The News Minute| Geneva| July 22, 2014| 1.50 pm ISTIndia will soon have its own Swatch Shop as the Swiss watchmaking company plans to tap the country’s burgeoning watch-as-accessory class. While the watch that changed the face of the Swiss watch industry is available in India, this will be the first time that the company will sell the products through its own stores. Priced between 50 and 250 Swiss Francs (INR 3,350 and 16,753, respectively), the watchmaker will be the biggest international group to seek an entry into India’s 100-owned single brand retail segment after furniture-maker IKEA and fashion and clothing firm H&M, both Swedish companies. “The Indian market is very important for us and we are looking to set up Swatch Shops,” Beatrice Howald of the Swatch group told The News Minute (TNM). A formal proposal to this effect is now with the commerce ministry. “It has only become possible recently to own 100 percent control of the business,” Ms. Howald said. The group which has an annual sales of $10 billion said that it’s other brands would continue to be sold through the current outlets and the Swatch Shop would just focus on Swatch. The Swatch group makes watches for all market segments including the Breguet, Longines, Omega, Tissot and Blancpain. Swatch and the Flik Flak are in the basic segment.The Indian watch market is forecast to rise to $2.7 billion by 2020 from $898 million now, according to a recent industry report and sources says the entry of the Swatch Shop could cause other brands to set up their own stores in India instead of going through dealers and other agents whose commissions can sometimes be as high as 60 percent. Swiss watch companies who say India is one of the most difficult markets in the world are now hopeful that following the possibility of establishing fully-owned stores, they may be looking at a new scenario affording opportunities to build their brands in one of the world’ most lucrative markets. Time was when Indians wore a watch for an entire lifetime and the notion of watch as an accessory seemed almost impossible if not laughable. With its price points, patterns and design, Swatch has changed not just the profile of watches but also influenced the consumer who now easily slips between models.When the first Swatch was released in 1983, the very conservative and old fashioned Swiss watch-making industry had given the plastic watch no more than a year to survive. Nicolas Hayek, the legendary CEO of the company (he passed away in 2010) proved them all wrong and went on to build one of the world’s most widely recognized consumer brands. Read the Swatch story and a tribute to Hayek here.