"A hurdle that we face in retailing in India is that the import duty on watches makes them very expensive. This affects the customer's mind-set," Bucherer director Walter Weidmer.

The upper-end market for watches in the country is currently being tested by Omega, a Swiss brand, and Cartier watches. Both these companies share watch counters with local brands at specific stores, though Omega is now planning an exclusive outlet.

Bucherer is also keen to open an outlet where Swiss watches and jewellery are retailed exclusively. "There is a market for Swiss watches in India. We get an idea of this by the number of Indian tourists who flock to our shops," Weidmer said. Bucherer is yet to work out on the modalities of its outlet in India.

The watch brands which Bucherer stocksinclude Rolex, Rado, Gucci, Piaget Michel Jordi and Baume & Mercier amongst the upper-end watch brands. Its outlets also devote an entire section to the Swatch brand, the largest-selling watch in the world, which dominates the market for Swiss watches.

Bucherer has its biggest outlet in the lake-city of Luzern. The shop in Luzern stocks watches which range from $40 to a diamond-studded watch costing $2,00,000. The most expensive watch in Bucherer is kept in a vault and brought-out for customers only by armed guards.

The Bucherer chain has a total of 14 outlets in Switzerland. Its outlets are based in the main Swiss cities of Berne, Zurich, Geneva and Davos.

Besides watches, Bucherer also retails 18 carat gold jewellery. "We know that the preference in India is for 22 carat gold jewelelry, but the preference for designer jewelry is growing all over the world" Weidmer said. Bucherer also stocks Swiss knives, cuckoo clocks, Swarovski crystal, and Swiss souvenirs.