[hari317]

HMT Sarathi:

Sarathi is the Hindi word for Charioteer, it also another word to describe Lord Krishna since he was Arjuna's Charioteer in the great war of Mahabharata as per Hindu mythology.

Onto the watch itself, it is a fairly uncommon watch, out of production for long and does not feature anymore on the exhaustive HMT price list. I happened to find this one sitting covered in dust in an old, very small watch selling kiosk in Dadar, a few metres away from the HMT Company showroom today. I have replaced the stock steel bracelet with a canvas-leather strap.

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

^^This one is a keeper. Never heard of it or seen it. Nice choice on the strap. What is the case size. Looks slightly bigger than the Pilot and Janata

Thank you! The case is 39mm tall and 34mm wide (without crown), just slightly larger than the Janata or Sona. I hope to acquire a few more hard to find models this week. I will be documenting them here in this thread.

Regards,
Hari

 

[hari317]

looks cool, Hari. The watch has got so much character in it.

Thanks Munno. The Sarathi has some interesting details. The black portion of the dial is actually raised and is an overlay over the central part. The central part has a beautiful brushed finish and the lume dots are discreetly placed on it. The watch is very easy to read. The case is full stainless and the screw case back has a shape which I have not seen before. I was also surprised to see the HMT hologram at the back of the case. It is placed right over the caseback code, maybe the number on the hologram is actually the same as the caseback code.

Best
Hari

 

[hari317]

Last week's purchases:

HMT Alarm AG003:

The HMT alarm watches are powered by Miyota 6L76 movements.

To be continued...

 

[hari317]

HMT Roman with E/L backlight:

A mee-too watch released by HMT as an answer to the Timex Indiglo which was quite a rage in India about 10yrs ago. Powered by the Miyota 6N10 movement with E/L faceplate.

A grainy shot of the E/L backlight at work. The dial is actually transparent and is screen printed.

To be continued...

 

[hari317]

HMT Rajat with White Dial:

This was the find of the week for me. While browsing the mechanicals display at the showroom, this Rajat caught my eye. Further enquiry revealed that the HMT showroom had got some old stocks transferred back from a dealer going out of business. Five such Rajats were returned.

This Rajat has a satin finished pearly white dial and stuck indices with two grooves. The Rajat commonly available today has a steel finish dial with sunburst brushed pattern, the stuck indices have a triangular crossection.

Closeup of the older indice:

Closeup of the current indice:

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

Man, This is gorgeous.Looks great. Seeing all the threads almost after a period of 8months. Hope u guys are doing well. Belated new year wishes to u all.
How much for this piece? The HMT Roman Alarm is a stealer. Superb looks. b-)
Cheers,
Naren.

Hi Naren,

Welcome back! Yeah, the Roman range is quite well made and has a very high quality strong Gold plating: 5microns. I will email you with the info about how much I paid for these watches.

Best,
hari

 

[hari317]

HMT Vijay NL:

Vijay is Victory in Hindi. This is the NL (Non luminous) variant. This watch wears very well on the wrist. The stock configuration is with a steel bracelet, I changed it out to a 18mm "RoboBand". I love its steel dial and stuck indices.

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

nice find, Hari. All Roman's (Quartz and Auto) seem to be very well finished and designed.

Thanks Munno. Yes, I agree reg the finish.

Wats the case dia?

approx same as Janata.

 

[hari317]

I have this same Vijay and alternate between a Timex leather strap and the metal bracelet it came with.

Matt

Hi Matt, Yes I remember your picture of the Vijay that you bought from Madras. It is a nice little watch, keeps pretty good time. The stock bracelets are hair pullers for me, I bought a few mesh straps, I plan to put them on the Vijay and a few others.

Regards,
Hari

 

[hari317]

Had the good fortune of being able to acquire a few discontinued HMT models, I will be documenting them here in the coming days...

HMT Kohinoor: Blue Dial

Named after the famous Kohinoor diamond. Kohinoor is still being produced by HMT in white, black, grey, steel, yellow, brown and matte fade blue dials but the Electric blue dial was made for a very short while.

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

HMT Avinash: Light Blue Dial

Avinash means indestructible in Hindi, in a nice light blue dial.

The bracelet is stock HMT, nice variation to their usual folded links steel bracelet.

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

HMT Janata Super Deluxe:

I was pleasantly shocked when I was offered this watch. I never knew that there was a "Super deluxe" version too... I love the deeply brushed dial and the plain elegance of this watch. In its stock velcro strap from the late 60s(Velcro straps were quite a craze then)... This watch was also available in a deep blue dial, I will photograph it later.

Notice the 62-2090099 INDIA code on the dial.

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

HMT Heera:

Heera is the Hindi word for diamond. This was a watch produced by HMT Chinar during their early days.

Notice the alternating direction of the engraved lines on the dial, one can stare at it for hours. haha.

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

Wow, you never stop to amaze me. Nice finds. Congratulations!

well thanks Munno. I will be showcasing a few more finds today evening.

best,
hari

 

[hari317]

HMT Sainik:

Sainik means Soldier in Hindi. Its case is different from that of the Pilot, it's a two piece case, slightly flatter and taller. The numerals are screened onto the dial and only the lume dots are applied. The lume dots have aged and yellowed on this example.

Enjoy!
Hari

 

[hari317]

HMT Aroop:

Aroop means "Formless". Formless in the context of the divine power that rules us as per a branch of Hindu philosophy. It is also a popular first name in the eastern part of India.

This is an 80's model, made for a brief period by HMT Chinar, but in a variety of dial colors. Brown, green, blue, grey and beige were available. This post documents the brown dial variant. I will photograph the other dials as and when I get around to it.

Notice the 82-2090012 code on the dial.

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

HMT Pilot:

Probably the most well known model from HMT. This example is an older variant. The dial is marked "Water Protected" and the hands are beveled in the centre. The lume pattern remains the same as the current Pilots, however, the lume has aged and nicely yellowed on this example. The lugs are drilled through, this is no longer found on the modern Pilots.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Cheers!
Hari

 

[hari317]

Hari, absolutely amazing models...Aaroop, Hira...never heard of models. Knew about Janata Super Deluxe. Kohinoor blue dial & Avinashn blue dial are fantabulous...Keep It Up....

Thank you Sanky! around 10 more old models are on the way to me as we speak. I will be documenting them here.

Regards
Hari

 

[hari317]

Anoop, your HMT Citizen is very interesting. If possible, can you post a picture of the case back of this watch?

regards,
hari