Xerxes Desai

Xerxes Desai was the first managing director of Titan Company, an Indian watchmaking company, and played an instrumental role in laying the foundation of the company.^[2]

Biography[]

Desai was a graduate of Elphinstone College (Mumbai University) and Oxford University.^[3]

Desai joined Tata Administrative Services in 1961 after graduation, working at several of their companies.^[4] He founded Titan as a joint venture with J. R. D. Tata in 1986, with support from the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation.^[5] He had suggested the idea of a watchmaking company to Tata in the 1970s, who liked it, but bureaucratic hassles took time till the company was opened in 1986 in Hosur.^[6][7][8]

In 1994, Desai challenged engineers at Titan to design the world's thinnest watch, with a movement 1.15mm thick inside a 3.5mm case.^[9] The watch, called the Titan Edge was introduced in 2002.^[10]

After Titan's success, Desai founded Tanishq, a jewelry brand. He had innovative ideas like asking people in Bangalore to get their jewelry appraised in 1999. The jewelry business grew over time, after a slow start.^[11]

Desai retired in 2002, and was succeeded by his protégé Bhaskar Bhat.^[12]

Post retirement[]

Desai was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award by the National Institute of Design during its 4th Design Excellence Awards in 2006.^[13]

Post retirement, Desai was a part of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) initiative by Nandan Nilekani.^[14]

Death[]

Desai died from illness in Bangalore, where he had lived for 30 years, on June 27, 2016, at the age of 79.^[15]

References[]