If you’re looking to travel back in time and feel nostalgic, you should visit the HMT Heritage Centre and Museum in Jalahalli, Bengaluru. The museum’s first room takes you on a journey into the past of HMT’s different factories and their history.
Source: India Heritage Walks
Immersing visitors in a nostalgic voyage through history, the HMT Heritage Centre and Museum in Jalahalli creates a captivating and enriching experience. The journey commences within the museum’s opening room, which stands as a portal to the illustrious chronicles of HMT’s diverse factories.
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This narrative unfolds in 1961, in Bengaluru, when the first unique watches were made through a collaboration between an Indian company called HMT and a Japanese company named Citizen Watch. An important detail to note is that there’s a document that shows how HMT’s third factory in Pinjore began, and it has the real signature of India’s leader at that time, Jawaharlal Nehru. This signature makes this event a very significant moment in history.
Source: Watch Time India
As you go further into the museum, you’ll discover something really interesting. You’ll get to learn all about the tiny and detailed parts that make up the inside, called the “movement,” of these watches. These tiny parts are shown carefully using magnifying glasses and microscopes. You’ll also see how watch faces have changed over time, from simple designs in the 1960s to more complex ones in the early 2000s. They even have the tools that skilled watchmakers use on display, like delicate brushes and magnifiers, as well as bigger equipment for making watches.
Source: Watch time India
Continuing the journey, the museum honors HMT’s past as a big maker of things. You’ll find things like an old-fashioned machine for punching attendance, which reminds us of factories from long ago. There are also strong tractor engines and a printing press that people operated by hand a long time ago, in 1886. Even though these things might not seem very special now, a picture of Sir Visveswaraya looking over the production area shows how important they were back then.
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One of the best things about the museum is the many watches that made HMT famous, like the well-known Janata model. Some of these watches are really special, like the Utsav watches covered in gems, made just for women, and a watch with a small piece of gold weighing 1 gram right in the middle. HMT also made watches that could show the different phases of the moon and watches with parts that could be taken off and had Braille writing on them.
Source: Watch time India
But it’s sad that in 2016, HMT had to stop making watches because they were losing a lot of money. You can see HMT’s impact on the city by looking at landmarks like the Clock Tower at Omkar Hills and the flower clock near Lalbagh’s entrance. The good thing is that HMT’s history is still alive in the museum. You can even buy some of the watches that are left at lower prices. To get into the museum, you just need to pay Rs 30 if you’re an adult. Then you can see and maybe buy things that remind us of the past, all on display in the museum.
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