In 1960 Citizen made an agreement with the Indian government, and after training and setting up operations, a year or so later the Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd began production. Using the 02 ‘Homer’ movement this enterprise has survived over the decades, and they are still sold today! I thank Swaminathan Panchapagesan for his comment, which helped me understand this remarkable history. He posted a link to the WUS forum where many models can be seen: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f71/my-hmt-watches-380228-76.html
I had to get an example for my collection – I believe the ones marked ‘Citizen’ are the older ones, but I’m really not sure how old this one is – maybe from 1970:
The 17j movement is very familiar, with plainer finishing and now signed ‘HMT’ of course:
Hopefully Swaminathan will see this and come back with more info 🙂
Very useful information and brilliant collection .
Hi Jacob, thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind comment, Stephen
Hi Stephen, Swaminathan Panchapagesan here. I stumbled upon your site and ‘am very happy about it. I love your insightful writeups. Will read up more. Last month during my visit to India I visited HMT heritage museum at Bengaluru. Had you visited it you would have loved it. Mecca for HMT watch lovers.
Swaminathan Panchapagesan here. Today I have tried umpteen times to leave feedback however I have not met with success.
Very informative write up for Hmt watch enthusiasts. Thank you .
Swaminathan Panchapagesan here. I Stumbled upon it and very happy for it. Stephen, you are indeed the watch Guru. I love your writeups. Very insightful. Recently during my visit to Bengaluru (India) visited HMT Heritage museum. Awesome place. Loaded with information.
Hi Swaminathan, thanks for visiting and for all your comments. Great to see more info on HMT watches. Sorry about the difficulties with WordPress!
Stephen
this wordpress sucks big time. Leaving a simple comment is near next to Impossible.
Swaminathan Panchapagesan here. I immensely enjoyed reading your Blog. You are a ocean of knowledge about Citizen watches. Recebtly during my trip to India I went to HMT heritage museum. It was a paradise. Got to see close to 1000 HMT watches. Stephen I recommend that you visit this museum someday. You will love it.
Some interesting links for HMT lovers.
https://www.reddit.com/r/hmtwatches/comments/168ala8/top_10_things_which_makes_miyota_8205_with_or/
https://thehourmarkers.com/articles/hmt-watches-a-walk-down-the-memory-lane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbcEmsK9cYQ&t=628s
11 Million HMT watches have been sold by HMT. Does that make 0231 movement (Based on Citizen, Cal. 0201) the most sold mechanical movement in the world?