The Story of Tumkur Pilot

HMT Pilot Variants from Tumkur (Karnataka)

Pilots have been a legendary line of watches for HMT. There had, has and will have a fan following to this widely known and popular Pilot. It has been quite sometime since people commenting on this watch. I genuinely feel the reason behind this phenomenon is due to the supply and demand gap that has decreased. The Pilots has been produced in all factories of HMT starting from Bangalore, Chinar, Tumkur and Ranibhag. Pilots as all enthusiasts know is black pie pan dial with defected indices at 3, 6, and 9 position filled with lume along with the indices at 12 has been hand lumed. The pilot do have dauphine hands which is also lumed. This series bit of article address the Pilots produced by Tumkur factory in particular.  

The reason of choosing Tumkur factory is simply because it is know for producing Pilot variants other than the known black dial. It would also be of reasonable interest to the readers too. Tumkur factory has an unique distinction of producing handwinding and quartz watches. Some of the memorable quartz produced includes Roman moonphase (RGGL) and Moonphase quartz. I will try to highlight those in a separate blog later. This is article will focus on Pilots only. The first that might come to a enthusiast is why focus on the Pilot produced by Tumkur factory ? What's special in Tumkur factory that other could not do? The answer to this question lies in the dial variants of Pilot. Tumkur was know to be the most upgraded and updated factory of HMT Watches Ltd. which initially began producing mechanical then further diversified to quartz and also strap manufacturing. Black dial Pilot was definitely produced in Tumkur too which was similar to other factories but with distinctive qualities. In this article I have tried to highlight the White dial variants of the Pilot.

During the mid 90s Tumkur factory came up with a unique Pilot which was a mixture of Sona and Janata. It has the arabic numerals of Janata and guilloche pattern of Sona. The dial was a pie pan dial with a guilloche pattern at the center and raised arabic indices. The what had the same dauphine hands as that of Pilot BD. One of the earliest HMT Pilot was seen with a collector who had two of these wherein one had sword hands.

The First Edition of HMT WD Pilot (Internet Source)

  

First Edition Pilot (Internet Source)

The first edition WD Pilot can be identified by looking at the print next to indices 6 which depicts NR-4 (Which means Nippon Release - 4 (Tumkur Factory)). So it is concluded these were essentially manufactured for Japanese market and few of them were also released in Bharat. Incidentally these were also made in GP edition which had a unique case back. GP plated dauphine hands and raised indices on the dial was also gold plated. The unique feature was the 20Kt gold plating of the case and also mentioning of the same on the case back.

Case Back of Pilot GP (Note: 20Kt Gold Plated)

Pilot GP (Picture Courtesy Adheip)

Pilot GP (Picture Courtesy Adheip)

Pilot GP (Picture Courtesy Sachin Jayakumar)

These variants were totally forgotten by the HMT brotherhood. Until WUS displayed these variants. Later a project on WUS started the enthusiasm among the collector where in this variant of Pilot WD with Blue hands was initiated. Pilot WD blue hands edition was a limited edition of 500 with Blue dauphine hands with a Limited 500 etched on the press fit case back.

HMT Pilot WD - Blue Hands (Limited Edition)

HMT Pilot WD - Blue Hands (Limited Edition) Case Back

The limited edition pilot has a history by itself. The dials came from Tumkur factory and was assembled in Ranibhag factory. The case and hands were manufactured in Ranibhag. This watch has seen ups and downs of HMT. The watch by itself was a rage among collectors but the watch was produced under generator power in the factory since Ranibhag had not paid its dues towards electricity board. Finally the HMT team dial a remarkable work in getting this done. There are other stories too with respect to Ranibhag unit which I will touch upon later.  

This watch created such an environment that everyone started looking for these. Everyone was desperate for this variant and the prices skyrocketed. People got desperate and the franken market was there to exploit. Some of the fraken blue hands version shown. I too had one of these franken ones.

Franken Pilot Blue Hands (Pic Courtesy Sachin Jayakumar)

One person from Chennai had a fight with HMT. He asked reason why the watch limited to 500 only? Finally HMT made an attempt to make an unlimited edition of the same watch.

HMT later released the Pilot blue hands version with red second hands which was rejected and the second hands were redone with blue seconds on genset power in a short time and was released.

Pilot Blue Hands (Unlimited Edition)

The unlimited version of the Pilot had huge demand and still the aura remains. HMT saw a huge potential in this and hence they re-released the white pilot with steel dauphine hands.

The request of the limited edition went so high that resellers and parallel assembly line (franken watch makers) made a fake case back too.

Fake Case Back

 Finally HMT did realise the market demand involved and started making these in large numbers with steel dauphine hands too.

2014 Pilot WD Release (0231-B variant movement)

Pilot WD (NR-4)

This closed the chapter of manufacturing these Tumkur pilots. Untill recently many more variants came out from Japanese market and some unseen and unheard dials.
HMT has a picture in the Museum depicting the watches released by HMT for Japanese Market.

HMT Japanese Release from Tumkur Factory

The picture above it is pertinent to see a few pilot releases in Japanese market in the same lines of priya.

HMT Pilot Japanese (Pic Courtesy Raviprasad)

Pilot Japanese Edition (Pic Courtesy Raaj)

Pilot GP Yellow Dial (Pic Courtesy Manjunath Kulkarni)

Pilot Silver Dial (Picture Courtesy Sachin Jayakumar)

These are some Japanese versions of Pilot. Further we also got to see one edition of Pilot WD with Lume.

The lume dots on the outer circumference (Pic Courtesy Bipin Thakur)

Earlier last year the HMT community got to see the Pilot GP in a new avatar wherein the Black dial pilot has been released in its GP avatar. There we lots of discussion regarding the same.

Pilot GP (Pic Courtesy Tarun Agarwal)

Finally the last seen variant of Pilot also a version of Priya variant.

Pilot Checkered (YD) 

Few more variants of the Tumkur pilot for export market have been seen. These are the Pilot WD and Pilot. These were named RYON instead of PILOT.

It is believed that many more variants exists from the Tumkur factory and only time will tell. Till then that time I would close the Tumkur Pilot chapter.

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 ॥

 

Project भारत:

Project भारत: 

 (From Inception to Execution)

(Time Keepers of Bharat)

It's been quite sometime having been posted on various HMT watches. There has been many such posts that are pipeline but did not publish and the list has increased now. 

For past year and a half I have tried to consolidate my collection and also stopped buying from HMT website itself. The reason being the quality of the product being substandard (my personal opinion only). I even think; no thought process went in during the design phase of the dials. Price of these watches has also been jacked up to an extent that buying these watches would mean a big crater in one's pocket.

Meanwhile, I have been introduced to this group named TKB (Time Keepers of Bharat) which essentially is an ensemble of like minded people from Karnataka. There was an idea running in my mind to do a project watch just to up the curiosity of the group members. The answer was an yes from the group which laid the foundation to the concept 'भारत:'.

To go ahead with the project we required a team for the inputs and someone had to take care of logistics. The first step was to put together a team which also included the admins TKB. The ball started to roll once this team was set.

The first major decisions that were taken were to keep the concept simple, try to keep the cost as minimal as possible (people are going to curse me for this!) and also try to improvise the design of a known concept of HMT Pilot. The reason of selecting the Pilot was to bask in the glory of the legendary HMT Pilot and also do a slightly better job on the dial design. These decisions resulted in selecting the dial, case and hands. It also necessary to say once the watch was decided to be cost effective the movement was automatically selected as a HMT 0231.

After this a the TKB group was given a logo and it was decided to use the logo for the same concept.

Logo of TKB Group

The attempt was now to make a Pilot type watch for which the case was a domed case similar to that of Janata and hands that suited the same. Since the domed case is used the dial is a pie-pan dial of 29-30 mm size (Typically HMT Janata size). Some brain storming sessions happened over all communication means which led to some discussions and constructive arguments related the design and selection of spares for the concept watch. The end of the brainstorming session led to one decision, that was to develop a concept watch and not a group watch. The concept would meant to have all the desirable qualities of the project except there will be critical review by the team later on whether to continue or not. It meant the prototype watch was in the making first.

To start with the design the restrictions that we were facing were simple design and only printed dials. Various design features were suggested including Arabic numerals, Roman numerals, Devanagari, quazi Devanagari  etc... Finally it was decided to use Arabic numerals due to the reason that applying hand lume would be easy and look modest when compared to other designs.

The design was explained using a simple sketch by one of the team members.

Sample Sketch 😀

This was followed by making a sample design on CAD this would essentially be given to make a die for pad printing the dials. The name was selected to be 'भारत: - १ ' signifying one Bharat (Akhand Bharat). Once the drawing was made it was announced that the prototype watch would be released for scrutiny on 1st November 2018 (Karnataka Rajyotsava). There was another big release on that day too which was the ಕನ್ನಡ ಜನತಾ. Coming back to the developments the next was the selection of hands it was suggested to use sword hands or dauphine hands. It was a very simple selection since it was based on Pilot Arabic it was now clear it would be dauphine lumed hands (Pilot hands). 
Some of the hands inspected for the prototype

Hands in Consideration

Selected Lumed Dauphine Hands (aka Pilot Hands)

Center Second Hands Inspection

Then came the decision of the case, with two options in front of us whether to use a exhibition case back or traditional thread/push type case. The TBC craze going on at that movement resulted in picking the exhibition case back. It was also decided to etch the case back too with TKB logo. A new process of UV baking was used to bake the case back with colored logo.

UV Baked Exhibition Case Back

A the same time the dial also came into being and was shipped to us. Immediately the prototype assembled. 

Developed Dial

First Assembled Prototype

Lume Tested

The prototype developed was given to all team members and asked for their opinion on the prototype and also further released on ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ and asked for the members to scrutinize the prototype. It was on the day of the launch of prototype we knew we have done a good job in making a prototype and the response was the indication.

Since this was the prototype watch suggestion that were given were incorporated to make the final version even better. One being let the name be just भारतः and increase the font size of the numerals. This would improve the aesthetics of the concept  भारतः. The team went back to the drawing board and started to redo the design of the dial. We also limited the numbers to 75 (would eventually be seen on the dial).

Final भारतः Dials

We tried to customize the case too this time by manufacturing the case ourselves and tried to etch the case back.

Press Back Case Manufactured

 An attempt was made to perfect the etch on a sheet then have a offset made then tried to etch the case back.

Logo Test Etching on SS Sheet

 

Case Back Etching

Custom knurled crown was used for the watch.

Knurled Crown (In the same lines of ADSL series)

Now dials were selected such that it fits the case and the 0231 movement and we went dial shopping for the same.

Dials for भारतः

The amalgamation of all these resulted in a development of concept भारतः which was liked by many and appreciated by all.

Concept भारतः

भारतः  Lume Test

This watch was given on the next TKB meet to the members who had booked earlier and they had to wait patiently for a period of 4-5 months for the same. We also presented the भारतः to one of the ex-TITAN employees Mr. P.S. Bhat (person involved in making the thinnest TITAN edge movement) who graced the TKB meet.

Mr. Pathy RVC presenting भारतः to Mr. P.S. Bhat

Finally the watch reached other enthusiasts.

Picture Courtesy Mr. Rajesh Bafna

This ended our concept watch for the TKB group and credits goes to the members of TKB. Special thanks to भारतः team.

This project for TKB also ended up in more people asking for the भारतः 😃😃

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 ॥

HMT Jhelum - Complete Reference

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.

HMT Jhelum (21J) - Picture Courtesy Ponnappa

 We were also of the opinion it must be a 21J winding movement like the picture shown

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.

Citizen HMT 21J Movement - Picture Courtesy Tarun Agarwal

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. 

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. 

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.

HMT Jhelum - Picture Courtesy Raviprasad

 

HMT Jhelum - Picture Courtesy Sachin Jayakumar

 I too had a some fair share of success in finding Jhelum art deco variant.

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.

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.

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)

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 ॥

HMT Janata Black (Art Deco variant)

HMT Janata Black (Art Deco Variant)

It's been a long time since I have stopped blogging. I intend to add more posts to this blog hereafter. Since 2014 my collection has increased exponentially have added many variants of a given watch and also added some unseen watches too into my collection.

This post is about Janata Black variant(s). My collection of HMT is now based mostly on Janata variants and the quest continues. The HMT quest started with a Janata art deco and I started adding watches to my collection. Somewhere in 2014 there was a post in one of the prominent HMT groups about existence of a black dial Janata art deco (Collectors and enthusiasts might laugh at this as black dial art deco are available now. During those days it was finding a needle in a hay stack). So thus started the search for a black dial art deco. I wanted a distant cousin brother for the white dial art deco variant. Some of the Janata black art deco variants from HMT Watch Collectors Group. We must agree the hue effect on the dial is simply excellent. Some of the first art deco black variants were shared by Prashant Pandey and Ashutosh Anand. Here are few pics from their respective collection.

Janata Art Deco Black (Picture Courtesy Prashant Pandey)

Janata Art Deco (Picture Courtesy Ashutosh Anand)

The search for this variant led me to a small shop in Bangalore. The mechanic showed me a janata art deco variant which was different to the ones shown in the picture above. It had few lines in-between on the dial. This resulted in a confusion whether to buy the watch in the first place. With a firm mind to buy the watch I did buy the watch.

Janata Art Deco Variant (First Art Deco Lines Variant) 

 The quest for plain dial did not end with this the lookout continued. Finally a few months later found a Janata Art Deco in a small shop.

My Janata art deco (Black Dial)

It was incorrect to think that all variants of a watch has been seen in HMT. HMT is full of surprises. Few years later this variant of Janata was posted by Ponnappa which led to crazy hunt again.

Janata Art Deco Black (Graphic Matte Dial) - Picture Courtesy Ponnappa

 There are many other variants of the smame Janata art deco will document the same later.

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 ॥