Tharaka time house celebrates 50 Years of Excellence

Think luxury, think watches, think sophisticated elegance that has stood the test of time and what springs to mind? Tharaka Time House of course!

“Our store in Colombo Sri Lanka is recognized as an Official Rolex Retailer, as we only sell genuine Rolex timepieces” says Senior Partner of Tharaka Time House ,Tharaka Jayatissa, whose father Athauda Arachchchige Somasiri Wimaladasa Jayatissa opened his first Rolex outlet in 1973 .

“This year we celebrate 50 years of matchless, timeless, elegance and superlative service, a tradition my father started and my brother and I continue”.

How did it all begin? Tharaka Jayatissa recounts that it was primarily an emotional rather than a business decision for his father who always had a great passion for quality watches and was the Chief Technician at B P de Silva’s. “Rolex were having problems with their agents at that time and my father having specialized in Omega watches wrote to Rolex in Geneva, saying that with his considerable experience as the Chief Technician for Omega, he would like to take over the Rolex agency”.

Within a period of approximately one year, Mr Boilet from Rolex Geneva, together with Mr Ramsay who headed the Rolex operation in Singapore came to Sri Lanka and commenced discussions with Mr Jayatissa Snr. The first showroom was opened on November 4, 1973 and was located on the ground floor of the Hemas building in York Street Colombo 1. It was named after Mr Jayatissa Snr’s son Tharaka who was just two months old at that time.

“Rolex Geneva had so much confidence in my father that Mr Boilet sent all the service equipment free of charge,” Tharaka said.

In 1979 they commenced importing and selling watches, starting with 15 pieces. “Our first watches were the Oyster Perpetual Date watch which sold for Rs 75,000/-. It was bought by Mr Hilmy Rauf, owner of Crest Gems. The Rolex 18 carat gold Day/Date watch priced at Rs 325,000/- was bought by Mr C.S.Abeysekere, owner of Supreme Traders, in 1981. Today the 36 mm Oyster Perpetual Day watch costs Rs 3.4 million, while the Rolex 18 carat gold Day/Date costs 15 million”.

Tharaka Jayatissa recounts how his father who underwent training both in Singapore as well as Geneva under Kurt Bruner, took a personal pride in his craft and came to work on a daily basis right up to his death on April 16, 2017 at the age of 79.

With regards to future plans and expansion, Tharaka Time House is presently constructing a state of the art four-floor showroom in the vicinity of the Liberty Plaza roundabout, with each floor consisting of 1700 sq feet. “This building will be totally dedicated to Rolex with the servicing and showroom all under one roof and if all goes well it will be open for business towards the end of 2024 or early 2025”.

In December this year Tharaka Time House will introduce to the local market the new 40 mm GMT Master priced at Rs 5.2 mill, the new 40 mm Daytona which is Rs 7.5 mil, and the new 36 mm 18 carat platinum Day / Date, which costs Rs 18 mil.