HMT Janata: Too Affordable

The general public is spoiled for choice for affordable timepieces that exist outside of the hegemony of smartwatch makers like Apple, Samsung and Fitbit. Brands like Timex, Casio, Seiko, Citizen, Tissot, Hamilton and Swatch provide innumerable options for the discerning consumer. In the same vein, there are also companies that make affordable watches that are of decent quality, but don't necessarily capture the intrigue of the general public, like Orient, Vostok and microbrands like Phoibos, Brew and Spinnaker. With a few exceptions the most affordable watches are almost always quartz, with mechanical movements mostly being relegated to a higher price bracket, although not to the point of being prohibitively expensive. But what if you were strapped for cash and wanted a mechanical watch that cost the same as Cards Against Humanity?

Enter HMT. Relatively unknown in the West, HMT-short for Hindustan Machine Tools Limited-is an Indian-owned holdings group founded in 1953 by the Southern Asian country's government. Initially intended to produce machine tools (hence the name), HMT went on to make a variety of products such as tractors, die casting and starting in 1961, wristwatches. HMT built its first watchmaking factory in Bangalore with the help of Citizen, who allowed HMT to produce the 0201, a hand-winding 17-jewel caliber, under license, and the earliest HMTs released were made with discontinued Citizen tooling. However, the movements that powered HMT's watches eventually just became clones of Citizen calibers, with their own, unique serial numbers within the company. HMT produced millions of these watches until 2016, when they were shut down due to alleged corruption and mismanagement. However, they did restart production and sell watches on their official website. Nowadays, HMT has a very mixed reputation in the watch world, as they often are the basis of "frankenwatches", which are fake timepieces made up of several other watches. Often their dials are repainted in order to make a fake facsimile of more well-known watches, like Oris Big Crowns and Seiko 5s. Finding an "original" HMT is theoretically impossible, as some watch enthusiasts theorize that a majority of HMTs found on sites like eBay are frankenwatches. Even HMTs that don't attempt to fake more established wristwatches tend to have non-stock repainted dials.

The HMT I have is the snake oil salesman of watch specs. It claims to be shockproof and “water and dust protected”, although a lack of proper gaskets typically found in water-resistant watches calls this statement into question. The dial is also in Devanagari numerals and text (without any lume), which is one of the most common alpha syllabaries in India. Knowing HMT, this dial is undoubtedly repainted, which is reinforced by the fact that the HMT logo is skewed slightly to the left. It's powered by HMT's 0231 manual wind mechanical movement (a clone of Citizen's 0201 movement), which beats at a low 18,000 bph, with a decent power reserve of 40 hours. It does not hack, and its accuracy is typically rated at +/-30 seconds per day, although according to my best timegrapher app, it’s more like +150 spd with an impressively bad beat error of 4.0ms…after regulation. The case, like most mass-produced watches, is made out of stainless steel, with a standard lug width of 18mm, with a conservative case diameter of 38.5mm (with the crown, roughly 36 without), a lug-to-lug distance of 44.2mm, a thickness of 9.6mm, along with an acrylic crystal.

This specific model, the Janata (serial 140176) is purported to be the most common HMT model, and was typically given as a gift to graduates and newlyweds. If I was Indian and my family rewarded me with this watch after I married my beloved, I think I’d return the favor by giving them some ground coffee mixed with a considerable amount of Dulcolax. Yet again, if you think a $25 watch from eBay that’s powered by a clone of a 60-year-old Japanese movement that hasn’t been serviced in god knows how long is a good wedding or graduation gift, you deserve whatever bullshit your relatives throw your way.

When I first set my own eyes on my Janata, it was exactly what I was expecting, although not in an inherently bad way. It's acrylic crystal and stainless steel case instantly reminded me of my now-broken Timex Marlin 34mm. They both feel very light, but not necessarily cheap; its lightness has to do more with its dimensions and movement than anything. Winding the watch was a bit confusing at first, since it takes 3 or 4 winds for the movement to actually start. And when it does, it can truly make quite a racket. Putting it on a hard surface like a table or kitchen countertop amplifies the movement's ticking, and it's definitely audible if you're close enough to it. In fact, you don't even have to press your ear up to the watch in order to hear it working; just holding it an inch or two away from it is enough. It's worse than a Timex Weekender; those only tick loudly once per second, whereas this HMT ticks five times per second. If you do decide to pick one of these up, I'd recommend a watchbox to put it in; otherwise you and anyone else that’ll be in the same room as it will hear it very clearly.

The genuine leather strap it came with was probably one of, if not the worst I've encountered in my entire watch-collecting career; the thing looks and feels more like a fleet vehicle's interior dashboard than it does leather. Thankfully I had a tolerable Hadley-Roma strap that fit the Janata lying around and slapped it onto there. 

The watch wears very well. Due to its vintage proportions, it's very easy for people of all wrist sizes to wear. It slips easily under a jacket or shirt cuff, and the risk of accidentally knocking into something with it is slightly lessened due to its thickness. The acrylic crystal scratches easily when it does bump into something, however. Any damage to the crystal can be easily fixed by properly applying some Polywatch to it. I do really enjoy the hand-painted dial. Even though the logo is slightly off kilter and it has dirt and dust under the crystal, I don't mind it, as I find the entire watch very endearing, in spite of its flaws. I think that it manages to be funky and exotic in its own unique way, while still being reserved enough to go with basically everything in your wardrobe.

Overall, I think the HMT Janata is a fun, affordable piece that's great if you want to add some character to your collection. Personally I would recommend getting something a bit more modern or established like a Seiko 5, Orient Bambino, Vostok Amphibia or a Timex Marlin if you want to buy your first mechanical watch, since they're far higher quality in both their movements and craftsmanship. Getting them fixed or serviced will also be more sensible than getting your HMT repaired, since the postage alone could total it. Although there are aspects of HMTs that aren't exactly desirable, they are undeniably unique timepieces that you don't run into every day. While Joey Shufflebottom from r/watches will feel special when he shows up to a watch meet with his Zelos Great White Bronze, I guarantee you will get far more questions about your HMT than most people when you go.