What drives the passion for silver is a growing awareness among the desi customers of international styling trends, coupled with changing dress code among the younger customers. "Urban customers always set the trend and it permeates down to the lower levels," points out Kapil Kapoor, CEO, Timex Watches.

The watchmakers, on their part, are not slow in their response to this trend. Timex recently launched its Cognoscenti collection, which is almost entirely in silver. Incidentally, more than 40 per cent of Timex watches have the silver look. "You have to catch the trend in its infancy to derive some favorable results later," says Kapoor. Titan also launched the Fastrack brand, in December 2000, which again has the white look. Titan plans to follow this up within the next six months with a classical collection targeting the customer in the metros and another contemporary collection for the young men. It is no coincidence that 10 per cent of Titan's collection happens to be white.

One of the main reasons for this 'silver shift' lies in the launch of many international fashion brands, such as CK, Tag Hauer, Esprit, that sport a silver look collection in their range. "Growing awareness of these ranges has led to a greater desire among the customers for a contemporary silver look," says Kurien.

The 'white look' comes in varied ranges: steel, brass cases plated with silver and aluminium-cased watches. The two-toned look with elements of gold and silver also seems popular. In the lower price segment, there is a strong preference for the white look, particularly in the semi-urban areas. HMT's mechanical steel watches are very popular in these places. The reason being that the gold plating wears out over a period of time.

The local players are also looking at new ways to expand the market by introducing trends that are international. The Indian watch market has seen its growth slowing down to 3-5 per cent in the last couple of years after seeing a healthy growth of 15-20 per cent earlier. It can only be hoped that the trend towards silver is the spark that can light up the industry's prospects again.