HMT Jhelum
The HMT collection is full of Janata, Pilots and Kohinoors there are few watches that stand out of this league and that is JHELUM.
Jhelum is a river that flows in Akhand Bharat (Undivided India). The Sanskrit name of this river is Vitasta (वितस्ता). Its a tributary to the river Indus and flows in northwestern India.
Coming back to the watch, this watch was produced in the Srinagar HMT factory (Chinar - Watch Factory 3) in the late 70s in small batches. This watch was unique since it used a 21 Jewel movement rather than a conventional 17 Jewel 020/0231 movements. There are certain theories stating the movements came from Citizen Japan and the movements were re-badged by HMT and used in these watches (I leave this to one speculation).
This watch was first seen February 2015 posted by Ponnappa in the collectors group. There was a buzz during that period about the movement pictures and specifications. There was a speculation about the originality of the same. It was found it was a genuine watch with a re-badged HMT Citizen 21 Jewels movement. The dial is similar to Janata black dial with lume dots placed near the indices towards the center. The watch also has lumed pilot hands / dauphine hands.
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| HMT Jhelum (21J) - Picture Courtesy Ponnappa |
We were also of the opinion it must be a 21J winding movement like the picture shown
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| Citizen Homer 21J Movement |
This confusion was removed with a post of HMT 21J movement. It is pertinent to note the HMT and Citizen badging. Also note Japan written on the balance plate / balance cock.
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| Citizen HMT 21J Movement - Picture Courtesy Tarun Agarwal |
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| 21J HMT Movement (Balance Damaged) |
This post by Ponnappa created havoc and all collectors were after this version. Few days later the collector universe came to know about other Jhelum variants. Few picture are shown below for reference. The
next variant to be seen was the art deco variant in May 2015. The dial
is similar to the Janata art deco variant with lines. Has a 21J movement
with sword hands similar to Janata.
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| Jhelum Art Deco Plain - Picture Courtesy Ponnappa |
HMT always surprises enthusiasts with variants of the same watch. Further, a new variant of Jhelum emerged in December 2015. This variant was similar to black dial HMT Chinar with thich indices with lume placed outside. This variant also boasted the dauphine hands.
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| HMT Jhelum Thick Indices - Picture Courtesy Ponnappa |
During this period of one year quite a few had there hands on on of these variants. Sharing some here.
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| HMT Jhelum - Picture Courtesy Raviprasad |
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| HMT Jhelum - Picture Courtesy Sachin Jayakumar |
I too had a some fair share of success in finding Jhelum art deco variant.
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| My Jhelum art deco - faded to grey |
There were other variants too that were seen in the group. One from Rajesh Bafna in September 2016. This variant was similar to black HMT Chinar with sharp indices with lume and dauphine hands.
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| Jhelum Variant - Picture Courtesy Rajesh Bafna |
Finally the last variant to be seen (September 2018) is the simple Jhelum with black dial (Similar to Janata) without lume.
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| Jhelum Similar to Janata Applied Indices - Picture Courtesy Udhaya Shankar N |
Somewhere down the line some dials also swept the market for some time. I was lucky to find one Jhelum in pristine condition. These watches did not have a 21J movement but rather a 0231 (17J) ones. These must have been assembled outside the factory. (Not sure)
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| My other Jhelum Art Deco - Assembled |
There is one more variant with the same art deco variant with dauphine hands and lumed dial which will be shared in due time. Hope HMT surprises us with many more variants. Till then let lots of water flow through the river Jhelum.
Something for
this great nation Bharat.
उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।
वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।
"The
country (varṣam) that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called
Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharata."
आ ब्रह्मन् ब्राह्मणो ब्रह्मवर्चसी जायतामा राष्ट्रे राजन्यः
शूर इषवयोऽअतिव्याधी महारथो जायतां दोग्ध्री धेनुर्वाढानड्वानाशुः
सप्तिः पुरन्धिर्योषा जिष्णू रथेष्ठाः सभेयो युवास्य यजमानस्य वीरो जायतां निकामे निकामे नः
पर्जन्यो वर्षतु फलवत्यो न आषधयः पच्यन्तां योगक्षेमो नः कल्पताम् ॥
शूर इषवयोऽअतिव्याधी महारथो जायतां दोग्ध्री धेनुर्वाढानड्वानाशुः
सप्तिः पुरन्धिर्योषा जिष्णू रथेष्ठाः सभेयो युवास्य यजमानस्य वीरो जायतां निकामे निकामे नः
पर्जन्यो वर्षतु फलवत्यो न आषधयः पच्यन्तां योगक्षेमो नः कल्पताम् ॥
