Visitors from all over the world attended the 7th Edition of Dubai Watch Week – from faraway places such as California, South America, and Australia. It was held during 19th – 23rd November at Dubai Mall, Burj Park. Along with the dynamic team at The Cornea Impression, I too was fortunate to attend. Dubai Watch Week was not my first watch show – I have attended others in Hong Kong and Geneva – yet it has left an undeniable impression and memories that will stay with me for forever.
I highlight my top five picks in addition to a few honourable mentions, and recount my personal journey of attending the show.
Bvlgari: Mattar Bin Lahej x Octo Finissimo
The Italian brand collaborated with renowned Emirati artist Mattar Bin Lahej to unveil the Bin Lahej x Octo Finissimo at Dubai Watch Week. The Octo Finissimo – an award-winning design icon evoking Italian style and flair – became a canvas for Mattar Bin Lahej’s calligraphic artistry. Laser engraved on the dial and its 40 mm titanium case and bracelet, it reads: “The future will be for those who can imagine, design, and implement it. The future does not wait, but it can be designed and built today.” These words draw inspiration from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.
I was fortunate to attend a Bvlgari panel talk with Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Bvlgari’s Executive Director of Product Creation and Mattar Bin Lahej – where they both reminisced about their first meeting and how the genesis for this idea came about. A beautiful watch, one that is a fusion of two distinct cultures.
Name: Bin Lahej x Octo Finissimo. Reference: 104311. Price: Not available at the time of writing this article. Limited edition of 70 pieces.
De Bethune: DB25 Perpetual Sky
The Swiss brand unveiled two models at Dubai Watch Week. The complex and technically impressive double-sided DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT and DB25 Perpetual Sky. It is the latter that tugged on my heart strings.
The DB25 Perpetual Sky is De Bethune’s interpretation of a “simple perpetual calendar,” considered one of three classic grand complications (along with the tourbillon and minute repeater). Perpetual calendars with its many subdials – typically three – can often make a dial seem crowded. The DB25 Perpetual Sky does away with them. It features one large subdial for the date, and discreet apertures for the day of the week, month, leap year, and the brand’s spherical moon phase display. Featuring a blued polished titanium dial with stars and prominent Roman numerals on the outer flange, housed in a 40 mm grade-5 titanium case with the brand’s signature lugs, and powered by a hand-wound movement featuring several of the brand’s innovations and patents, the DB25 Perpetual Sky is one of my top picks from the show.
Name: DB25 Perpetual Sky. Reference: DB25SQPV2. Price: Not available at the time of writing this article.
Girard-Perregaux: Laureato Three Gold Bridges
Girard-Perregaux combined two of their icons – their Laureato and Three Gold Bridges. Though not the first time the brand has done this, the current model is beautifully executed and highlights the brand’s current resurgence. Having recently unveiled the GP4800 – a state-of-the-art automatic movement featuring a silicon escapement and a free-sprung balance wheel (among other features), and its debut model – the Laureato FIFTY – the brand is on the right track. The Laureato Three Gold Bridges with its avant-garde design and open movement displaying a tourbillon is a worthy addition to the brand’s lineup.
Name: Laureato Three Gold Bridges. Reference: 99112-58-3576-1CM (non diamond version) and 99112-58S3451-1CM (baguette-cut diamond version). Price: Euro 178,000 (non diamond version) and Euro 241,000 (baguette-cut diamond version). The non diamond version is limited to 50 pieces. The baguette-cut diamond version is not limited.
MB&F: HM11 Art Deco
MB&F’s HM11 Architect – the predecessor to the new HM11 Art Deco – was the first watch I wrote about for The Cornea Impression when I joined the team in November 2023. (The HM11 Architect was a Dubai Watch Week 2023 debut.) Attending Dubai Watch Week 2025, being able to handle the new HM11 Art Deco, and most important of all – meeting Max Büsser for the first time, my horological idol – was a full circle moment for me.
The HM11 Art Deco builds on the “miniature home” concept of the HM11 Architect yet one that is inspired by 1930s Art Deco. Designer Maximillian Maertens has reinterpreted Max Büsser and Eric Giroud’s design “with the geometry, verticality, and graphic rhythm of 1930s design. Sunbeam-pattern dials, stepped architectural bridges, reworked sapphire profiles, and red translucent enamel hands evoke the era’s cinemas and skyscrapers, creating the impression of a miniature skyline on the wrist.”
Only Max Büsser, his team, and circle of “Friends” can run wild with imagination and create such a horological showstopper. For me, the HM11 Art Deco was the watch of the show.
Name: Blue dial plate edition and Green dial plate edition. Price: Swiss Franc (CHF) 198,000 + VAT (both editions). Both editions are limited to 10 pieces each.
NORQAIN: Wild One Meteorite 42MM Special Edition
NORQAIN watches are designed and built for an active lifestyle (their booth during Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025 resembled a ski station). For me, they are one of the coolest watch brands in the world. They make honest watches that feature a unique design aesthetic, a complex case construction using innovative materials such as NORTEQ®, and dependable movements developed by Sellita, AMT, and Kenissi.
The NORQAIN Wild One Meteorite 42MM Special Edition is a versatile three-hand watch featuring a meteorite dial. A wrist companion that is equally at home on the ski slopes, lounging at home during weekends, and at a board meeting.
Name: Wild One Meteorite 42MM Special Edition. Reference: N3000.21Q47.M02. Price: Swiss Franc (CHF) 5,950. Allocation varies by region. Please check their website for more information.
Honourable Mentions and Reflections
I was a kid in a candy store during Dubai Watch Week. I was fortunate to try on one of my favourite watches from one of my favourite brands – A. Lange & Söhne’s 1815 Annual Calendar. Launched in 2017, it is not a new model, yet its design is as fresh as ever, and on my ever-growing wish list. Having the chance to chat with both Robert Hoffmann – Head of Zeitwerk, and Wilhelm Schmid – Managing Director was a real treat.
F.P. Journe had a large booth where iconic pieces from their collection were on display. I felt grateful to have the opportunity to see them considering they make so few watches a year (I think somewhere between 900 – 1000). I saw F.P. Journe the man, both in his booth and walking around – one of the most gifted watchmakers of our times.
Laurent Ferrier was a pleasant surprise. While I did not select their newly unveiled Classic Origin Beige as one of my top five picks – a beautiful watch nonetheless – I was delighted to handle a few of their pieces from across their range. Laurent Ferrier the man is a master watchmaker who spent 37 years honing horological crafts and abilities at Patek Philippe before he left to establish his eponymous brand 15 years ago. The brand excels in crafting classical watches rooted in Genevan watchmaking traditions. For those who love this genre of watchmaking, the brand’s watches are worthy of consideration, and in my humble opinion, one of the gems of independent watchmaking.
While not a Dubai Watch Week launch, Roger Dubuis’s Hommage La Placide – a limited-edition perpetual calendar that draws inspiration from the brand’s original design codes looked beautiful. I could feel the staff at the booth were happy that the brand is revisiting its old aesthetics. For Dubai Watch Week, the brand unveiled a piece-unique model based on the Hommage La Placide. Named Hommage Sukoon Al-Layl, it refers to Arabic culture, and features a gorgeous multi-layered dial featuring guilloché, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, and Aventurine. If not already spoken for, good luck trying to acquire it.
One does not expect a mainstream brand to collaborate with an independent brand. (The Bvlgari X MB&F Serpenti comes to mind.) But this is exactly what happened when Ulysse Nardin and Urwerk got together and unveiled the Ur-Freak. It combines Ulysse Nardin’s rotating carousel movement – renowned for powering the iconic Freak – with Urwerk’s satellite hour display. An interesting and technically impressive watch, we were present at the model’s unveiling and had the opportunity to handle it at their booth.
We were present at the launch of Vyntage Horology’s Strata – a grade-5 titanium integrated bracelet sports watch with design inputs from renowned independent watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi. Vyntage Horology is a UAE based luxury watch brand owned by the Seddiqi family, also owners of Ahmed Seddiqi.
There were several other unveils and experiences that I have not mentioned, yet each was meaningful. Most importantly, Dubai Watch Week was about the people. Meeting friends (some of whom I have known via social media but did not have the chance to meet yet) and making new ones made the show truly special. Already looking forward to the 8th Edition in 2027.
Stay tune for our detailed coverage of the new debuts on The Cornea Impression.
