DUBAI — A record 49,000 visitors attended this year’s Dubai Watch Week, which closed on Sunday, confirming the growing importance of the Middle East to the luxury sector while Europe and China stutter. Attendance was more than double that of its last edition.
The show, which is backed by the Middle East’s largest watch retailer Ahmed Seddiqi and is free to enter, was held at a new 200,000-square-foot location in Dubai’s Burj Park and counted Rolex, Chanel, Audemars Piguet and Van Cleef & Arpels among its 90 exhibiting brands.
Senior industry executives at the show said it had exceeded expectations and highlighted a growing sense that the luxury sector is shifting its focus to the region.
The same weekend as Dubai Watch Week in the UAE, Fashion Trust Arabia staged its latest edition in Doha, Qatar.
“There are a lot of trade shows and we have to make our choice, but this is the second most important one now,” said Julien Tornare, chief executive of the LVMH-owned Hublot. “It went from a city event to a regional event, and now it’s an international event.”
“This event is really shifting the gravity point of the watch industry away from Switzerland,” said the founder of the independent watchmaker Ressence, Benoît Mintiens. “Not that it’s totally gone, but you feel that other parts of the world are taking over.”
Tariff Deals, Currency Swings
Dubai Watch Week came on the heels of an announcement last week that the US had confirmed a “declaration of intent” to reduce tariffs on Switzerland from 39 to 15 percent.
“The mood at Watches and Wonders was clouded by news of the tariffs, whereas here we come just after good news on tariffs.” said Bremont chief executive Davide Cerrato, remembering the original 31 percent tariff announced by President Trump during the April fair.
Still, the news was met with caution. Terms have not been agreed and it’s not known when the change will come into effect, although Swiss ministers are targeting early December. For now, the higher rate remains in place.
“We are looking at 15 percent which is more reasonable,” said Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard. “But when is it going to be put in place? That is the question.”
“I don’t believe it’s the end of uncertainty,” said Ilaria Resta, chief executive of Audemars Piguet. “Because it’s not only the tariffs, it’s the price of gold, the strengthening of the Swiss franc, and all the political uncertainty that surrounds us. The industry has been living in the perfect storm for two years.”
Breitling chief executive Georges Kern agreed. “In my 30 years in the industry, this has been the most complicated situation,” he said. “The market is not as it should be.”
Even so, brand bosses felt the news had brought some rare light and contributed to a more upbeat mood.
A New Luxury Geography
The event was held at a purpose-built site that organisers said had taken six weeks to erect. Most seemed pleased with the environment—and the visitor profile it had attracted.
“The top of the pyramid is very sophisticated here,” said Guido Terreni, chief executive of Parmigiani, which was exhibiting at the event for the first time. “They’re extremely knowledgeable and humble, very empowered financially, but very involved emotionally in what they’re looking for.”
The UAE is one of a number of hubs in the region competing for luxury brand investment, also including Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
”The number one focus is the Middle East.” said James Marks, chief executive of the high-end independent watchmaker Biver. “Riyadh is a city of 8 million people, and I would absolutely push anyone to go there now, because it will be very different in 10 years time.”
Selling vs. Storytelling
Dubai Watch Week’s organisers described the event as “non-commercial” and brands were not permitted to make sales onsite. Many said this wasn’t an issue as they were running concierge services to deliver watches to hotels, or had local points of sale to where they could direct clients, including a store operated by the show’s backers in the nearby Dubai Mall.
But not everyone agreed. “It’s a serious investment for us, and in future, I’d like to be able to offer customers the opportunity to buy our watches here,” said Oris CEO Rolf Studer. “For many, especially at our price point, it’s a spontaneous purchase and we believe it would add to the experience as many customers have asked for it.”
Hind Seddiqi, the show’s founder and chief executive, said she’d listened to feedback. “We may consider making the fair transactional in the future, but we don’t want to change the relaxed, casual atmosphere we’ve created,” she said. “As soon as brands can sell watches, they will come with sales targets, which puts pressure on them and on our guests, which we do not want.”
But sales were still top-of-mind as brands used the fair to launch high-value pieces aimed at a wealthy local clientele. Chopard’s 780,000 Swiss franc ($965,000) L.U.C Grand Strike marked the 30th anniversary of the family-owned company’s fine watchmaking division; Hublot released a pair of Big Bang watches with snowflake-motif rotors for the European winter season, one priced at 70,000 Swiss francs ($80,500); and Ulysse Nardin and Urwerk announced a collaboration called the UR-Freak at 100,000 Swiss francs ($124,000).
More accessible luxury watchmakers like Tudor and Oris announced simpler, time-only mechanicals.
A Fair Deal?
Exhibitors said large-scale watch fairs remained a vital route to market, though participation is increasingly fragmented and no longer a clear proxy for industry clout.
Federico Ziviani, chief executive of the independent watchmaker Gerald Charles (the smallest of the 13 brands with a standalone booth at Dubai Watch Week) said more than half of the 2 million Swiss francs ($2.5 million) he had invested in exhibitions this year had been spent at Dubai Watch Week, but that it had been worth it. “We sold more tourbillons this week than in the whole of the previous year,” he said, confirming buyers had been referred to local points of sale. “This is the largest investment to date in a fair for Gerald Charles, because the best way to educate the audience is through fairs.”
Participation in watch fairs is still considered by many industry observers to be a barometer of a brand’s standing in the industry, though Swatch Group and its portfolio of brands including Omega, Longines and Breguet, have stayed out of major industry gatherings in recent years.
Audemars Piguet will debut at Watches and Wonders next year, a move Resta told The Business of Fashion earlier this year was because leading watchmakers had a duty to “play a role in amplifying the message, not only of a single company, but the entire industry.”
Some brands are still trying to find the right mix. Bell & Ross and the Richemont brand Montblanc are among those who recently announced they had withdrawn from Watches and Wonders, which this year attracted 60 exhibitors and more than 55,000 visitors, according to organisers.
“Watches and Wonders is very business-oriented, whereas here we meet the people wearing our watches,” said Carlos Rosillo, the Bell & Ross’s chief executive, who has chosen to continue exhibiting in Dubai. Watches and Wonders, he said, cost “many millions”, money he could spend on being “multi-local and multi-momentum”, investing in smaller fairs such as Couture in Paris and WatchTime in New York, as well as local events through his global dealer network. “That way we reach the people who are wearing our watches,” he said.
Girard-Perregaux has yet to exhibit at Watches and Wonders, but at Dubai Watch Week it had installed a two-story standalone booth.
“The emotion here is incredible,” said Marc Michel-Amadry, the company’s chief executive. “I would rather have less involvement in fairs so that when we do something, we have proper representation. I’m convinced we’ve made the right decision to be here and I would sign for 2027 and 2029 immediately.”
While the mood in Dubai was positive, expectations for the overall market to rebound in 2026 remain subdued.
“I believe that 2026 will still be in a similar kind of dynamic as 2025 with ups and downs,” said Hublot’s Tornare. “There are still too many watches on the market. When you’re selling luxury, by definition it’s about rarity. If there are too many watches on the market, you’re dead. It’s important we preserve the exclusivity.”