This year’s event was all about innovation and sharing ideas, which sounds a bit like Dubai itself.
Since 2015, Dubai Watch Week has celebrated all things horological (great word), and this year is no exception. The event wrapped up on Monday after four days of watch launches, social events and discussion panels, all of which we’re assuming started exactly on time.
As well as providing a space for collectors and watchmakers to mingle, the event shows off Dubai’s status as a major global city, director Melika Yazdjerdi said.
“We take pride in our contribution to strengthening the city’s position as a premier destination for trade, tourism and culture, [and] attracting both business and leisure travelers,” Yazdjerdi said.
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Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, who opened the festivities, agreed.
“Dubai has distinguished itself by providing global platforms for industries across the economic spectrum to share new ideas and knowledge that drive growth and innovation,” she said.
“Dubai Watch Week 2017 creates yet another opportunity for the watchmaking community to come together to chart new avenues for the development of the industry and celebrate its most significant achievements.”
While watches have long been seen as more of a men’s pursuit, women weren’t unrepresented at the event. Collector Hind Abdul Hamied Seddiqi told Emirates Woman the balance is shifting in our November issue.
“The number of female watch collectors increases year by year,” says Seddiqi. “Women today are very smart with their choices when it comes to watches. They understand that it is a prestigious product to own with unique stories and qualities – they now know that buying a watch today is a lifetime investment and a status symbol and says a lot about one’s education and knowledge about the watchmaking industry.
“Hence, brands are giving more importance to their women’s collection. You will notice that every major brand now has novelties for women and the watches are becoming more intricate and complicated.”
And Dubai’s status as a watch lover’s paradise is pretty solid, too. Swiss haute horlogerie brand Audemars Piguet chose the city as the host for its Golf Invitational this year, and invited 72 Audemars Piguet collectors along to celebrate.
Perfect timing, we’d say.
Images: Instagram
