How cricket heroes drive luxury watch market push and pull

Flamboyant Indian allrounder Hardik Pandyarsquos two luxury watches which were reportedly estimated to be worth Rs 5 crore were recently seized by Mumbai Customs upon his return from Dubai after the T20 World Cup As per reports Pandya allegedly did not have a bill to produce when Customs officials enquiredPandya though has vehemently refuted the reports and clarified through a social media post that only one watch is estimated to be worth Rs 15 crore Imported wrist watches in India attract 408 per cent customs duty after GSTVirat Kohli Watch Rolex Oyster Perpetual Estimated cost Rs 8 to 10 lakhItrsquos not just Pandya who is fond of highend watches In fact a lot of the high networth Indian cricket superstars have been bitten by the wrist watch bugLuxury watches like Rolex Patek Philippe Richard Mille Audemars Piguet are some of the most soughtafter brands for Indian cricketers like Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Hardik and his elder brother Krunal Pandya KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer The new entrant in this league is Suryakumar YadavRohit Sharma Watch Hublot Big Bang Gold Ceramic Estimated cost Rs 85 to 10 lakhA source informs midday that the cricketers are usually looking out for limitededition or vintage watches and discussing watches has become a favourite pastime for the cricketersHowever itrsquos not just for fun that cricketers sport these luxury watches There is also a longterm vision among watch collectors Itrsquos an asset that has higher chances of appreciating in the future Krunal Pandya Watch Audemars Piguet Royal Oak with diamonds Estimated cost Rs 12 to 15 croreItrsquos not just styleldquoLuxury watches are not just a style statement for celebrities It is also an investment instrument They flaunt these watches on social media to up their style quotient in the public spacerdquo says Ashish Kamdar owner of Kamdar amp Kamdar watchesKL Rahul Watch Rolex Daytona Yellow Gold Estimated cost Rs 40 to 45 lakhItrsquos this fashion of flaunting the watches on social media that has put Indian cricketers under extreme scrutiny whenever they arrive from abroad a source saysAnother luxury watch boutique owner who didnrsquot want to be named explains how the value of a watch appreciates ldquoMany times customers come looking for a particular brand and a specific version of it They can get it at MRP only if itrsquos available in the showroom which isnrsquot the case most of the time due to limitededition or short supply from the company There is a waiting period of at least six months to a year In such a scenario if the customer is unwilling to wait they pay a premium to get that watchShreyas Iyer Watch Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Estimated cost Rs 40 to 45 lakhldquoThere are a lot of avenues to source them on the internet or various mobile applications So thatrsquos how the prices get hiked It is purely a demandsupply game If the watch you are looking to purchase is in short supply then the price will be higherrdquo says the ownerldquoIn some cases steel watches appreciate more than gold and platinumrdquo he adds Hardik Pandya Watch Patek Philippe Nautilus Estimated cost Rs 1 croreRare combinationA luxury watch enthusiast says ldquoThere are only 50 watches worldwide of Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Titanium Green Dial estimated approximately Rs 50 lakh on Chrono24in Despite this price there will be easily over 5000 buyers in India right now So because it is limited in supply the price will keep appreciating Itrsquos the sellers who dictate the price Itrsquos a rare combination one uses the watch and expects handsome appreciation if you invested in the right watch for the secondhand watchrdquo he saysldquoThere are many who are just collectors and there are some who trade in them It is a different nasha high of acquiring these luxury watchesrdquo he remarksWristy talesAn advertisement featuring HMT watches and India cricketers who toured England in 1974 PicClayton Murzellorsquo magazine collectionThe late MAK Pataudirsquos pranks of having his friends and teammates ldquoattackedrdquo by mock dacoits deep into the night produced quite a few victims Before Gundappa Viswanath and EAS Prasanna were fooled there was Vijay Manjrekar When Manjrekar was asked to surrender all what he had on him he agreed to part with everything except his valuable watch bought from one of his tours to England for league cricket Imagine the batting technicianrsquos relief when he discovered this was a Pataudiengineered mock attackAn unlikely endorsee but itrsquos true Former India opening batsmanwicketkeeper Surinder Khanna endorsed Ricoh watches Khanna was in the Indian team for the 1979 World Cup and was recalled in 1984A junior player on the Mohammed Azharuddinled tour to England in 1996 admired his captainrsquos watch and let Azharuddin know about it To the Test rookiersquos surprise Azharuddin took it off his wrist and gifted it to him