This month’s Dubai Watch Week will be bigger than ever, with watchmakers, retailers, collectors and designers all descending on the city. Here, Hind Abdul Hamied Seddiqi talks horology, style and female timepieces.
“The passion my family has for watches always fascinated me,” says Hind Abdul Hamied Seddiqi. “For as long as I can remember, I have seen watches on the wrists of my family members and I have never seen my father walk around without a watch.”
Seddiqi is happy talking timepieces. She has built her own collection over the years, although she dismisses any talk of impulse buying – “I only buy watches I absolutely fall in love with,” she says – and has no declared favourites. Indeed, all the watches she owns are special.
For the longest period of time this year, however, her wrist has been graced by the F.P Journe Élégante 40mm, an electromechanical watch designed and conceived exclusively for women. “It is an amazing innovative and modern watch with a revolutionary horological concept,” says Seddiqi.
Hind’s F.P Journe Élégante 40mm.
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Our chat is ostensibly to discuss Dubai Watch Week, which runs from November 16 to 20 and has been organised by Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons in partnership with Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, but the past and nostalgia have crept in.
“I began learning about the art of watchmaking at a very young age,” says Seddiqi, who is chief marketing and communications officer at Seddiqi Holding. “Every summer, our father would travel to Geneva for three months to visit the brands that we work with and used to take us with him. We would spend our summers touring the factories of some of the most prestigious Swiss watch brands and visiting boutiques to admire the timepieces.
“The people from the watch industry became our mentors as well as our extended family – they fed our passion for watches and saw my siblings and I grow from young, curious children to the watch connoisseurs we are today. Looking back at all these informal visits, I would say that this was the best indirect training I was ever exposed to.”
It’s just over three weeks until Dubai Watch Week when we talk and the sense of anticipation is palpable. Launched in 2015 with the support of the brands of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, it has grown into an event whose vision is to unite the global watch community for the preservation and transmission of horological knowledge.
A Piaget watch.
This year the portfolio of participating brands has doubled compared with last, with watchmakers and retailers such as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Bulgari, Romain Jerome, Tag Heuer, Voutilainen, MB&F, Ferdinand Berthoud, Bovet, Breitling and Vacheron Constantin all taking part.
There will also be speakers such as Carine Maillard, Director of the Fondation du Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, Laurence Nicolas, President of timepieces at Dior, and Fabienne Lupo, President of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.
“Year on year, our support circle from the watch industry and Switzerland has grown, from watchmakers, to enamelists and collectors,” says Seddiqi. “We now have the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie as our partner, along with the growing portfolio of brands participating with us.
“Our aim is to always bring the best to our country and to our clients. It is our way of giving back to Dubai, the watch industry and our clients who learned to love watches from the various events and activations we offer them. We are extremely passionate about everything we do. The brands we work with know that and respect us for being this way, hence the overwhelming success of Dubai Watch Week.”
Hind Abdul Hamied Seddiqi.
Of particular interest will be the development of watches designed specifically for women, with one of the event’s panel discussions posing the question of why watchmakers focus almost entirely on creating grand complications targeted specifically for men.
“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.”
Seddiqi notes that female clients want watches that will stay in style for life, with more and more watchmakers turning their attention to the potential of the female market.
“They are not particularly interested in trendy styles that may become outdated in a few years,” adds Seddiqi, who joined the family business as an intern from the PR industry. “They generally look for watches that are comfortable, easy to wear, and that can complement their style day and night. Brands have been very receptive to the watch taste of the modern woman. Many brands have created female versions of hero products that were originally very male oriented. I believe they are catering well to women’s tastes and have been very successful in doing so.”
A Bulgari timepiece.
There remains work to be done in the industry, however, including educating the market on the art of watchmaking. It’s a topic that Maximilian Büsser, owner and creative director of Maximilian Büsser & Friends (MB&F), feels strongly about.
“Educating consumers is the priority,” he says. “Twenty-five years ago, we (the industry) were geeks talking to geeks and everyone was extremely knowledgeable which made for a very small but educated market. Since then some major brands have focused their marketing much more on status than education, bringing way more clients into watchmaking but clients who are not aware enough about the intricacies of high-end watchmaking. This in turn has opened the doors to brands getting away with less than average products.”
It’s one of the reasons why Dubai Watch Week is so important, adds Büsser.
“Dubai Watch Week has become, in less than three years, a hub for watchmaking culture to the whole world,” he says. “There is practically no event like this around the globe, and aficionados from all over are starting to visit Dubai specifically for this event. Kudos to the Seddiqi family and team who have taken it upon themselves to invest in such a complex and selfless task.”
“Playing the educator role in any industry is always challenging because it is a long-term investment,” adds Seddiqi. “There needs to be a strategy in place to ensure that the correct messages are being communicated, not only to watch connoisseurs, but to the general public. Once people learn of the intricacies involved in watchmaking, the fascination will most likely drive them to
learn more. The main challenge is how long it takes for the business to reap the benefits – it takes time to get the results you want.
“However, this has never stopped us from educating the market, as we have a long-term vision. We have sensed the change in our clients’ perceptions and the understanding they have of the watch industry, as well as the impact this has had on our business over the years.”
The industry continues to ask itself questions. Can you have a watch that is as equally beautiful as it is masterful in its movement? Are independent watchmakers avoiding globalisation? How do you spot a fake watch? And how will new technologies and innovation impact the industry without compromising the integrity of watchmaking? These are all questions that will be asked during Dubai Watch Week panel discussions.
“When I joined the family business, I went through formal, in-depth training,” says Seddiqi, who is the first female family member to join the corporate office of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons.
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“I visited various brands and attended the buying sessions at SIHH [Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Genève] and Baselworld. I recall my first visit to SIHH 11 years ago. The number of beautiful timepieces on display was simply amazing. Every new piece of information I learnt excited me and I was constantly enquiring about the way watchmakers came up with such creative ideas.”
She adds: “The journey has been amazing so far. Of course, every journey has its ups and downs, and I have learnt many lessons along the way. However, I am very proud of my achievements and the challenges that I have overcome as they have contributed to shaping the person that I am today, professionally and personally.
“The support and trust my family has given me in the business is a blessing that not everyone receives in any work environment, let alone a family business. This has led me to become a much stronger and more confident person.”
Images: Supplied
Words: Iain Akerman
