Dubai Watch Week 2023: Celebrating Watch Culture In Style

The sixth edition of Dubai Watch Week has just wrapped, and has further cemented its position as the most innovative and engaging event on the watch calendar. Created in 2015 by the prominent retailers the Sediqqi family, Dubai Watch Week's goal is to create a watch event focused not on sales and commerce, but on education and engagement. This year's event certainly delivered on this mission — with a five-day program not just of product launches and regional limited editions but also expert panels, educational experiences and the like. However, it's not to say that the event was without drama, as torrential storms — not normal desert weather — forced a closure on the second morning, but, in an incredible effort, gates were reopened a few hours later, and it was back to business as usual.

For Audemars Piguet, business was focused very much on the future — as outgoing CEO François-Henry Bennahmias and UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Omar Al Olama announced (in very non-specific terms) a long-term partnership between the watchmaker and the government that would see the UAE develop and manufacture technology for Audemars Piguet watches, though is should be noted that one of the few things that Bennahmias was specific about was that this as-yet-unspecified tech would be separate from the watch itself.

Of course, there were plenty of other panels and presentations to pass the time, including a deep dive into one of the hottest topics in watches: collaboration. Our own Austen Chu moderated this discussion between François-Henry Bennahmias and Omar Johnson, the former CMO for Beats By Dre. From how hip-hop changed the watch game and what the future of collaboration looks like, this is definitely worth a watch.

Louis Vuitton's Watch Director, Jean Arnault, was in attendance, explaining the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives with three members of the expert committee, including Rexhep Rexhepi, to discuss the prize, which aims to foster creativity and innovation while honoring the great watchmaking traditions.

If you were looking for something a little more one-on-one, you could meet Denis Flageollet of De Bethune, or learn about Ming's new, incredibly light LW.01, which is offered in automatic and manually wound versions, and is, according to the brand, "probably" the lightest watch ever made. On a strap, it weighs a mere 10.6 grams, or about the same as a few sheets of 14 paper. One of the most refreshing parts of the week was that there was a great diversity of brands in a small space: not just the usual suspects. You could stop and chat with the founders of ID Genevé about sustainability and solar-forged steel, or check out the Sediqqi's own brand, Vyntage, which released a series of classically inspired pieces.

Having said that, some of the big names, both Indies and more mainstream brands, released new watches or limited editions for the occasion.

Moser knocked it out of the park with the Streamliner Small Seconds Blue Enamel. The futurist takes on an integrated sports watch featuring an incredibly rich and textured fumé dial in 'Aqua Blue'. Typically this dial would be enough to steal the show, but here there's a brand new calibre, the HMC 500, a slender, high-performance movement with a platinum micro-rotor, the first time the brand has ever used a micro-rotor. It's impressive that this slender, small movement can still manage 74 hours of power reserve. Finally, this is the smallest Streamliner yet, coming in at a wrist-friendly 39mm.

Another hit from Dubai Watch Week was MB&F's latest, the HM11 'Architect', inspired by experimental, postmodern buildings of the 1960s. This remarkable watch has four distinct 'rooms', which each house a different function — hours and minutes, power reserve, thermometer and setting crown. Already, this is wacky stuff, but when you learn that the whole case can be rotated on its central axis, which in turn winds the calibre, you begin to realize just how special this watch is. On top of that, the 42mm case consists of 92 components, and has 19 gaskets.

While these watches are obviously big news and real draw cards for Dubai Watch Week, the week managed to be about more than the watches themselves, and great efforts were made to foster an open and engaging space and program. I certainly can't think of anywhere else where you can walk up to Jean-Claude Biver and ask about his new watch, or get candid answers from one of the biggest retailers in the world on what he thinks about waitlists. It's this holistic approach, not just the brands and products on display that make Dubai Watch Week the most exciting fair on the horological calendar.