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![]() Logo of Titan Company | |
Company type | Public |
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ISIN | INE280A01028 |
Industry | Lifestyle |
Founded | 1984 |
Founder | Xerxes Desai [1] |
Headquarters | , India |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | |
Products | Watches, Jewellery, Bags, Perfumes, Belts, Wallets and Eyewear |
Brands | |
Revenue | ![]() |
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Total assets | ![]() |
Total equity | ![]() |
Number of employees | 8,680 (2024) [3] |
Parent | |
Subsidiaries |
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Website | titancompany |
Titan Company Limited is an Indian company that mainly manufactures fashion accessories such as jewellery, watches and eyewear. Part of the Tata Group and started as a joint venture with TIDCO, the company has its corporate headquarters in Electronic City, Bangalore, [5] and registered office in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. [6]
Titan Company commenced operations in 1984 under the name Titan Watches Limited. In 1994, Titan diversified into jewellery with Tanishq and subsequently into eyewear with Titan Eyeplus. In 2005, it launched its youth fashion accessories brand Fastrack. [7] Titan is the largest branded jewellery maker in India by value, with a 6% market share as of 2022. [8] [9] More than 80% of its total revenue comes from the jewellery segment. [8] As of 2019, it is also the fifth-largest watch manufacturer in the world. [10]
Titan Company Limited was inaugurated on 26 July 1984 under the name Titan Watches Limited in Chennai. [11] A plant was set up to manufacture quartz analogue electronic watches in the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu, Ltd. Industrial area at Hosur. In November 1986, Titan Company and Casio signed a MoU proposing to manufacture 2 million digital and analog-digital watches. [12] In 1989, a satellite case plant was set up in Dehradun, Uttarakhand at present with a manufacturing capacity of 500,000 watch cases annually. [11]
In September 1993, the company changed its name to Titan Industries Ltd. as it ventured into other range of products other than watches. [13] [14]
In 1994, Titan launched its jewellery brand Tanishq. [15]
In 1998, the company launched its watch and accessories brand, Fastrack, targeted at a younger audience in a bid to compete with Timex. [16]
In 2001, Titan launched the kids’ watch brand, Dash. The brand saw poor performance and was discontinued in 2003. [17] In 2004, the company agreed with Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Group, to service the latter's range of watches in India through its customer care centres. [18]
In 2005, Fastrack was positioned as an independent accessory brand targeting the urban youth. To become a fashion brand, Fastrack launched sunglasses in the same year and launched bags, belts and wallets in 2009. [19]
Titan acquired Swiss watchmaker Favre-Leuba in 2011 for €2 million to enter the European market. [20] [21] In 2013, Titan entered the fragrances segment with the brand Skinn [22] and later that year, it ventured into the helmets' category under its brand Fastrack. [23] In the same year, it changed its name to Titan Company Ltd. [24] In 2014, it entered into a joint venture with Montblanc to establish its retail stores in India. [25]
In 2016, Titan opened prescription lens manufacturing facilities in Noida, Kolkata, and Mumbai to improve its order processing time. [26]
In 2016, Titan entered the wearable devices market by introducing its smartwatch, Juxt, made through a collaboration with Hewlett-Packard. [27] In 2017, the company launched a fitness tracker, named Gesture Band under its youth accessories brand, Fastrack. [28] In the same year, it invested $3 million in a Singapore based wearable tech company, CoveIoT. [29] In 2018, the company added new fitness tracker bands. The company had a 7.4% market share in the wearable devices market as of 2018. [30]
In 2018, Titan merged its jewellery brand, Gold Plus targeted at customers in South India with Tanishq to establish the brand's presence in South. [31]
In November 2020, Titan opened its first overseas Tanishq store in Dubai as well as an exclusive website for Dubai showcasing its collections. [32]
In 2023, Titan sold its subsidiary Favre Leuba to Ethos. [33] [34] In December 2023, Titan acquired a 10% stake in American healthtech company CueZen for $3.5 million. [35]
The watches division comprises brands Fastrack, Sonata, Edge, Raga, Nebula, Octane, Xylys and Zoop. In 2011, the company secured a licence for the marketing and distribution of Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss watches. [36] [37] In 2016, Titan obtained the license to retail Kenneth Cole watches in India. [38]
In 2007, Titan Industries forayed into the fashion accessories industry with the launch of sunglasses. It introduced Titan Eye Plus which makes frames, contact lenses, prescription eyewear, and sunglasses. [39]
Xerxes Desai started the brand Tanishq in 1995. Zoya was launched in the luxury segment, while Mia, a sub-brand was under Tanishq for work-wear jewellery. [40] In 2016, Titan invested in CaratLane. As of 2022, Titan has a 6% market share in India's jewellery market. [9]
In 2013, Titan launched six variants of perfume under the brand name ‘Skinn’. They collaborated with global perfumers including Alberto Morillas and Olivier Pescheux. [41]
Taneira is an ethnic wear brand from Titan that retails hand-woven sarees from different weaving clusters of India. [42] The brand was launched in 2016. The first retail store was opened in Bangalore in 2017 with more stores followed in New Delhi and Hyderabad. [43]
Titan Engineering & Automation Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Titan. It was formerly known as Titan-Precision Engineering Division. The company now deals in machine building, automation and component manufacturing. [21]
Titan acquired a 62% stake in CaratLane 2016 for $50 million. [44]
In 2023, Titan acquired another 27.18% stake in CaratLane Trading from the jewellery brand’s founder and his family for Rs 4,621 crore in cash, following which its stake in the company will increase to 98.28%. [45]
In 2015, Titan entered a joint venture to sell products of the Swiss luxury brand Montblanc through its retail outlets. Titan's equity share in Montblanc India Retail Private Limited is 49% and Montblanc Services B.V. holds 51%. [46]
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Titan Company is awarded in many national and international forums for various activities and categories.
In 2018, as part of their corporate social responsibility, the company sponsored entrepreneur and skater Rana Uppalapati’s mission titled Titan ECHO (Educate to Carry Her Onwards), to raise support for the education of 25,000 girl children in India. [63]
Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate based in Milan. As a vertically integrated company, Luxottica designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails its eyewear brands all through its own subsidiaries. The company, presently organized as a subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica which formed when the Italian conglomerate merged with the French optical firm Essilor, is the world's largest company in its industry, both prior to and after its merger with Essilor.
Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells jewellery, watches, leather goods, pens, firearms, clothing, and accessories. Richemont is publicly traded as CFR on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the JSE.
Montblanc is a German manufacturer and distributer of luxury goods, founded in Berlin in 1906, and currently based in Hamburg. The company is most known for its luxury pens; it also designs and distributes bags, perfumes, small leather goods, and watches. Since 1993, Montblanc has been part of the Swiss Richemont group.
Cartier International SNC, or simply Cartier, is a French luxury-goods conglomerate that designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells jewellery, leather goods, watches, sunglasses and eyeglasses. Founded by Louis-François Cartier (1819–1904) in Paris in 1847, the company remained under family control until 1964. The company is headquartered in Paris and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group. Cartier operates more than 200 stores in 125 countries, with three Temples in Paris, London, and New York City.
Bulgari is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1884 and known for its jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories, and leather goods.
Tanishq is an Indian jewellery brand and a division of Titan Company. Founded in 1994, Tanishq is headquartered in Bangalore, and has 410 retail stores across more than 240 cities in India, UAE, the US, Singapore and Qatar.
Damiani S.p.A or Damiani Group, is an Italian luxury jewelry corporate group that designs, manufactures, distributes and sells jewelry and luxury watches. It was founded in Italy in 1924. The company uses celebrity endorsements to market its products. In the early 2000s the company had a dispute with Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston regarding the use of their names and wedding ring designs. The dispute was settled for $50 million and the couple helped Damiani create and market a line of products. Damiani expanded across Asia and the US. It went public in 2007 and its most well-known jewelry product brands are Calderoni, Salvini, Alfieri & St. John and Bliss.
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Caroline Scheufele is a German-born Swiss business woman. She is the artistic director and co-president of Chopard, the Swiss-based luxury watches and jewellery manufacturer. She is the daughter of Karl and Karin Scheufele, German entrepreneurs who purchased the company in 1963. During the 1980s, Scheufele expanded the business into the jewelry sector.
Lifestyle is a fashion retail store chain owned by Dubai-based conglomerate Landmark Group. Lifestyle's inventory consists of Indian and western apparels, footwear, handbags, beauty products, and fashion accessories for men, women, and children. In India, Lifestyle International Ltd operates retail formats such as Lifestyle Stores, Home Centre, Max Fashion, and Easybuy.
Fastrack is an Indian fashion accessory retail brand, launched in 1998 as a sub-brand of Titan Watches. In 2005, Fastrack was spun off as an independent brand targeting the urban youth and growing fashion industry in India. Fastrack began opening retail stores throughout the country. The first store was opened in early 2009.
CaratLane is an Indian physical and online jewelry retailer, headquartered in Chennai, India.
Nykaa is an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Mumbai. It sells beauty, wellness and fashion products through its website, mobile app, and over 100 physical stores. In 2020, it became the first Indian unicorn startup headed by a woman.
WatchShop is a UK online watch retailer. Established in 2007, it was acquired by the UK's largest luxury jeweller, Aurum Holdings Ltd., in 2014. It carries high-street and designer watches and jewellery from brands including Raymond Weil, Coach, and Frédérique Constant.
Malabar Gold & Diamonds is an Indian jewellery group headquartered in Kozhikode, Kerala. The company was founded by M. P. Ahammed in 1993. As of May 2023, it owns more than 330 showrooms across 11 countries, making it one of the largest chains of jewellery retailer in the world. The company also owns Malabar Watches, a network of luxury watch boutiques operating across India.
Tata CLiQ is an Indian e-commerce company based in Mumbai, India. It is owned by Tata Unistore Limited of Tata Group. Tata CLiQ operates in categories such as Fashion, Footwear, and Accessories. Tata Group's E-commerce platform, Tata CLiQ, also launched a premium and luxury fashion and lifestyle destination, Tata CLiQ Luxury, and it houses a wide range of apparel and accessories for men and women by luxury and bridge-to-luxury brands.
Jaipur Watch Company (JWC) is an Indian manufacturer of luxury wristwatches, founded in 2013. It is known for making Indian-themed watches incorporating Pre-British Era coins, postage stamps, Pichhwai paintings, feathers and precious stones. Their factory is located in Peenya, Bengaluru. It is India's first luxury watch brand that also makes custom watches with pictures. The Brand was also featured in Shark tank India Season 2.