C.T. Pundole & Sons is one of India’s oldest watch retail chains, established in 1909 in Pune, a city it continues to call its home more than a century later. Retailing luxury watch brands like Rolex, Chopard, Omega, Tudor, Hublot, Breitling, Longines, Grand Seiko, Rado and more, it is spread over 15 multi and monobrand stores, apart from a dedicated service centre, two eyewear boutiques, and a 2,000-square-feet wall clock showroom, one of the biggest in India.

“It’s a business my great grandfather started, which my brother and I grew, and my son and I built to include luxury brands,” says Cawas Pundole, 70, who currently leads C.T. Pundole & Sons with his son Hormuz and daughter Aviva.

The brand has come a long way from its humble beginnings— C.T. Pundole & Sons started as T Pundole, a watch repair and optical store, and photo studio operating out of a small shop on Pune’s MG Road; the store was named after founder Tehmulji Pundole. “He was my great grandfather,” says Cawas. “It started as a watch repair shop because in the early 1900s, there were hardly any sales, and even if there was one, it was for alarm clocks or wall clocks. And a whole family could not be sustained on repairing only. So, the services included that of optician and photographer.”

Eventually, Cawas’s grandfather, Cawasji T Pundole took over the store—it is after him that C.T. Pundole & Sons is named. Cawas’s father, Hoshang C Pundole, helmed the brand in the mid-1950s and stayed with the business till 2008; Cawas and his brother Nozer joined in 1975. “Nozer took care of watch servicing and I took care of sales, and we both brought the store(s) up to what it is today,” says Cawas. In fact, the brand’s flagship outpost continues to stand on the same premises where it was in 1909, though its size has increased substantially.

The story of the growth and success of C.T. Pundole & Sons runs parallel to that of the watch industry in India. The Pundole family has seen the watch market start, fall, grow, and build in the country, and has even had a hand in developing it. “When I was a kid, I remember we had Favre Leuba, Henri Sandoz, Camy, Titoni, Titus, and more such brands that were popular in the 1960s, and were being imported into the country. In the early 50s, Indo-French Time Industries was set up in India, and manufactured Timestar watches. And in 1961, HMT watches came in.” In 1975, C.T. Pundole & Sons first became the authorised service centre for HMT watches (along with the Mumbai-based Lawrence Watch Company, and Time Watchmakers, which are now shut), and four years later, retailers for HMT watches, Allwyn in 1984, and in 1987, for Titan.

Being a service centre for Swiss watches, including quite a few Swatch Group brands (Rado, Omega, Tissot, Longines) in the late 70s, and for Japanese brands like Citizen and Seiko in the 80s, was how C.T. Pundole & Sons stayed ahead of the game. “We were service centres for these brands much before they came into the country,” says Cawas. His father undertook watch repair training in 1968 in Switzerland, while Nozer did his WOSTEP training, an internationally recognised professional qualification in the maintenance and care of watches, in Switzerland in 1975, and every year till 2023, trained there two-three times a year to stay abreast with all the technical developments. The service centre thrived under him, and today it is the service staff that goes twice a year to Switzerland to upskill themselves. “Watches are evolving, the mechanisms are evolving. So it is definitely important that the training also be given the same way,” says Cawas.

By the 1990s, watches and watchmaking had become big business in India. C.T. Pundole & Sons had first-mover advantage retailing Indian, Japanese, and Swiss watch brands like Rado and Swatch, which were being imported into the country by distributors, and once Swatch Group India was established in 2001, brands like Omega and Hamilton also signed up. “As and when brands came into the country, we started seeking them. We did not have any ego as we wanted to be with the market. As the times changed, we evolved as well,” says Cawas.

But retailing luxury brands came with its challenges. “There was a lot of struggles because that time the competition was from abroad—prices in India were 20-30 per cent higher. So, customers would come, look, compare the price, and buy overseas, or buy in India from the grey market. That was a very big, tough fight. It’s only in the last 10 years that the brands have set up prices that are comfortable and at par with other countries,” says Cawas.

By late 2009, the brand had three stores, and it was a period of immense growth for C.T. Pundole & Sons. Cawas recalls how people’s outlook towards watches changed. From buying one watch to commemorate a certain milestone, to buying multiple watches for varied occasions, watches were being viewed in a different light. “In the 60s, we used to hardly sell one watch in two or three days. Back then, people would have one watch and use it for 10-20 years, and it passed down the generation. Watches were considered a necessity, not luxury. Parents would gift a watch to their child for graduation or when they got married. Especially in rural areas, gifting an HMT to the son-in-law was a milestone. Today, even kids have five watches. It was Titan who put it in the minds of customers that they could be owners of multiple watches and have different watches for different occasions.”

Cawas credits the success of the brand to the family’s hard work and passion for watches. He recounts how his mother and wife also helped build the brand, and the how the learnings of each generation have passed down to the next. Trust and reliability continue to be the cornerstones of C.T. Pundole & Sons, along with keen customer care. “We heavily focus on giving customers the original product and right information, not just on making a sale. My parents taught me—do less business, earn less, but do it properly. Nobody in the watch industry or in the country can point a finger at us and say we have done unethical business. I have passed this on to both my children. We will not let the trust go.”

Today, Aviva, 33, and Hormuz, 40, are leading C.T. Pundole & Sons into its next phase. Aviva handles corporate sales, which forms a substantial part of the business; growth opportunities; customer relationship management; and developmental needs of the 

brand. She has even revived the optical business of the brand, Pundole Eyeworks, which had shut in the 90s. Hormuz is at the forefront of luxury sales. The brand is also working on strengthening its online sales. 

What about diversifying beyond Pune? “We have thought about it, but not yet. First, I want to establish C.T. Pundole & Sons in all the areas that I have missed out in Pune. Let us capture our hometown properly, and then think of going somewhere else.”

Images: Courtesy C.T. Pundole & Sons