Our Picks From Dubai Watch Week, An Increasingly Significant Horological Event
Moving to a larger new space and welcoming a host of new participants—both in terms of brands and attendees—Dubai Watch Week is becoming an event that cannot be missed.
Dubai Watch Week has been growing steadily since its inception in 2015, but last year’s edition, held in late November, was something else altogether. The biennial show, organised by Ahmed Seddiqi, the Middle East’s largest watch retailer, moved to a new 200,000 sq ft venue: Burj Park, a scenic and touristic site next to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa. The 90-plus participating brands represented an increase of around 50 per cent compared to the previous edition, while its 49,000 visitors marked a twofold rise. Whether it has quite crossed the boundary from regional to global event is still debatable, but there is no doubt it ranks among the top three events in the horological calendar—and is undisputedly the one that caters best to private collectors rather than industry insiders. It comes late in the calendar year, so not every participating brand unveils a specific release for the show, but there is still plenty to see. Here, we present some of the eye-catching exhibits and timepieces we encountered in Dubai.
Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike
Chopard’s foray into chiming watches reaches a new zenith with the L.U.C Grand Strike, which features a minute repeater, grande and petite sonnerie modes, and a tourbillon for good measure. It required 11,000 hours of research and development, and the final result includes 10 patents—five of which are new for this timepiece and primarily concern efficiency and ease of use. One of the pre-existing patents is Chopard’s signature sapphire monobloc technology: the gongs are made of sapphire, machined from the same piece as the crystal, with the entire component projecting sound for extra volume and clarity.
The dial-less display shows off the 686-component calibre in all its glory, while the 43mm diameter and 14mm-thick case is crafted in the manufacture’s ethical white gold. That it is COSC-certified is icing on the cake, and the Poinçon de Genève denotes even more rigorous standards for both performance and aesthetics. This is the first grande sonnerie timepiece from Chopard and also the most complex watch it has ever made.
Van Cleef & Arpels Brassée de Lavande Automaton
Another year brings another series of gorgeous animated works of art from Van Cleef & Arpels. This latest creation features 36 rose gold stems, decorated with lacquer to resemble lavender sprigs, concealing something within. When activated, these stems part to reveal a butterfly that flutters and bobs for a good 30 seconds to its own tinkling music, resplendent with translucent plique-à-jour enamel wings, before disappearing once again. The bowl in which it rests is crafted from howlite, a marbled white limestone, set on a plinth of green verdite stone. The base also houses a time indicator, watched over by two polished white gold snails. The piece measures about 30cm in height.
The maison is no stranger to such works of art, but this one is especially significant because it is the first where the automaton mechanism was produced entirely in-house. In the past, the maison has collaborated with masters such as François Junod and will likely remain open to such partnerships. However, the development of its own talent signals how seriously it takes this craft. Combined with its world-class jewellery and métiers d’art ateliers, as well as a formidable mechanical watchmaking department, Van Cleef & Arpels is becoming a truly integrated manufacture.
URWERK x Ulysse Nardin UR-FREAK
It makes perfect sense, if you think about it. Ulysse Nardin is technically an independent brand these days, despite being a long-standing maison—and, like the much smaller but equally well-established independent watchmaker URWERK, it has a signature, technically audacious mechanism. The first collaboration between Ulysse Nardin and the ever-maverick URWERK, then, had to blend their most iconic creations: Ulysse Nardin’s Freak and its one-of-a-kind carousel movement, and URWERK’s wandering hours satellite indicators.
The result is exactly that, deftly delivered in sandblasted titanium. There’s something very URWERK in its matte, near-monochrome aesthetic, highlighted by yellow Super-LumiNova arrow indicators and contrasted by the colour-matched strap, but the Freak DNA is evident on closer inspection: the absence of a crown, the centrally positioned silicon balance wheel, and the visible planetary gear system that guides the entire movement. Both collaborators’ names appear on the dial in understated fashion—its unique implementation speaks for itself. The UR-FREAK is limited to 100 pieces.
Hautlence Sphere Series 3
The Hautlence Sphere, featuring a ball-shaped hour indicator that spins wildly whenever it changes, has been around since 2019—one of the most fun and distinctive mechanisms from a brand that thrives on such creativity. It even won the Innovation Prize at the 2023 GPHG awards. Late 2025 saw its most refined version yet in the Sphere Series 3, limited to 28 pieces. At first glance, the external appearance seems largely unchanged—hour indicator on the left, retrograde minutes on the right—but look closer and you’ll notice extensive skeletonisation of the movement, leaving the hour ball appearing to float mid-air. Furthermore, the titanium case has been downsized to about 37mm by 45mm from roughly 43mm by 51mm previously, making a significant difference in wearability. Both improvements were made possible by an all-new movement that, unlike previous editions, does not rely on a base calibre from sister brand H. Moser & Cie. This purpose-built architecture gives the Sphere 3 a much more focused and streamlined identity—and the violet suede strap it comes with is pretty funky too.
Bell & Ross BR-X3 Tourbillon Micro-Rotor
It has been a while since Bell & Ross released something this ambitious—a high complication with a largely sapphire case, no less. It caps off a year of renewed vigour from the French brand, following the launch of the new core collection BR-X3, which will be one of its four strategic pillars going forward.
The BR-X3 Tourbillon Micro-Rotor is actually rather restrained. It is sleek, measuring only 9mm thick for its 40mm width, and the skeletonised movement has an orderly, grid-like arrangement to the bridges. There is plenty of compositionally important negative space, which highlights the mechanics—especially the moving parts of the micro-rotor and tourbillon. The smoky, translucent dial shows hours and minutes, offset at 2 o’clock. With the movement’s brushed finish and the four prominent screws in each corner holding everything together—including transparent sapphire top and caseback, and steel middle case—the aesthetic is artful and industrial, a surprising move from a brand best known for its aviation-inspired tool watches.
TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph Air 1
Lately, TAG Heuer has been making a sustained push into the upper echelons of horology. Barely two months earlier, it shook things up with the introduction of the TH‑Carbonspring, and for Dubai Watch Week it unveiled yet another high complication, housed in state-of-the-art materials: the Monaco Split‑Seconds Chronograph Air 1, limited to just 30 pieces.
It is rare for a split‑seconds chronograph movement to take a back seat, but calibre TH81‑00 is now a known quantity, having debuted in 2024 (or 2023, if one counts Only Watch). It remains deeply impressive, but the real innovation here lies in the case, which features one of the most complex structures TAG Heuer has ever produced. Crafted from titanium using Selective Laser Melting—an additive manufacturing technique more commonly associated with high‑tech industries and adapted for watchmaking by the brand’s in‑house R&D team—the result is a highly openworked structure reminiscent of aerodynamic forms and air intakes found in sports cars. A honeycomb lattice runs the length of the case middle, echoed by a similar motif beneath the bezel. The bezel itself is solid yellow gold, yet despite this, the watch weighs just 85g.
Girard‑Perregaux Laureato Three Gold Bridges
It was only a matter of time before Girard‑Perregaux combined its two most iconic designs: the Laureato, introduced in 1975, and the Three Bridges, a signature concept that dates back to 1867. The result is the Laureato Three Gold Bridges, which naturally adopts the familiar Laureato architecture—circular dial within an octagonal bezel, set on a stepped circular ring and tonneau‑shaped case—here executed in a 41mm diameter.
The star of the show is the purpose‑built movement, calibre GP9620, which displays the Three Bridges concept in fully skeletonised form. Three bow‑tie‑shaped, openworked white gold bridges support a vertically oriented movement: the barrel at 12 o’clock, followed by a descending gear train connecting it to the tourbillon at 6 o’clock. The movement’s complex architecture provides an ideal platform to showcase the manufacture’s finishing prowess, exemplified by 418 hand‑polished bevels.
The case measures just under 11mm in thickness and is crafted from stainless steel, paired with a white gold bezel. There are many approaches to the skeletonised luxury sports watch, but Girard‑Perregaux’s version stands apart by drawing on two historic designs it can genuinely call its own. The Laureato Three Gold Bridges is limited to 50 pieces, while a closely related version with a gem‑set bezel featuring 32 baguette‑cut diamonds is offered as a non‑limited edition.
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