New and Reviewed: Titan Nebula Jalsa

Here is our hands-on review of the Titan Nebula Jalsa release recently in India. This is a landmark for the Titan Watch company, as it is a métier d’art featuring a traditional miniature painting by an Indian national treasure combined with an Indian made tourbillon movement.

This is part one of a two part article, where we review the new watch released by Titan. In Part 2, we will show our visit to the Titan HQ, their manufacture in Hosur, and the launch event in Jaipur.

Comprehensive review: Titan Nebula Jalsa

The Nebula by Titan Nebula Jalsa retails at Indian Rupees (INR) 4,050,0000 / (approximately) CHF 37,600. Limited Edition of 10 pieces, each featuring a hand painted dial.

The case, dial and hands

The novelty is a part of the Nebula by Titan collection. In this collection, the watches are only released in gold. This is the second tourbillon movement made by Titan. The first was a 4 piece limited edition released in late 2024. The first tourbillon featured a guilloché dial made by a Swiss artisan. This first tourbillon had an off center hour and minute dial, with the tourbillon on the display in an aperture at the 6 o’clock position. In this new release, the same base movement is used, but modified to show the hour and minute centrally.

The basis for this new release is a tie back to the Hawa Mahal, celebrating 225 years of this Rajasthani architectural marvel. The Hawa Mahal is depicted as a miniature painting on the dial. But more on this later.

The three piece case is made of two pieces in 18k rose gold, with a polished ring made from natural agate serving as the case middle. The Titan literature is not quite clear if the agate ring is an insert over an gold case middle, or forms the entire case middle, though we suspect it is the former. The use of agate as a stone is an interesting Indian touch as red agate is a stone which has long been cherished by Rajasthan’s royalty for strength, protection and vibrant energy. Visually, the natural stone case middle adds a spectacular touch the case.

But the main attraction of this novelty is the dial. The dial is a miniature painting made by a revered Padma Shri awardee, Syed Shakir Ali, one of India’s most celebrated artists. Each dial is hand painted on marble using a traditional technique which is handed down through generations. The choice of a natural white marble as the base substrate of the dial is also interesting. Marble paintings are a specialty which originated in the 16th century in Rajasthan by the Rajput rulers.

To make the dial, special skills are required to be able to cut a very thin, flat sliver from the marble slab. We understand this thin marble slice is mounted on a brass base for structural integrity.

The work of the miniature painting is spectacular. The motif depicts the royal procession of Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh passing before the Hawa Mahal is of considerable historical significance to the Indian diaspora. The imagery is a celebration of vision, architecture and identity of the Rajasthans. The building, the Hawa Mahal, was commissioned by the Maharaja himself 225 years ago, and is an architectural wonder. To add to this, the reason for building this magnificent building, with its intricate lattice work of windows is even more fascinating. The maharaja commissioned the building to allow the royal women to be able to have a peek at the world beyond, without being seen.

The technique used by Shakir Ali enables tiny details to be incorporated into the painting. For this, he uses a brush which is made from a single strand of hair from a squirrel’s tail. The palette chosen is a work of patience, as each colour is painstakingly made by a mixture of natural pigments.

The dial design is also interesting, as it takes the classical form of a centrally mounted hour minute indicators with the tourbillon showcased in an aperture at 6 o’clock. The hands are made of sapphire glass. The minute hand carries a magnifying glass as its counterweight to allow close examination of the beauty of the hand painting and the tourbillon as it makes its way around the dial. This moving cyclops arrangement is genius! The addition of frosted lines on the hands also increase its legibility and is also a stroke brilliance.

Overall, the dial side looks every bit a métiers d’art piece of work applied to a watch carrying a tourbillon movement. Yet, it does not just mimick the Swiss classical watches, but brings the Indian element to play.

The movement – providence and manufacture

Flip the case over, and one is greeted with a beautiful movement. The Titan caliber 7TH2 is a flying tourbillon which is composed of 144 components with 14 jewels. The movement is designed by the Titan team in their HQ in Bangalore (Bangaluru). The first tourbillon they produced in 2024 was the caliber 7TH1, and was done in close collaboration with Swiss partners, but the design is in-house in India.

The original design was scrutinised by their Swiss partners, who recommended some changes to improve chronometry, but the Titan team decided not to implement the changes as they wanted to keep the design original. Thus, even for a tourbillon movement, both the 7TH1 and 7TH2 are adjusted to 6 positions to an accuracy of only +/-20s a day.

From what we understand in our discussion with the Chief Manufacturing Officer, Manohar Gokulabalan, all the plates and bridges in the 7TH2 are made in their manufacture in Hosur. This includes all the wheels and components in the tourbillon. The mainspring and hairspring is supplied by Swiss partners. The case is made by Titan’s own gold foundry and the agate supplied from a domestic partner. Final assembly, decoration and testing from the industrial T0 to T4 processes are also performed in India.

The bridges are decorated using Indian sourced red agate as inlay. In our examination of the prototype marked “UNIQUE 00/10”, the finishing is at a high engineering level and not close to what we traditionally would associate with a haute horlogerie decoration. While various finishings are executed, we feel that the finesse in which the work is done leaves room for improvement. For example, anglage is applied to the edges of the bridges, but in our examination, they are not sufficiently well polished, nor even, nor prominent enough to be visible without a loupe.

We have also fed back to Titan the the word UNIQUE is a misnomer, even if the dial is hand painted. The motif of the dial is the same, even though the artist’s handwork means that each piece is not exactly the same as the other. Thus, the proper label should be a limited edition of 10 numbered pieces. As we understand, they will take this under advisement and implement it in production watches.

The dial side, however, is another story. We feel the finishing on this side is more elaborate. And the tourbillon itself is very well finished. As a flying tourbillon, its motion is not hindered by a bridge, and especially when the minute hand counterweight is over the cutout, the tourbillon can be viewed in its splendor.

YouTube video summary: Titan Nebula Jalsa

Click here for link to YouTube.

Concluding thoughts

 We absolutely love the incorporation of the Indian métiers d’art of miniature marble painting into the dial. However, this will cut both ways, as the subject matter is very Indian centric, and may not be appealing to the international market. But we feel that the Titan management knows this well, and the intent for this small production of only 10 pieces will appeal to the Indian diaspora around the world. We can see that this Indian themed watch will appeal to wealthy locals as well as successful Indians living abroad, as this will be a small reminder of home and a conversation starter. Thus, as this is a 10 piece limited edition, it will sell out in no time. As did the 4 piece limited edition of their first tourbillon watch.

On the wrist, the case size of 43mm wears rather well on my 7.5″ flat wrist. It is comfortable, and sits nicely. And its larger size enables the magnificent hand painted dial to be beautifully displayed.

We also love the unique features of the use of the crystal hands, with a large magnifying glass at the counterweight of the minute hand. And though the hands are transparent crystal, legibility is excellent due to the clever use of frosting on the center. The use of the agate on the case side and as panels on the movement bridges is also very interesting. And provides a good visual interest to the watch.

In terms of pricing, it not particularly high for a tourbillon watch, but we consider it to be high for the initial efforts. It is more expensive than lower priced Swiss options like those we discussed in this 2022 listicle. Our favoured Ba111od tourbillons are also less expensive, despite being fully Swiss made. As mentioned, at the current small limitation in watches produced, this will sell out, but will be challenging when the production numbers increase.