LOYAL TEXTILES GROUP OF COMPANIES
P.ORR & SONS is one of the leading multi-brand retail outlets in Tamil Nadu that has been dealing in wrist watches (Indian and international), alarm time pieces, wall clocks, time recorders, grandfather clocks, tower clocks and many other items connected with horology for more than 167 years.
P.ORR & SONS is not just about watches, clocks and business. It is also about emotions. In fact, there is a rich history and background to the business. Read on to find out more.
Anna Salai, formerly known as Mount Road, is one of the busiest roads in the city of Chennai. Amidst the traffic and the showrooms, and the bustle and the noise, stands an old, regal building, that appears untouched by the tumult around it. That is P.Orr & Sons. Mention this name to any person in Chennai today; watches and clocks is what will immediately come to their mind.
Few people know that it all began in 1849, with a man called Peter Orr. And what was the nature of his business? Selling ice at 4 annas per pound at the Ice House – now known as Vivekananda Illam.
- The P. Orr & Sons building on Anna Salai, a landmark in the city, is built in the Byzantine style of architecture. P. Orr & Sons first occupied this building way back in 1873. The three-faced tower clock atop this building was connected to the Madras Observatory and corrected hourly to ensure that it was always right on time!
- From such impressive beginnings, the company expanded into other areas of business, and today has established a reputation for quality and stability. P.Orr & Sons continues to stick to its age old motto of "CUSTOMER LOYALTY THROUGH BRAND CHOICE" while adopting modern trends in retailing.
“We have probably sold more watches than the number of people in Chennai!”
ACTIVITIES
Today, the company's activities are three-fold – trading, servicing and manufacturing. If a customer wants a made-to-order carved wooden grandfather clock, this company has the tradition and the capability to make the 'buy' special. In fact, P. Orr and Sons had the distinction of installing the clock tower at Chennai Central.
Apart from watches, P.Orr & Sons also deals with the sales and service of survey instruments including the latest automatic equipments. P.Orr & Sons is also a regular supplier to various government departments, engineering colleges, polytechnics etc.
MANAGEMENT
In 1967, the late “Kalaithanthai” Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar, doyen of the South Indian textile industry, purchased P. Orr & Sons. It is now being managed by a professional board of directors.
BRANCHES
P.Orr & Sons provides consumers with an enticing range of watches from the best brands in the world of horology, along with service back-up, in a pleasing ambience. The company's modern
showrooms at Chennai (Anna Salai, Annanagar, Adyar, Mylapore, Tambaram, Porur and Velachery), Coimbatore, Trichy (Thillai Nagar and FSN Hyper Mall), and Pondicherry provide an enjoyable ambience for shopping.
SERVICE
P.Orr & Sons has serviced virtually every brand that has ever told the time! And, continues to do so even after 167 years of continuous service. P.Orr and Sons, undertakes guaranteed servicing of watches, wall clocks and alarm time pieces (ATPs) using genuine spare parts. P.Orr & Sons is equipped with a state-of-art ISO 9001:2008–certified Watch Care Centre for servicing and repairing of all brands of watches and ATPs. Over 125 watch technicians who are well trained by Indian and foreign watch manufacturers work at the Centre.
OUR FUTURE PLANS
It has been P.Orr & Sons' constant endeavor to be more accessible to its customers. Towards this end the company has been planning to open new showrooms every year all over Chennai city and also across the state of Tamil Nadu. P.Orr & Sons is also looking to convert its showrooms to ONE
STOP SHOPs where customers can get everything related to horology.
JEWELLERY
At one point in time P. Orr & Sons was also associated with the precious metals and jewellery business. The star attractions in those days were the silverware displays and the famous Diamond Table! It also dealt with arms and ammunition, but later discontinued this business.
After Independence, the business environment changed substantially with the ban on imports, which left open very few options as far as horological instruments and branded jewellery were concerned.
Today, with many of the old business restrictions no longer existing, P.Orr & Sons is looking to diversify its product range. And, as part of this diversification P.Orr & Sons has recently taken up sales of 24 carat pure gold coins – 99.99 % purity – Swiss made – Assay Certified – in tamper-proof packs in all our showrooms.
