March 01, 2026

-

Premium

How Gen Z Keeps Time

Here is a plot twist nobody saw coming: A generation raised completely on smartphones and digital timestamps is obsessed with wearing an analogue-handmademechanical timekeeper on their wrist. This is not a vibe, it's a value system. Gen Z isn't subscribing to info-engrossed trackers, smartwatches with notifications about their every move, but to an actual watch. Ideally one with a dial worth staring at, and an idea that makes it their ownAccording to Bain & Company's 2024 luxury market study, more than 70 per cent of younger luxury buyers now consider craftsmanship and material quality as the top factor influencing their repeat purchases. Where previous generations chased steel sports watches, the chunky Submariner-and-Nautilus-coded markers of arrival that dominated wrists for decades, this generation has quietly, decisively moved in the opposite direction. Dress watches. Slim profiles. Clean dials. Vintage references. Research also found that the pre-owned luxury watch market is growing faster than the new-watch market in several categories, with a projected annual growth rate of 9.2 per cent through 2030, driven largely by younger buyers who prize the story behind the object, as much as the object itselfAnd then, there is the Cartier moment, which is the most telling cultural indicator of all. The Tank, the Baignoire, the Panthère-- watches that have been around for decades, and previously read as elegant but slightly conservative choices, are now the most coveted pieces among younger buyers. Hollywood star Timothée Chalamet has been photographed in a vintage Cartier so consistently. In Saltburn (2023), actor Jacob Elordi radiated old-money ease in every frame, a sensibility that sent an entire generation to vintage watch listings. Actor Zendaya in a Bvlgari Serpenti at the Challengers (2024) premiere

SHARVARI AND THE ART OF JOY

Shoots can get tedious. Boring even. But, what happens when you have a subject so full of energy and enthusiasm that everyone on set is shaken out of their over-caffeinated drudgery? Well, the hours go by in a flash (pun intended), fashion feels like an endless pursuit of fun, and poses come as easy as bad news on a good day of doomscrolling. Sharvari will vouch for it. She was there, and she made it happen. Much like the great mononyms of our times (Beyoncé, Banksy... Bollywood?) Sharvari--who rarely uses her second name, Wagh--would like to manifest super stardom. "2026 is a busy year--and, it's a place I have dreamt of being in. So, there are no complaints there," says the 28-year-old, when we catch up over a video call a few days after the shoot. Busy may be an understatement--her upcoming projects hit the screens just a month apart. First, it is Main Wapas Aaunga scheduled for June 12. Directed by Imtiaz Ali, it also stars Diljit Dosanjh and Vedang Raina, with the trailer offering a glimpse of a period, cross-timeline love story. With a score by AR Rahman, it adds to the filmmaker-oriented narrative of work that underlines her upcoming projects. Among these, Alpha is arguably the most anticipated, with a female-first positioning in a genre where they are rarely put at the centre--action. She stars alongside Alia Bhatt, adding to the popular YRF (Yash Raj Films) Spy Universe, which has featured films such as War 2 (2025), Tiger 3 (2023), and Pathaan (2023). Known for being at the forefront of family-oriented films (with love and drama at their core) Sharvari also stars in filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya's next, Yeh Prem Mol Liya, opposite Ayushmann Khurrana, a project that may also witness a 2026 releaseWell, as they say (and if they don't, they should): If you have to make it in Bollywood, a good old romance and heartbreak needs to be on your résumé. And, Sharvari has always had the desire for it. "Growing up, going to the movies was an entire event. I remember my mom, dad, and older sister Kasturi had reserved our weekends to watch films in the cinema hall. It didn't matter what genre it was, as long as it was entertaining," she says, adding that she was fascinated by the power of a good story that could transport the audience to an alternate universe. "And that's a feeling that never left me." STAR TREATMENT Being in the movies these days comes with its share of attention. And not the kind that will chase you at airports, hunt for bytes on the red carpet, or trail you at press events and special screenings. It is the kind that will dissect your every move--wait for you to make a spelling mistake on Instagram, not have the `correct' opinion on a trending topic, or wear a brand that said the wrong thing on the wrong platform a decade backBeing a celebrity is as exhausting as it can be rewarding. And what happens when unlike many of Bollywood's rising stars, you weren't born to star parents? Do you owe it to your fans to lay it all out and invite them to a life hitherto unknown? "I understand that being in movies naturally inspires curiosity about your personal life. My fans are incredibly dear to me--they are like my extended family--but, I don't believe in sharing everything just because there is public pressure to do so," she says. And, while the limelight does what it has to do, Sharvari is happy to find joy in "her people". Like her school friends, who are still her 4am ride-or-die mates: "I am very lucky that I grew up in Mumbai, and even after a long day of work, I can go back home, text one of my school groups and be like: