic invitation to capture this very precise moment of your life.'
New York Times
05-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Hublot's Big Bang Watch at 20
It has been worn by A-list musicians, sports stars and artists, timed a World Cup soccer final and appeared on the Olympic podium. Love it or loathe it, there is no denying the impact that Hublot's Big Bang has had on watchmaking and popular culture since its introduction 20 years ago. Released in 2005, the original Big Bang design was big and brash. It had an oversize 44-millimeter case; a chronograph, or stopwatch, function; and a bezel held in place with six exposed screws. Also prominent was its experimental material mix of steel or red gold, titanium, ceramic, carbon fiber, Kevlar and rubber. That year, it won the design prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, the watch industry's annual awards event. It also set Hublot, founded in 1980 and generally considered an insider sort of brand up to that point, on the way to becoming something of a household name. 'The Big Bang was a miracle,' said Jean-Claude Biver, the industry veteran who was the company's chief executive at the time. 'When we started in 2004, nobody knew Hublot. Ten, 15 years later, everybody knew the name. It made Hublot.' The watch's name helped. 'I came up with the name because I was convinced this type of watch, with its materials, dimensions, colors and modular construction would create a revolution in the watchmaking tradition,' said Mr. Biver, 75. The Big Bang was expensive, too. 'The first steel and rubber models were 8,900 Swiss francs,' he said. 'It was not cheap at all. It was courageous to come out at that price.' Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
