Things Fall Apart, the Middle doesn’t Hold

Watch it. Hence you forget. The Marie Antoinette edition watch crafted by Breguet over 40 years, commissioned by the French queen’s lover, layered with gold and sapphire was never worn by her.

- Ravi Shankar

She was guillotined before it was finished. It is a tragic testament to excess and a warning about the fragility of privilege. In today’s India, where a Titan watch sells a ₹40 lakh tourbillon and Rolex boutiques glitter in every luxury mall, that story feels eerily relevant. The luxury watch market is set to rise by 12 per cent a year; a Rolex here begins around %6 lakh and stretches to ₹80 lakh; a Patek Philippe crosses ₹20 lakh and often touches a crore. The market itself, worth about ₹4,000 crore, is small by global standards, yet its symbolism is immense. It tells us who India’s time now belongs to.