Must Watch: All The Highlights From 2021’s Dubai Watch Week
The five-day event marked the UAE’s big moment with a number of impressive new timepiece unveilings
The fifth edition of Dubai Watch Week, which took place at the DIFC from November 24th through 28th, was perhaps even more important than any other edition: indeed, following the severity of the pandemic’s restrictions on travel and social interaction, watch-interested parties from all over the world flew to the UAE to enjoy the weather, the watches, and, of course, the people.
This edition of the consumer-oriented fair brought collector-oriented sessions, including a ‘Speed Dating’ session organised just for females by Swiss group Watch Femme, as well as several panels and collector talks organised by pre-owned specialist WatchBox, who maintained a welcoming pop-up booth offering visitors refreshments and interesting conversation along with a wonderful selection of rare and beautiful watches for sale.
Among the new timepieces introduced at DWW – most (but not all) of which came from independent makers or boutique brands – were some real lookers. Here is a sampling.
Bvlgari x MB&F FlyingT Allegra
The FlyingT Allegra was not made specifically to honour the UAE’s 50-year anniversary. However, the idea for the watch was born from a casual conversation that was started between the two brands at a previous Dubai Watch Week, so it seemed fitting for it to be unveiled at the event. The exquisite timepiece is the result of Bvlgari, the jeweller, and MB&F, the creative watchmaker, joining forces. And while MB&F’s FlyingT model already exists in incarnations one more beautiful than the next, these two unlikely bedfellows have created an unbelievable variation limited to just 40 pieces.
FlyingT was MB&F’s first dedicated watch for women. Its high, domed sapphire crystal reveals gears vertically stacked on top of each other and topped off by a flying tourbillon that looks like a horological lighthouse with a diamond placed on top to light the way: the tourbillon’s constant motion consistently reflects scintillating fiery light. This Allegra version also offers a distinct Bvlgari touch within a pink or white gold case: countering FlyingT’s Swiss micromechanical complexity, the Roman jeweller’s signature touch includes tourmaline, tsavorite, diamond, rubellite, amethyst, tanzanite, and topaz in a composition forming a full circle around the movement with snow-set diamonds providing a truly dazzling backdrop.
On top of this limited-edition run of the FlyingT, each house is independently slated to come out later in 2021 with its own anniversary watch to mark the UAE’s golden jubilee. They will join a host of celebratory limited editions by the likes of Bovet, Konstantin Chaykin, Hublot, and many others that were on display in the fair’s Collectors Lounge all week.
Ressence Type 1 Slim DX2
Limited to 25 pieces, this Belgian brand’s Type 1 Slim DX2 draws inspiration from geometric patterns typically found in the Arabic world. The rather original, multifaceted design of the German silver dial coated with a PVD layer of rose gold – which makes for a sandy colour, not unlike the desert at sunrise – creates a unique play of light that gives this watch a look like no other currently on the market thanks to unique engraving that has this no-hands watch sparkling almost as much as a diamond would.
Housed in a polished 41 mm grade 5 titanium case, the automatic movement’s unique, in-house, patented module features ever-changing discs that continually orbit around one another, with the Super-LumiNova-filled hands and indexes making for a decidedly traditional but fresh look. The Type 1 Slim DX2, which is manually set and wound via a lever on its case back, retains a pure appearance as there is no crown. It’s a design that beautifully represents Ressence’s ‘less is more’ philosophy.
Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Eternity Edition
In honour of its 230th anniversary, Girard-Perregaux introduced ‘Eternity’ editions of some of the brand’s well-known watches, including the unusual and creative Cat’s Eye, whose case is a horizontal oval made to perfectly adorn the feminine wrist. First released in 2004, on the occasion of Dubai Watch Week it arrives with a grand feu enamel dial that will retain a perfect appearance for as long as the watch exists: it will forever be an extraordinary beauty that never fades. The oval dial is adorned with a guilloché sunray motif visible through a blue translucent enamel surface – a technique known as flinqué – which adds considerably to the dial’s beauty, too. Housed in a stainless steel case set with 62 brilliant-cut diamonds, this exquisite timepiece measures 35.4 x 30.4 x 9.1 mm, modest dimensions that nonetheless make a huge statement.
Elizabeth Doerr is the Editor in Chief of QuillAndPad.com, a digital publication that keeps a watch on time.
Lead image caption credits: The press opening of Dubai Watch Week, with Hind Seddiqi, Director General of the event and Mohammed Abdulmagied Seddiqi, CCO of Seddiqi Holding
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s December 2021 issue