There is a story that Alexander Shorokhov—artist, watchmaker, and founder of the eponymous German manufacture—likes to tell. A couple at an art fair asks a painter about why a simple canvas costs USD 20,000 when it took only five minutes to make. The artist's answer is simple: "To create like this, I needed 45 years."
It is a story that says everything about Alexander Shorokhoff—the brand, the philosophy, and the man behind it. And now, thanks to an exclusive strategic partnership with Helios Luxe by Titan Company Limited, that story has come to India. Robb Report India met the creator at the launch evening of this special union.
When asked about his decision to pick India, Shorokhov's answer is immediate. "Why not? India is a beautiful country and is developing so much. The people here—their nature—they are emotional people.” His daughter Inga Alexandrovna Duffy-Shorokhova chimes in, “They are open-minded people. They understand partnership, they understand colour, they are curious about discovering something new. They look for something different, something unique—something perhaps extraordinary, with a story. Not a made-up story, but a real, authentic story."
Timing, Inga is quick to add, was everything. "You have to enter the right way, because you can easily enter any market the wrong way. Sometimes you don't have to push; you have to wait until things arise organically. This situation arose, and here we are. We are happy to be here, and I think this will be a long-term partnership."
It is precisely this appetite for authenticity that brought to life the partnership with Helios Luxe. Riding on the back of a 46 per cent surge in India's accessible luxury watch segment, Helios Luxe has spent the last 18 months building one of the most compelling portfolios of independent global watchmakers in the country. During this time, they have introduced five exclusive and seven other international brands to Indian collectors. Alexander Shorokhoff is its latest addition.
"The Indian luxury consumer today is increasingly drawn to brands with a strong narrative and clear creative identity," says Rahul Shukla, vice president and chief sales and marketing officer of the Watches Division, Titan Company Limited. "Alexander Shorokhoff embodies a story-led approach to fine watchmaking, and its entry into India reflects our commitment to curating culturally rooted, thoughtfully crafted global maisons through Helios Luxe."
From the Helios Luxe side, the sentiment is equally clear. "India is a market where people are now looking for something exclusive, something unique," notes the team. "Of course, they may already possess certain heritage brands, but they are looking for something more customised, something exclusive. That's what people are really into now."
A simple principle guides Alexander Shorokhoff : Art on the Wrist. Every timepiece in the collection begins with inspiration. "You can't force inspiration," Shorokhov says. "If you see the same thing, you understand one thing; I understand another. That is inspiration."
The creative process, he explains, cannot be separated from the decades of lived experience behind it. "Designing is a process. You can't just come to market and claim your design is the best. You need to understand the market, the people, and the philosophy of how to communicate with suppliers and customers. It's all-encompassing." He pauses, then adds: "I've been working in this area for almost 30 to 40 years to create something. I can create in five minutes what once took me a few days!"
That mastery is also constantly being pushed forward. After a visit to a museum in Dubai last November, Shorokhov found himself deeply moved, post which he immediately began conceiving a new piece called Sharp. "The challenge is that the letters in the design are in black, and to achieve depth, you need to engrave very precisely—maximum 0.2mm." A new technique, he says, is currently being developed to make it possible.
Inga adds further context on just how technically demanding the creative vision can be. "Sometimes the technique for creating something simply doesn't exist yet. For example, our Candi watch with the wire around it had never been done before. We had the idea but didn't know how to execute it, and nobody could help us. So we had to develop the technique ourselves."
The result is a collection of watches unlike anything else on the market. They are built on the brand's "one man, one watch" philosophy, each piece handcrafted, individually numbered, and limited to between 30 and 100 examples worldwide. The India launch introduces 16 such timepieces, spanning avant-garde, vintage-inspired and complication-led creations.
Among the most intriguing is the Kandy Avantgarde 2, inspired by the abstract works of Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky and limited to just 100 pieces globally. "Every time you look at it, you discover something new—you keep staring and thinking, 'I didn't notice that detail before,'" says Inga. "The intricate details in the artwork are truly mesmerising." Meanwhile, the Shakhar—a sinuous celebration of curves—holds a special emotional resonance: gifted by the artist to his daughter as a Christmas present. "It unites everything," she says. "But I love all the designs my Dad has created."
Selling limited-edition art watches requires a fundamentally different approach to retail. There are no billboards, no influencer campaigns, no seasonal drops. "The right watch will find you; you don't find the watch," says Inga. "All the watches speak to you. Some men and women say, 'This is not my cup of tea,' and that's fine with us. There is nothing in between—it's either 'wow' or 'not my cup of tea.' That emotion is what we want,” she explains.
She is equally candid about the brand's relationship with scale. "These watches don't follow fashion, they don't follow trends, they don't map the competition, they don't chase scale. The people who are moved by them are the consumers. Anyone who has an appreciation for art and wants to express themselves on their wrist — that is the consumer, irrespective of gender, geography, or anything else. If scale happens, well, that's just how true creative genius works."
Shorokhov himself is equally philosophical. "The perception of Indian people is similar to the Russian perception—you understand what I create, and that gives us confidence that the brand will grow here. We have good watches, good professional staff, good stockists, and we will have good promotion. It works all together. It cannot work only one way."
India, it seems, has responded. Within just three days of launch, the brand had reportedly sold out at its Connaught Place store in New Delhi. "Consumers who came in looking for well-established, popular brands—when they saw the watch, when they interacted with the stories behind each piece, they just loved the expression each watch brings," says Shukla. "My only concern is: will they be able to supply fast enough?"
The broader shift in Indian consumer behaviour, Shukla notes, makes this moment feel particularly timely. "A large part of India is rising on the basis of intellectual capital and hard work. Every buyer is now looking for purpose in luxury. No one is wearing a watch just to tell time. Each person is wearing their own story on their wrist." Younger consumers especially, he observes, are "seeking authenticity and originality — they want to go back to roots."
The partnership is being launched in phases: six Helios Luxe boutiques to start, with scale to follow demand.
But ambitions run deeper than retail. Within hours of landing in India, Shorokhov was already filling notebooks with impressions of the architecture, the energy, the people. A future India-inspired watch, his daughter hints, may not be far off. "During the small break between our sessions today, my Dad and I were in the elevator and he said he had so much to write down already. He'd already seen monumental things."
As Inga puts it: "Sometimes you don't have to push; you have to wait until things arise organically. This situation arose, and here we are." India and Alexander Shorokhoff, it turns out, were simply waiting to find each other.