Staying ahead of the innovation curve once again, Titan Industries demonstrated that it is at the forefront of the Indian wristwatch market, with the launch of its premium watch brand, Xylys. Infused with style, attitude and power, Xylys enters the premium watch segment in India, which is presently dominated by well-known European brands. The new brand was unveiled by actor Rahul Bose, one of the brand ambassadors for Xylys.

The premium watch market, which is estimated to be growing at a pace of over 20 per cent annually, is expected to witness phenomenal growth in future. Through Xylys, Titan unveils its brand offering that will redefine the entire premium watch segment.

Announcing the launch of the new brand, Bhaskar Bhat, managing director — Titan Industries, said, "This launch is one of the most significant for the company as Xylys addresses the discerning globalised customer. We have placed this brand at the uppermost end of the market. We are confident that Xylys will change the dynamics of the premium watch market in India. A whole new set of customers will aspire to buy premium watches, thereby growing this segment".

Xylys has been created in collaboration with renowned Swiss designer Laurent Rufenacht and Titan's very own design advisor Michael Foley. It is manufactured in a state-of-the-art factory in Switzerland, which has a heritage of 80 years in the art of watch making. Xylys is an eloquent interpretation of Swiss watch making with all its intricate trappings of exquisite craftsmanship and impeccable detailing. All Xylys watches are created with a fine sense of design, painstakingly made from carefully selected materials and crafted with a passion for detail. Every aspect of a Xylys watch — from its movements to the refined watch face and hands, and the bold yet elegant case — contribute to the uniqueness of the Xylys timepiece.

"Xylys is created for the new generation achievers who go beyond the obvious. Xylys reflects their values, attitudes and unique personal identities", adds Mr Bijou Kurien, COO — watches, Titan Industries while explaining the strategy behind the premium brand.

The brand is targeted at men and women, who are today's people; supremely confident and conscious of the image they project. These individuals are actively seeking new experiences with the unconventional. Xylys, with its unique positioning of the Power of X, underlines the power of one's attitude. This attitude stems from a person's self-belief, which enables one to achieve success due to a passionate pursuit of one's dreams.

The three brand ambassadors of Xylys come from varied fields and represent the attitude of the new generation achiever. Actor Rahul Bose, international supermodel Saira Mohan and tennis star Carlos Moya reflect the attitude of living life fearlessly on their own terms with a passion to pursue their dreams. Speaking at the launch, brand ambassador Rahul Bose said, "Like every movie I choose to be a part of, I have chosen to endorse this brand after careful thought. I can only support those products that I am fully convinced about. It is an exciting new brand from India's leading watchmaker with an identity that reflects the attitude and values that I consider important — bold, unconventional and distinctive."

Priced between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 33,000, the Xylys range of watches comes in three collections - Contemporary, Classic and Sport and offers over 60 distinctive models. Xylys will be available at select World of Titan showrooms, key multi-brand outlets and at exclusive flagship boutiques in select cities. Xylys will be available in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi at the launch phase and would be later rolled out to five more cities by July 2006.

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Titan Industries is India's leading manufacturer of watches and jewellery and the world's sixth largest manufacturer brand of watches. Established in 1984 as a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, the company transformed the Indian watch market, offering quartz technology with international styling, manufactured at its state-of-the-art factory at Hosur, Tamil Nadu. In 1995, the company diversified into jewellery under the brand Tanishq.

Leveraging its understanding of different segments in the watch market, the company launched a second independent watch brand — Sonata — as a value brand to those seeking to buy functionally styled watches at affordable prices. It also entered the segment of premium fashion watches by acquiring a license for global brands such as

Tommy Hilfiger. Titan has also diversified into fashion eyewear with its Fastrack Eye Gear sunglasses. Further, Titan leveraged its manufacturing competencies and branched into precision engineering products and machine building in 2003.