Dubai Watch Week Provides A Sanctuary For Independent Watchmakers
If Switzerland is the cradle of the watchmaking industry, Dubai will be its “sanctuary” this week, according to Maximilian Büsser. The owner and creative director of MB&F, who moved permanently to the emirate in 2014, says watchmakers are “an endangered species,” that need to come together to protect the art form.
This week in Dubai, he will be joined by an exceptional lineup of watchmakers, brought together by Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, the preeminent watch retailer in the U.A.E, as well as the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
The goal of the exhibition? To give this market an opportunity to meet face-to-face with industry leaders, and witness a formidable demonstration of talent and craftsmanship.
Dubai Watch Week is hoping to attract a young but already crucial market, but the exercise will not be financial. Instead, Hind Abdul Hamied Seddiqi is hoping it will increase the public’s appreciation for their craft.
The Chief Marketing Officer of Seddiqi Holding says the experience is one that, until now, has been mostly reserved for private clients. But Seddiqi & Sons is keen to make the watch industry more accessible through several public displays, including the 2015 pre-selected finalists of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
“The most spectacular element,” of the exhibition, according to Aurel Bacs, President of the GPHG 2015 jury, “is that private individuals who are hardly let into the watch fairs, will be able to look at the watch, touch the watch, talk to the watchmaker, and even take the watch apart and put it back together with him.”
Not all watchmakers are as familiar with Dubai as Büsser. Independent watchmaker Philippe Dufour will discover the emirate for the first time in his long and celebrated career.
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For Caption: Calibre Image. Dubai Watch Week is open to the public from the 18th to 22nd October. For more information, please visit the official Dubai Watch Week Website.
